That expanse of concrete is horrid. Try a grow-through paving system (google them)

Do you need to come that far forward?.

I like your idea! I only would go with circle driveway

You cannot permanently enclose space under BFE. It has to remain open or have breakaway walls. That's temporary screening. Not a garage.

Your garage doors with wall were likely done without proper permitting and ultimately won't be allowed. Dont compound that error. When the code guys go for drives to sport scofflaws, the smaller he infraction, the smaller the fines.

You can't do a circular driveway on a lot that's only about 3 feet wider than the house. And you have to leave a full car length straight outside the garage door in order to align the car for entry.

Don’t focus on the concrete - that’s just a poor job on the rendering. Although - there would be an additional drivewY there. The lots here are really small so that’s what we have to work with. We don’t have to come forward as far - but our house is set back farther than our neighbors and the addition forward would bring it level with everyone else.

Note - the new design has already been architected and permitted - so no concern about the physical structure. Building has open blocks every x feet to accommodate zone requirements.

So, how many cars do you need to garage?

4 cars and a man cave section for seating and Theatre :)

It may be useful to stop for a while. You can ask your wife to sit down *alone* with the architect and talk about what she'd like and what she doesn't like. Some additional sketches and full designs may result that will make both of you happier.

Additional picture this week while selecting paint colors.

No matter what you do with the house, the front would look better with a grassy drive.

The most recent photo is better. I agree with suggestions for more grass and letting your partner sit with architect. Happy wife, happy life

We did sit with the architect. Honestly - the house IS difficult to change up. Here’s a better picture of it.

I feel for your wife. What does she get out of it? I would HATE the expanse of concrete giving up the green both in the lawn and trees. Try to figure that out. The extra deck above the garage is nice but it seems to me you could just cover the existing stairs somehow beefing up the support for the roof. Is it worth jepordizing your relationship? unless she's getting something of equal value in trade I know I would have a major problem with my husband proposing something like this. My husband wants to build another garage in addition to our attach 3 car. But is in the back of our lot and will be able to use our current driveway without any modifications. being able to do this is part of the reason we bought this house. This is our forever home, we both like cars and motorcycles but I pretty much can do anything I want inside and will be getting new appliances maybe before he gets the garage. they are a lot cheaper. Compromise. a marriage is a partnership.

The concrete driveway, done right will be fine. Have the crew stain it green (add green dye to the concrete), and make the home work well for you...less to mow and water(you don't have water lines or other buried assets in that area, I am sure you have made sure, right?). More folks should stain their driveways to coordinate with their surroundings. I have seen one done that is even a blue green in very soft lines and curves....looks like water! In this case, I think matching the dominant color/hue of your surrounding lawn is the better option. Just make sure you get a crew that gives you an awesome job of quality concrete and color. If they can't assure you they can handle it, to deal with cars and trucks driving across it, find someone who can. Pavestones are a PAIN. They don't stay level and they require alot of TLC to keep it looking good....Good luck. I hope you are able to make something work for both of you with this suggestion..

I actually like the look of the house itself much better with your addition, though the driveway/greenery situation is worse. What, specifically, does your wife not like about this plan? If she can articulate it, then you can listen and work to address the concern while hopefully getting at least most of what you want out of it.

Our home looked like a plain square box when we purchased it as well. Since you are considering an addition you may want to consider these too: Frame in the windows with wider trim, change all trim, including expansion joint trim to wider trim. When we changed our expansion joint trim to a fairly wide trim, it took away from the square flat front box look, and gave it a richer look. Keep the trim plain, just substantial. Substantial facia and trim really tricks up a a boxy house, modernizes it a bit without spending much money.

The house is fine although I would add a pop of color for the front door to stand out. Invest in a good landscape, that long concrete driveway and bland looking yard needs upgrading. Once driveway and landscape is done it will be a beautiful home

Do you have a layout, including the lot? I don't quite see how you fit 4 cars with working space AND a theater (and I think you should rethink that--cars aren't fun to watch tv with, even F1, and that's coming from a car enthusiast. A bar makes more sense to me.) Maybe I missed it, but is this your "forever" house? Big garages don't sell well except to other enthusiasts. We're going up to 5-6 car capacity soon, but we're staying here forever, so to heck with resale.

I'd say get a landscape architect involved now.

I can kinda see your wife’s point of view. Too much driveway. I don’t understand why you can’t keep the driveway the same size and shape as it is now? It doesn’t dominate the house and imo make it look almost like a commercial property.

Some of you are not reading all the posts. 1 - the driveway in the render is not realistic. It’s just a poor job by the artist. 2- the lot is SMALL HERE. ALL OF THE HOUSES ON THE STREET have similar yards. This is NOT an estate.

Cheryl - Not sure why you seem to think anyone should be upset about it based on not getting a fair share - Was it because I said “man cave”? Please let’s not get into a ‘what does she get’ thing... Regardless of the garage size - the goal was to break up the box of a house - this also increases the size of the front deck which is directly off the new kitchen and where we do our grilling.

I’m attaching a google earth picture so that you can see what I’m working with here. Like I said, most other properties here are the same, the lots are small.

I am finding the full height column out of balance and awkward. Perhaps create a base for a column that is equal in size to the others.

Add a column to the front and make 3 equal bays across the front between the columns.

And add a simple but proportionate entablature above the columns.

I agree - that column looks strange. I’ll see what i can do there.

What is it then your wife doesn’t like? That may help with responses.

I personally did read that comment about the rendering. My post was in response of seeing Grover’s mock up. I can understand trying to camouflage the driveway if it was going to take up the whole front but to me that still doesn’t look attractive. I like how the current driveway is laid out and is less dominant. Your other ideas for the house sound great to me and will give it so much more dimension.

Fake prairie style?

The problem with the design in your rendering is everything feels stark and kind of cheap. The new deck roof looks like it’s just tacked on. You need to add 1’ overhang on each side and beef up the fascia. The columns should be thicker and feel more special as well, maybe update the stairs to be stone or something that feels visually really sturdy to anchor the house. Play around with some other railing designs on the deck, that will change the look a lot and might be what your wife doesn’t like. Add trim around all of the windows and if you can afford it expand the two on the left. I also agree with the other comments to make sure that you have a well designed landscape plan so your house doesn’t feel too stark. Let your wife meet with the architect to voice her concerns, it may be that she doesn’t like something simple and it’s keeping her from getting excited about the design, your designer should be able to feel out what she’s unsure of and adjust accordingly.

My objection would be for financial reasons. Most of the money spent on these changes will not be recovered when you sell the house.

The house currently has a porch with a roof, two garages and a stairway. After changes it will have a bit larger porch with a roof, two garages and a stairway. On paper it does not look like you gain much. I do recognize that the garage on the right will be deeper after the changes.

I actually like the new front steps. I don't like how off balance the house appears to be with the addition. Would it be possible to put an addition on the left side of the house to balance the front of the house and porch?

Also as a side not, a lot of places that have sandy soils require that that much expanse of concrete be made with the kind of blocks that grover is showing due to drainage. Something to think about.

Your wife needs to voice what changed with the actual drawing out of the plan from what she understood when she agreed to it. First impressions can't be changed but it can if you haven't started building. Curb appeal is the first impression of your house. We all have our own tastes, likes and dislikes. the stairs really are one of the things I don't like about the plan. removing the plants when the rest of the yard is just grass and will soon to be concrete is why I dislike changing the stairs. I do like the extra Garage space, the larger deck space and that it is all covered by a roof. That all adds interest to the front of the building. I just think it could be better.

Difficult choices. Maybe explore decorative stamped concrete

Interesting look

Without getting hung up over the driveway I think the proposed changes make your house more attractive than it’s present state.

If the house is on stilts b/c of flooding, make sure you have plenty of pass through open space on garage level for the next flood.

The color of the house and the color of the driveway, doesn't provide enough contrast which makes the home look very monochromatic.

New color this past week - hoping this would help get her excited about continuing improvements.

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Ps - will send another pick tomorrow. Realized that pic made it look very grey. It has a bit of grey in it but it’s called silvermist - Sherwin Williams. Has a tint of teal. We live in Florida.

It looks teal on my monitor.

Nice color. Much improved.

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I'm totally mystified about how you can have a house on stilts, open underneath, but then add a ground-level cave/theater. But otherwise I'm agnostic on the changes. Hard to imagine they're worth the cost. I don't mind the current facade, especially if neighboring houses are similar. If you feel the need to work that hard to make the house look closer to your tastes, maybe there's just a different house out there for you...

@acm - not really that confusing. It’s open parking now - we are essentially building walls...same as if you enclosed any structure.

Jeff have any of the suggestions helped way lay your wives concerns?

Looks nice!! Good job. I like the color.

Really like the color of your home! The blue looks great! I would leave the driveway as is. Then talk with a professional landscaper for more ideas. Thanks for sharing!

Sandra - You know how it goes. She's pretty sure she doesn't like it. The majority of people prefer the updated structure design over the existing house, aesthetically (driveway and landscaping aside) so I'm hoping that gives her a little confidence that it will look better. I think she is just accustomed to looking at it like this for so long, any change is a little foreign looking...and I understand because that house "is" a little difficult to update on the front due to the roofline and small lot, we don't have a ton of options. The amount of structure I've shown is already slightly over-budget. ;(