Architectural oddities?

[Crazyraceguy]

As most of you know, I live in Columbus Ohio. It is not as old as colonial states, but has been around, as a centrally located capitol city, for over 210 years. It has gone through many changes in that time. You can see the approximate phases, by the architectural differences. Some of it is economic, for sure, some of it is just evolving construction techniques, materials, design preferences, etc.
Since I have more time on my hands and I have been exploring the city more slowly, I have been noticing things that I have driven by hundreds of times. Some are just streets that I have only been on sections of, never using the rest, etc.
Some of these things I have known about, just never bothered to photograph. Certain styles appear in clusters, in different parts of town. Some of the older areas have alleys separating the backs those area blocks. Newer streets/infrastructure have eliminated that.
The city goes from very small cottages, through taller city houses, into mid-century modern, etc. all the way to the McMansions of the suburbs.
The point of this whole thing is some of the wildest looking anomalies. They just make me wonder why?

I'll start with this oddity. This house is not far from mine, walking distance. I have seen it several times, though it has never been in my daily moves. I have always thought that garages under the house are odd enough, having grown up next door to one. This one however does not have the yard sloping away slowly. It has literal vertical walls, on a single-width driveway. In all of the other times I have noticed it, the space was empty. Of course, the day I was able to take a pic, the was a car in it. The thing looks ridiculous enough with nothing there, loaded it's worse. This thing in about an inch from the right side and still crazy tight on the other.
I have more, but they need uploaded. Feel free to add your own.

 

[luvmytoolz]

@Crazyraceguy That looks bizarre (as well as somewhat dangerous for any kids running around), can't imagine what the thinking process was there.

It looks like it's also sloped towards the rear, or is that just an optical illusion?

 

[mino]

Pretty sure the garage was added later on and the 'idea' was to "eat" the least space from the porch. Likely a wifie request some decades ago to preserve her flowers or such and it was not thought through that much ..

Definitely some character there!

Over here this style - vertical walls and a basement garage - is pretty common as it is very space-efficient. Just the houses are closer to the road, so it does not look weird and cars are /almost/ never parked there either.

 

[twistsol1]

When it is icy and you lose control of the car, you'll be guided right into the garage without fail. Buff out the scratches and you're ready for the next day.

 

[luvmytoolz]

Pretty sure the garage was added later on and the 'idea' was to "eat" the least space from the porch. Likely a wifie request some decades ago to preserve her flowers or such and it was not thought through that much ..

Definitely some character there!

Over here this style - vertical walls and a basement garage - is pretty common as it is very space-efficient. Just the houses are closer to the road, so it does not look weird and cars are /almost/ never parked there either.

We get some pretty torrential downpours here that can dump a massive amount of water in a very short period, so whenever I see driveways sloping down towards the garage door I think it must get pretty flooded at times?

 

[mino]

They have drains just in front of the garage door. Most towns here have rainwater-capable drainage systems you would connect to. The house will shield/deflect some of that rain plus we do not build houses on flood plains. Illegal to do so, actually.

Though this is very much climate-dependant indeed. Most of Europe is a very, very, nice place to live. Weather-wise.

 

[jeffinsgf]

Had one something like that in Des Moines, Iowa. The yard slope was steeper, though. The retaining walls came out from the house about 15", dropping from 5'-ish at the garage entrance to ground level. Every winter the slab would heave about 8 or 9 inches in the middle (along a crack). Every year I thought I was going to have to have the driveway replaced and every spring it would lay back down perfectly. Thank goodness I was in my mid-20s at the time...it was a perfect snow drift magnet. Several times I woke up to see the snow almost level with the top of the garage door.

 

[Packard]

He should park indoors like this old guy does (1” space on each side of the car):



I used to park my Chrysler Pacifica in my 2 car garage. The garage was large enough, but it had two, 1-car doors. I had to manually fold both side view mirrors and I had about 2” on each side for clearance (for the mirrors only). I used a shepherd’s hook to fold the passenger side mirror and the rubber crutch tip at the other end to unfold in when I drove off.

But the old guy in the video, clearly has me beat. I would not try that.

 

[denovo]

This is common in some Toronto homes rebuilt in the 80s or 90s? There is a bylaw stating new builds in Toronto require 1 car parking behind the front wall of the house (in other words a garage or laneway so your car isn't visible from the street). To avoid losing first floor living space the required parking was put in the basement with a driveway sloping down. Another by-law was eventually passed banning this because of all the flooded basements. Now most new builds have a split level design with the living or dining room above the garage with minimum ceiling heights. There are also restrictions on the height of the front porch above grade and the total height of the home.

 

[Michael Kellough]

He should park indoors like this old guy does (1” space on each side of the car):



I used to park my Chrysler Pacifica in my 2 car garage. The garage was large enough, but it had two, 1-car doors. I had to manually fold both side view mirrors and I had about 2” on each side for clearance (for the mirrors only). I used a shepherd’s hook to fold the passenger side mirror and the rubber crutch tip at the other end to unfold in when I drove off.

But the old guy in the video, clearly has me beat. I would not try that.

I’ve had my Pacifica a little over a year and I’m still not entirely clear on where the passenger side mirror is while driving.
I smacked it shut while driving today and at least two more times prior. The first time I had to replace the glass mirror element.
I only did that with my Toyota Sienna a few times in ten years. And not all in the first year.