So, it seems like the consensus is that I should go narrower.
In all seriousness, I appreciate the ideas.
A few points which might help steer the conversation:
I have less than half an acre total on which to enact my dreams. .39 acres to be exact.
The house itself is ~2,600 square feet. While I have fantasies about the 25 car garage with an apartment above it, the reality is that I don't want to dwarf my house.
We are tearing down the existing 2-car garage, with a ceiling height of about 5'10", to put this in.
This thing could be 1/4 the size, and it would still be the nicest garage I've ever owned / worked in. I'm used to cracked concrete and a piece of cardboard as a creeper.
The lot is in suburban Dallas, in a conservation district (Think HOA with the power of government). I have:
- Height restrictions
- Lot coverage restrictions
- Style restrictions (adding peaks to the dormers to make them more in keeping with the neighborhood style)
- Living space restrictions
- Wife restrictions
- Restriction restrictions...
- I'm married to a very understanding and supportive wife, but she has limits.
- Using the wide side for entry is out. A pass-through is out.
- We have a sloped corner lot, so we added a retaining wall to create two levels. The higher level is to the east, where the garage is located. Between the garage and the retaining wall, we need a path (no chewing into the lawn space with the path, I'm told).
- To the north of the garage I have utility access to property, pool equipment, generator, and am supposed to provide the kid with a jungle gym, to then be replaced by a garden with some raised planting beds.
- Need windows on the west side to break up the view. Otherwise we'd have a giant brick monolith looming over our lawn and pool area (see below)
- That said, I'm going to shrink the windows into two tighter groups of three, so I'll have space on either end and between them for shelving / storage.
- great point about lifting the windows above workbench height.
- After talking with the GC about cost of masonry these days, and talking to the conservation district about style restrictions, we are likely going with hardy siding to be more "tudor" and to keep costs down.
- Shop sink is in the works. Architect didn't include it in this round.
- I'll ask how wide we can go with lot coverage and other constraints. This might end up being a 3-car garage with workshop space, and room for a fourth car in a pinch (hail, vacation, etc)
- The cars in question are:
- 89 Porsche 911 (lowered)
- 03 BMW 540 Wagon (lowered)
- 85 Land Cruiser FJ60 (lifted)
- Wife's soccer mobile (Hyundai Santa Fe) - This doesn't get a spot in the garage.
- I had anticipated (or wanted) a 2-post lift. I was thinking of a Rotary.
-
https://rotarylift.com/product/spoa10-av/
I think this might help:
