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| Attached | 59% | 207 votes | Total: 351 votes | |
| Detached | 41% | 144 votes |
Attached
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Add to FavoritesIf you lived in a climate where six months of winter is virtually guaranteed each year, you would learn to appreciate having an attached garage very quickly. A person can simply drive his or her vehicle inside, shut the door, and enter a warm house immediately. Unless you are a masochistic individual who enjoys being chilled by brutal Arctic air while trudging through two feet of snow further blanketing a glacier of ice that has no hope of thawing until early April or early May, an attached garage becomes a no-brainer. Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of houses within the boundaries of the United States that were built in the last 50 years or so already favor this design.
Even if such a garage has no insulation and is therefore cold in the winter and sweltering during the summer months, the sanctuary of a warm or air-conditioned environment is a mere door-opening away. Besides the avoidance of inclement weather condtions, the attached garage holds other advantages as well. Suppose you want to refill that cup of coffee you're enjoying as you wax your car. For that matter, suppose that you've had a couple of cups and now nature is calling! Would you rather A)simply open a door, enter your house, and walk down the hallway to the bathroom, or, B) have to leave the garage, walk down a driveway that could be several yards in length, and then finally enter the house to take care of matters? Furthermore, if you needed a cumbersome object from the house such as a vacuum to clean up a mess or a TV so you can watch that game while you're working on a project, wouldn't it be far easier to carry these items a few feet as opposed to hauling them down a long driveway?
Although it certainly doesn't apply everywhere, it would also seem that; with the exception of huge pole sheds found in rural settings, most detached garages found with older homes are tiny. This is surprising when you consider that while many families several decades back had only one car, they were nevertheless huge when compared to today's offerings. Some of those older garages I've seen would barely allow two feet of clearance on either side for these behemoth vehicles of yesteryear.
I wouldn't trade my attached garage for one that is separated from the house for anything. I do; however, have one regret. If I had to do it all over again, I'd prefer a garage that could hold more than two cars. Put simply, my wife is a pack-rat.
But as they say, that's a different story.
Learn more about this author, Patrick Sills.
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Detached
Not so long ago, all garages were detached. We called them carriage barns or stables. We kept them separate because the horses lived there, too. Times have changed, of course. The modern architectural marvel known as an attached garage is a fairly recent development, born of America's love affair with automobiles combined with our distaste for distance and weather. For traditional beauty and style, however, a garage glued to the end of one's home cannot match the elegance of a carriage house perched at the end of a cobblestone driveway.
Does that sound too snobbish? I must admit that my own garage is firmly planted on the windward end of my simple little ranch house. If I could actually park inside, I'd never have to venture out into a blustery, snowy New York morning to start my vehicle. That doesn't mean I cannot appreciate the innate superiority of a detached garage. If I had more land here, and a nice big line of credit, I'd construct a lovely two-story garage. My previous home had one: it had a turret! Sometimes motorists would pull into the driveway to ask me about it.
Detached garages are not only pleasing to the eye. They offer other benefits, too. That second story is a big bonus, and makes a fine guest quarters when properly constructed to satisfy the building inspector. In addition, freestanding garages offer unique opportunities for expanded storage. You can add-on to it from any of the four sides, with just a bit of architectural caution. For those of a more practical mind, a separate garage saves you money on your homeowners insurance, too, because it reduces the threat of fire to your main residence.
State the question simply and the answer is obvious: which style offers more design flexibility, detached or attached? A stand-along structure does not rely upon the constraints of your home's design. It can be taller, fancier (or more plain), wider or deeper, and offer interesting door and window options for a bit of whimsy. You can toss in a dormer on one side, add a portico on another side, or attach an open woodshed on the back to feed a wood-stove inside. The interesting architectural possibilities provide a wonderful challenge to the limits of your creativity.
Today's faux-Tudor suburban mini-mansions have made vain attempts to enhance the dreary attached garage that evolved in the post-War era. Many homes today include something called a "bonus room" over the garage, trying to take advantage of a second story there. While this is certainly a better style choice than the older "garage-under" design now outlawed in many townships, it is actually a nod of respect by the designer to the superiority of the past era's carriage house. Homeowners want convenience, so architects omit the forth wall and fuse the original concept to the side of a house now large enough to accept the insult with some small dignity.
Builders often try to hide their attached garages with clever diversions. They put matching windows in the side walls, or turn the entire structure sideways to hide the hideous sixteen-foot-wide overhead doors. That simple trick makes for some awkward driveway contortions when lot-lines lie too near the doorway wall. Home designers know that many of us wish the garage could blend in so perfectly as to become invisible. Still, we must have our convenient parking and grocery-transfer. No one wants to walk too far or suffer the rain, if it can be avoided somehow.
Is a detached garage actually better? No, of course it isn't. Simple and convenient and cost-effective is better. I can admit that. On the other hand, ask any architect which choice offers the best opportunity for designing beauty and elegance: the traditional carriage house will always win that vote. You don't need a tack-room and stalls for horses to appreciate that. When I drive by my former house and see the turret rising from the northeast corner of the carriage barn I still have to smile. Perhaps it's a bit silly, but it sure is beautiful. No contest at all.
Learn more about this author, Jim Bessey.
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