Vol. IX 
House and Garden 
April, 1906 
THE PRIVATE GARAGE 
ITS DESIGN, ARRANGEMENT AND COST 
By I. Howland Jones 
No. 4 
r T' v HE most modern problem that the architect 
has to face is the private garage. Motoring 
enthusiasm has spread so widely that many country 
house owners, even if horse lovers and possessors 
of a stable, have at least one machine. And the 
inaccessibility of public garages in this country be¬ 
ing marked to a degree, as every motor tourist can 
testify feelingly, the inevitable need of one’s own 
becomes imperative. And a very picturesque little 
one it may be, too. 
When the problem first presented itself the pri¬ 
vate garage was made a mere shed with possibly a 
work-bench at one end, but latterly they have been 
developed until they are now as carefully planned 
and as well adapted to their use as the best of the 
modern buildings on our country estates. 
There are several important matters which should 
be given careful consideration in the building of an 
automobile bouse, and a description of a few of the 
more recent ones with some suggestions upon the 
planning of them may be of interest. As a first 
consideration it is never wise to plan a building 
with only room enough to take one car, as the ad¬ 
ditional cost of making it large enough for two is 
so very little 
that the extra 
expense is al¬ 
ways justified. 
Although it 
may seem to 
the beginner in 
this sport that 
he will never 
need to put up 
more than one 
car at a time, 
he will soon 
find that for 
some reason 
there is another 
car to be look¬ 
ed after, either 
because his 
own is being 
repaired, or a small garage in 
guest’s machine has to be housed, or for some other 
reason. 
Probably the one important thing which will go 
further to make the building a success to the owner 
is the ease with which he can enter and leave it. 
For this reason it should be arranged so that the cars 
can stand along the back wall with the door opposite, 
and where the house is planned for two cars one 
door 9 feet 6 inches wide and 9 feet high is sufficient, 
provided there is room enough between the front 
and back walls for the car to make the small neces¬ 
sary curve in going out. This dimension from front 
to back should be at least 20 feet, which will allow 
a machine with perhaps a 90 inch wheel base to 
leave and enter easily. In case more than two cars 
are to be planned for there should be a door for each 
two cars, if possible. It is necessary, of course, in 
certain cases to use a different plan, but this one is 
without doubt the best, so far as ease in entering 
and leaving the house is concerned. 
Another matter which should receive attention 
is that the house should be as fireproof as possible. 
In any budding the floor should, if possible, be of 
cement, and if the building is to be of wood it 
should be mill 
framed as far 
as possible, 
that is, the 
frame should 
show from the 
inside instead 
of having the 
walls or ceil¬ 
ings sheathed 
or boarded on 
the inside. If 
the walls are 
sheathed, care 
should be taken 
to fill in be¬ 
tween the studs 
with brick 
wherever a 
space might 
FRAMINGHAM, mass. be left for the 
Copyright , 1906, by The John C. Winston Co. 
1 59 
