This is a rare two-photo Design snapshot. Pretend for a moment that you hadn't yet seen the title of this post or the thumbnail photo below. Would you think, as I did initially, that the structure to the left in the image above is a home addition with an entry? Maybe an in-law suite or a home office? Imagine my surprise when I turned the corner and saw four garage doors. A garage? With such a nice sheltered entry and lattice-edged stoop? An entry more inviting than the workaday entry to the far right?
Then I began to wonder if perhaps the space behind the double windows, just to the right of the sheltered entry, functions as a mud room. And perhaps the garage isn't an addition, but an original cottage turned garage once the rest of the house was added to the right ? Or perhaps it was once a free-standing carriage house that was later absorbed by the larger house to which it is now attached? These kinds of narratives about how a dwelling was or may have been shaped over time can inspire the design of an addition (whether the addition is a garage or a larger house). What ever the true narrative for this property, this side-facing garage is particularly homey.
by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast