It started with one, it went to two, and luxury set in at three. Now four car garages are becoming the newest form of decadence in production home building. Ever since the first suburb was built, it seems that the American garage has been the barometer of financial prosperity.

"People have a lot of toys these days," says one new home salesperson. "so there is a big demand for a place to put them." Sometimes these places to put them can range in size up to 1,000 square feet, larger than many apartments, housing more boats and cars than ever before. With kids staying home longer, the third family car has become commonplace; many neighborhoods have restrictions on street parking, adding to the equation.

Then there is the "guy" thing, with room needed for "boy-toys", such as Harleys, jet skis, boats, shops with workbenches, power tools and plenty of storage. (Do we hear any "Tool Time" grunting going on?) Outgrowing the two, and three car garage has been a fairly rapid phenomenon, but perhaps understandable in a booming economy such as ours, when acquiring "stuff" is easier to do. A peek into garages this size may reveal a 20-foot boat, a full-sized truck, a sedan, tools, bikes, and sports gear, as well as a workshop area.

The trend is not necessarily loved by all, it seems. With streetscapes becoming garage-predominant, it can get downright ugly, in fact. Try to imagine double-double-wide garage door expanses as far as the eye can see. Now picture some of these garage doors open, revealing a hearty view of SUVs, John Deeres and ski boats, and bicycles hanging from ceilings, in addition to the usual garage junk and clutter. This consumerization and sometime visual degradation of the suburban landscape is not an aspect of materialism whose wheels will stop turning any time soon. In America, where "bigger is better", enormous is no doubt becoming an everyday thing.

Some new home builders spend the extra time and bucks on architectural plans that can split these enormous expanses of square footage into opposite sides of the dwelling. The question is how to save the front of their homes' elevations for real living space, such as living rooms, dining rooms and even sunny breakfast areas. Back-loading garages seem to be the most aesthetically pleasing rendition of garage placement, but require use of backyard space for pavement and turning radiuses. Side-loading garages need wider home sites for that swing, but can make the front of the home look enormous, with windows continuing all the way to the homes' horizontal conclusion. With higher and higher land costs, however, in many areas this is not feasible for margin-making builder-developers in the long run. And so, we may be left with any configuration of it that works, which makes garage fronts dwarf the homes they serve in the average move-up home.

According to Eric Brown of The Center for the New American Dream, a Washington non-profit group, "It's a sign of mega-materialism going on. If one is good, ten is better. People are getting the message from all over. That their Christmas table is no good if it doesn't look as good as Martha Stewart's. That their garage is not good unless it is as big as a basketball court."

Where will it stop? Realtors, developers, and consumers may agree that it's just a sign of the times, and times are good. If the need is there for more storage space due to changing lifestyles, there's not much we can do but watch what happens next. Perhaps the Donald Trumps and Bill Gates of the world will not be the only ones with double digit garages someday, but this is one journalist that hopes these vessels containing the trappings of American indulgence are somehow minimized in new home neighborhoods. I may be in denial, but I would hope that we could at least "look" like we care about the simpler, more basic things in life, even if this monster-garage trend continues.

Also See:

Published: January 14, 2000

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

A veteran of the real estate and homebuilding industries since 1986, Dena Kouremetis first joined Realty Times as a new homes writer in 1998. Since then, she has authored four books, written consumer columns on new homes issues for websites and newspapers all across the country, contributed to builder trade magazines, appeared as a guest expert on several radio shows and even created a ten-chapter podcast for LendingTree.com’s homebuilder website, iNest.com, now available on iTunes, entitled Uncharted Waters; Navigating the Purchase of a New Production Home. Kouremetis recently joined her local Folsom, CA Coldwell Banker office as a broker associate while continuing to write for the real estate industry. For the past three years, she has been training real estate agents for both the resale and new homes industries, putting her experience, research expertise and gift of expression to work to help others entering the business.