February, 1913 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
113 
□ 
A repair pit in the floor makes accessible 
the car’s under body 
There is consid¬ 
erable space in the 
ordinary eight-foot 
cellar that is not 
utilized, and in two 
cases I have used 
this for a garage. 
In each case the 
land sloped sharply 
toward the rear of 
the house, so that 
the ground at the 
back was a little be¬ 
low the cellar floor. 
The height of a 
The roof lines and appearance of the garage continue house scheme 
GKOVM ■ PLAN 
The left hand plan is that of the garage shown above, while the other 
illustrates the building in the lower right hand corner of the page 
garage ceiling is usually ten feet, therefore the floor of the garage 
was two feet below the cellar floor. The house was high enough 
above the street sewer, so that the garage could be drained into 
it, but this could have been taken care of by a dry well if the 
location had not been as described. The cement floor was laid 
on the ground, and the garage was completely shut off from the 
cellar with brick walls and a fire door. The ceiling above was of 
reinforced concrete. In a new house, if the ground slopes to 
the rear, it is usually very easy to utilize this space for a garage. 
It is undoubtedly economical and convenient on account of the 
centralization of light, heat, power and service. A garage as 
part of the house is particularly convenient for the owner who 
drives his own car or for the woman who uses an electric vehicle. 
It might not be advisable for three or four cars, unless the house 
were very large and had an ell, the basement of which could be 
used for this purpose. 
The design of the garage will, of course, correspond to the 
style of the house as far as is practical. The garage affords as 
much architectural opportunity as the stable ever did. If the 
house is old style, some predominating feature may be repeated, 
perhaps the same kind of roof material or color may be incorpo¬ 
rated in the structure to show its relation to the house, unless the 
location is so far away that this can be safely disregarded; but 
even then do not vary the style of building on one estate. Fur¬ 
ther than this, the style of a garage may safely be left to your 
architect, who is competent to take care of this part adequately; 
but you must realize the requirements and importance of the 
garage in order not to hamper him unduly. 
The garage should be fireproof, to prevent the spread of fire 
in case the gasolene tank leaks and vaporizes, or oil-soaked waste 
catches fire, starting an in¬ 
cipient blaze which may be 
easily put out if the sur¬ 
rounding material is not of 
such an inflammable nature 
as to spread it; the result is 
the saving of both the cars 
and the building. An ex¬ 
plosion is not probable un¬ 
less the gas vaporizes in con¬ 
finement and the blaze 
spreads rapidly, enveloping 
the car. If the garage is 
frame and is close to frame 
buildings it is a hazard and 
endangers all the surround¬ 
ing property. The fire in¬ 
surance companies require 
that the tank containing the 
gasolene shall be buried at 
A basement garage entered from the 
service yard 
The floor plan of the garage 
adjoining it 
A good fireproof brick and stucco type having a 
shop on one side 
This frame and stucco style is designed to hold two 
automobiles 
