Photo Credit: Greg Anderson Photography
The owners of this Madison, Wis., Cape Cod, wanted a second garage and a screened porch that was attached to the house (to replace the screened gazebo out in the yard). Designers at Architectural Building Arts (ABA) could have converted the existing one-car garage into a screened porch and added a detached two-car garage. “But that would mean taking down three big oak trees,” ABA owner Steve Larson says. “The clients didn't want that.”
Designer Stephanie Mueller came up with a novel approach that creates flexible space. Since the owners didn't mind leaving their car outside during the warm months, ABA added a 12- by 20-foot garage beside the existing garage, which would double as a screened porch. The only glitch was getting the zoning board to issue a variance because laws allowed only for a detached garage. This would be impossible because the back of the house is only 3 feet from the property line. Board members allowed the attached garage once they saw ABA's solution.
When is a garage not a garage? When it's a screened porch. The garage door is hidden under a false ceiling. Screen panels, stored below the small, upper window on the side, are easily bolted in place. The solution satisfies clients and zoning board.
Photo Credit: Greg Anderson Photography
The new garage/screened porch combo has a brick floor to give it a finished look. To cover stains from the car, the owners use a rubber mat in the summer that rolls up in the winter. Single-pane storm windows with divided lights pull out and can easily be replaced by screens. In front, the garage door slides up into a false ceiling so that people inside don't see it when they look up. Three screens connect to a framed wall that is attached by throw bolts in the top, bottom, and sides. The back is a glass wall in winter and three screens, as in the front, in warmer months. The wall system, glass, and screens can be stored in space created above the garage. “We got our clients their summer eating place, their winter car storage, and we saved their oaks,” Larson says.