A Cottage-Style Garage

The garage is usually an afterthought on the renovation priority list. But not for this homeowner, who planned on upgrading the original garage and driveway of her St. Matthews Cape Cod since she moved there in 2003. While the garage was usable and utilitarian, it did not complement the cottage-style aesthetic of the rest of the house.

In 2018, the homeowner renovated her back porch, elevating the outdoor space to complement her renovated interior. The garage was the finale of this outdoor plan. She carefully saved her money and set about planning the remodel, using the same architect, contractor and designer that she used for both the front and back porches: Todd Stengel (contractor), Beverly Baker (architect) and Libby Rush of Bittners (designer).

A major impetus for the homeowner to renovate was the uneven and broken up driveway, creating a hazard for all ages – from her 90-year old father to her grandchildren. Additionally, the garage was originally made of Masonite, which is a composite mixture of wood fibers, glues and resins. Needless to say, it was deteriorating as rapidly as the driveway.

Project Highlights

• A lover of all things outdoors, the homeowner wanted to complete the last step in making her outside a perfect living space to entertain, play with her grandchildren and most importantly, a great place for her beloved dog to play.
• This is the homeowner’s “forever home” and she has invested in every part of the property. Her goal was to get the exterior in good order to ensure a low maintenance lifestyle.
• The new garage was built on the footprint of the original garage, but they added four feet in depth to allow for larger vehicles.
• The width of the garage stayed the same with the exception of the storage room that was added. The width of the overhead door increased from 16 feet to 18 feet.

Results

The homeowner, architect, contractor and designer worked in concert to ensure that the project came together from the earliest plans to the smallest finishing touches.

After using Todd Stengel and Beverly Baker for two previous projects (front and back porches), the homeowner called them first when it was time to renovate; she “worked very closely with both of them to get just the right look….the planning was pretty easy as they already knew me fairly well.”

Beverly Baker, the architect, describes the project here:

“The clients like to spend time on their back porch and enjoy the garden and yard. But on this small lot, the old tired garage was a major part of her view. They of course wanted a slightly larger garage to be functional for today’s cars and have some storage, but we didn’t want the garage to look too big for the house. And they wanted something pretty to look at to compliment the adjacent garden.

We enlarged the garage depth by about 4’ and increased the roof pitch enough to get a round window and more substantial trim around a new Carriage House look overhead door. Extending an area for storage and a potting bench on the side gave us the perfect spot for a small porch that makes the garage feel almost like more of a cottage. The copper lanterns, gutters and flashing details finish out the look.”