46 
House & Garden 
GARAGES, SITES AND ENTRANCE DRIVES 
This Solves The Problem of Housing The Car and Providing It With 
Adequate Approaches and Turn-Around 
J. C. CAMPBELL 
T HE building of a garage these days 
is only second in importance to the 
actual building of your home. I he 
locating of the site for this garage and the 
construction of garage drivers require a 
great deal of thought as well as some 
knowledge of the requirements. Most 
grounds have the advantage of a number 
of spots appropriate for the site of a gar¬ 
age. It is the aim of this article to point 
out the advantages of certain sites, how to 
plan the garage drive and how to design 
the most practical approach. 
If you have not built your house, it is 
a fairly simple matter to place the garage 
in exactly the right relationship to the 
house, but if you are merely adding this 
building to grounds already planned and a 
house already built, much more thought 
must be given to the subject. The size 
of your lot and the topography of the land 
will to a certain extent, govern the selec¬ 
tion of the site. In most cities the fire 
ordinance requires that a garage if not fire¬ 
proof must be at least 15' away from the 
house. If you are building the house, 
however, you will probably insist upon a 
fire-proof construction with a garage be 
neath the house, which makes for con¬ 
venience and economy. The foregoing 
suggestions would obtain only on small 
places. On a large estate where separate 
servant quarters are provided the garage 
would be placed in this group which, as a 
rule, equals about one-fifth 
of the total area of the house 
accommodation. 
When a man is driving 
his own car he will, of 
course, want it in the base¬ 
ment of his house if possible, 
if not, as near as the fire 
ordinance will allow. It 
must be placed where the 
grade is suitable, to avoid 
the expense of much grad¬ 
ing, and where there is ade¬ 
quate drainage. Direct¬ 
ness of approach and turn¬ 
ing areas have a great bear¬ 
ing on the selection of a 
proper site and the ap¬ 
proach from house to gar¬ 
age must be easy and direct 
as possible. 
Once the garage is built, 
the approach from the 
street has to be considered. 
For safety there should be a 
right angle entrance so that 
the approach from both di¬ 
rections of the street should 
be equally safe. The type 
of street entrance will de- 
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It is obvious that the size of the turn-around will 
depend upon the wheel base of one’s car. This shows 
how it is calculated 
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Each type of small lot presents a different problem in locating the garage. Do not make 
the approach to it too conspicuous. Where space permits, use a circular turn-around, 
otherwise plan for a Y-turn which necessitates backing the car 
pend to a certain extent upon the char¬ 
acter of the street and the existing gutters. 
Where the gutter is deep a cross-over is 
necessary, but where it is shallow an in¬ 
cline from the gutter to the sidewalk level 
will serve. At this point it is well to make 
the rise as gentle as possible as all quick 
rises between street to ground may mean 
danger. Where it can be arranged a con¬ 
crete incline is perhaps the best means of 
approach. 
So far as possible the entrance to the 
property should reflect the character of 
house and garage; formal for the great 
estate, informal for the little country place. 
Whatever treatment is used in building the 
entrance it should be kept appropriate in 
size, shape and type. Where the entrance 
leads to a little garden, plants can often be 
easily arranged to cuggest a gateway and 
are preferable to an elaborate architectural 
feature. 
While the entrance from the street 
should always be as direct as possible, it 
need not necessarily lead straight to the 
house or garage. It may pass near the 
front entrance, thence to the kitchen and 
then to the garage. The illustrations used 
in this article, showing the placing of gar¬ 
ages in relation to the house and the plac¬ 
ing of driveways with wide and narrow 
turnings, will prove immensely helpful to 
anyone’s planning to build a garage on a 
small place. 
As the drive enters the 
property it may be either a 
simple runway, or a com¬ 
plete surface of any of the 
following materials,— 
crushed stone, all-cinders, 
tarvia, oyster shell, clay, 
brick or concrete. 
In regard to the merits of 
the use of these various ma¬ 
terials for the construction 
of the driveway; crushed 
stone is serviceable, the col¬ 
or is excellent and it is not 
expensive, but it does re¬ 
quire constant care if much 
used; cinders are also ser¬ 
viceable, the best kind are 
steamed, very porous and 
have the advantage of 
draining readily, but it is 
not easy to keep a good sur¬ 
face if a cinder driveway is 
much used; tarvia is a good 
surface but rather harsh in 
color; oyster shells are ex¬ 
cellent when obtainable, but 
the color is not interesting; 
clay is an excellent tempo- 
rarv surface, rather unsatis- 
