We are in the planning stages of a home renovation/addition: adding a garage with room above onto the existing house, and converting one of the existing garage bays into living space.

Our house is a sweet little Cape Cod, and I want to keep it that way. But one feature I really despise is the 12" roof nub above our garage (see pic- it's lurking like a buzzard over the open garage door). I'd like to take this renovation as an opportunity to do something about the nub, but feel a little sick over the cost of reroofing such a large area (basically, raising the ridge 12-18") just to get rid of that nub. Are there any viable alternatives? Cover it with a cupola or something else? Or just tell my children that they're going to eat dog food for the next decade because mommy hated a roof nub? (I also have an irrational hatred of nesting gables on front elevations, so reroofing just part of this roof isn't much of an option.) I tried to mock up the cupola cover-up.

Here are some pics that will hopefully help. The addition will go to the right of the existing garage, creating an "L" shape into the backyard. Thank you!