Page 574 - WhyAsInY

Why (as in yaverbaum)
the street! The new garage would have substantially more volume than the existing one, would hold two cars and storage, and would have the potential for a staircase in the event that we wanted to install an addi- tional bedroom or other space above it. There would be a connecting area to the main house that would hold a bathroom, a washing machine, and a dryer. Although the garage extended toward the street, it would be entered from the side that would be perpendicular to the entrance to the house. Cars would enter a courtyard that would be created in front of the house and turn left to enter the new structure.
The courtyard would be covered with a gravel that Keith selected himself, and the side of the garage that would face the street would be a windowed and shuttered whitewashed brick wall, matching the existing home. That wall would be extended beyond the footprint of the garage itself and would be turned into a graceful element the top of which was curved and surmounted by an antique-style light, adjacent to the point at which cars would enter the courtyard. Matching lights would be placed on either side of the front door. The extended wall was not just an aesthetic add-on; its purpose was to block the view of the garage doors from the street. The balance of the courtyard would run along the length of the house and be rimmed by plantings. All in all, once Keith described it to me and displayed the elevations, I thought the plans to be not only inventive and functional but also very interesting and hand- some to the eye.
What, then, was the problem? Why do I go on and on about this addition to our home? The plans were approved by the Building Depart- ment and by the ARB. Not only were they approved by the ARB at its public meeting (notice of which had gone to all of our neighbors), but members of the board went out of their way to comment on the beauty of the proposed addition.
Unfortunately, however, we didn’t just have the nerve to submit the plans as required by law, we also had the temerity to actually commence construction in accordance with them. And we compounded that mis- take by living across the street from the Lukes.
We had always been cordial with the Lukes, and vice versa. Ann • 556 •