The Home Garage of the Future Is Nothing Like Your Dad’s Sad Man Cave
Above: In Montauk, New York, a carport made of shou sugi ban charred wood designed by the firm SAOTA.
Despite its exotic French name, the garage has often been the most prosaic part of a home, the site of industrial grime and clutter. But a sea change is upon us. “The garage is now a considered space,” says architectural designer Jessica Pell, founder of Manola Studio in Los Angeles. “People are doing more millwork and giving them better finishes, so they’re more like flex areas.” Whether it’s a home gym or home to the car of your dreams—or both—the garage no longer has to be grungy.
The rise of electric vehicles (EVs) dovetails nicely with the evolution of the garage into a more meaningful place. EVs don’t emit fumes, and their motors don’t use motor oil, so you can bid farewell to unsightly oil stains on garage floors. “The same reasons why EVs are better for the environment are also why they are cleaner at home,” says Eric Sweet, the cofounder of emeraldECO, a San Francisco Bay Area company that retrofits homes with all-electric systems and solar panels.
Lest you think that upgrading to an EV requires a major garage overhaul, fear not. For a faster charge, you’ll need a Level 2 EV charging station, which is about the size of a backpack and won’t protrude very far out from the wall. It plugs into a 240-volt outlet, so you may need to hire an electrician to upgrade a standard 120-volt outlet. You do have to make the critical decision of where to put the charging station so that it is close to your EV’s charging port; alas, EV manufacturers have not standardized the location (on a Tesla, the port is on the left rear; on the latest model Audi, it’s on the left front). “For a new two-car garage, I would include 240-volt wiring on both sides, just inside the door,” Sweet says. “That covers all the options and gives you the most flexibility. If you have a guest parked outside the garage, you can run the charging cord outside.”
Meanwhile, the carport is undergoing a renaissance. For country homes, New York–based architect Drew Lang often designs one in combination with a garage: The car lives in the carport, and the garage is the rec room and catchall storage space. Because the latter may be exposed to occasional dirt and moisture, the finishes should be durable as well as attractive. For clients who are excited about their garages, Lang has designed ones with porcelain tile flooring and rubber flooring, cabinetry made of exterior-grade materials such as Richlite (paper compressed with resin), plywood, and stainless steel, and walls and ceilings finished with plywood panels. In one instance, he clad the interior walls with wood siding to match the exterior. He also favors wood tambour doors that roll gracefully to one side. “They’re really nice visually and feel well integrated,” Lang says.
In temperate climates, the carport can stand alone and double as a plein air pavilion for entertaining. “We don’t default to the garage,” says architect Justin Ford in the San Antonio office of Lake|Flato. “We try to think about what other purpose it can serve, which compels you to think more carefully about how it’s detailed and how to screen the elements. We want to connect people to nature and the landscape.” Perhaps the name needs a makeover to reflect the garage’s newly heightened status? “I like ‘parking pavilion,’” Ford says.
This story originally appeared in the October 2024 issue of ELLE DECOR. SUBSCRIBE
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