Date: September 17, 2002
This garage project required traditional and meticulously crafted materials to blend in exactly with the existing home, which was House & Gardens House-Of-The-Year in 1928.
The project was designed by Steve Orban, AIA and cost approximately $250/sf. The stone veneer was obtained through blasting of the foundation, just as it was in 1928.
The windows, doors, and garage doors even the faux limestone window mantels, door hardware were all hand made to match existing components exactly.
The construction schedule went as planned until all the work was completed except the roof tile. Because the roof tile was recognized to be the most aesthetically prominent component of the project, great care was taken in selecting suitable manufacturers to provide matching custom samples.
After nearly two years, dozens of custom samples that were rejected, and several aborted efforts to use close matches of salvaged stone, the exact same hand-made French roof tile was located on a home in the mid-west that was also originally built in 1928 and was scheduled to be demolished.
The end result of this effort is an expanded garage courtyard that is indistinguishable from the original house right down to the sagging roof that was built intentionally to assure that the new construction would blend in.