Garages Go Gigantic

Car Buffs Opt for Bigger Spaces To Tinker, Pamper and Gather

At first glance, there's nothing unusual about Brian Carroccio's three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in the Randolph Hills area of Rockville. But just behind the house, at the bottom of the sloping driveway, is a garage so mammoth that if it were attached to the house it would dwarf it.

The two-story, nine-car garage consumes the modest back yard behind the one-story rambler. There isn't a blade of grass to be found, and that is just fine with the high school math teacher.

Besides being just a spot to store cars, "it has become a bit of a gathering place," said Carroccio, 30. His father and uncle join him there weekly to work on the family's growing car collection.

While some home buyers covet granite countertops, hardwood floors and emerald lawns, Carroccio and fellow car enthusiasts care about having somewhere to house and tinker with their cherished automobiles. Their wish list might include an air-conditioned work area complete with an engine crane, a large sink and a sand blaster to clean old parts.

According to 2004 Census Bureau statistics, 19 percent of new single-family homes had a garage for three or more cars. Earlier surveys didn't even have that category, asking only about garages for two or more cars.

It sometimes seems all that space is not even used for cars, but for stuff. Homeowners can spend as much as $20,000 on new cabinets, customized storage racks and color-coordinated, stain-resistant flooring, making the humble garage the latest place for homeowners to show off their wealth.

But for Carroccio and other car enthusiasts, buying a house with a large garage, expanding an existing garage or even adding custom-designed space is more necessity than status symbol. A garage protects cars from exposure and thus increases their resale value. For this reason, popular auto magazines such as Hemmings Motor News have a special section of real estate classified ads devoted to properties with large garages.

"Better shape means better value," said John Powell of Bowie, who owns a landscaping company and a nine-car garage. But even though their cars might be worth a lot, who really wants to sell them? "I will get rid of them when I quit breathing," Powell said, and then "they will become my children's."

Before Carroccio moved in last winter, he and his father, Charlie, 57, and his uncle Paul, 47, tucked their antique cars in various garages around Maryland, including one at Charlie Carroccio's law office in Rockville. They shuttled between the various garages and spent more time getting to their cars than working on them.

When Carroccio bought his house and its 1,748-square-foot garage, he laid out three separate rooms, each with a designated purpose. One room serves as storage for two cars not being worked on, and a second is the workroom, with space for two vehicles. The third area, now affectionately referred to as "the showroom," is home to five cars. The walls are covered mostly with British automotive paraphernalia, a salute to the homeland of many of the Carroccio cars.

The workroom is stocked with just about everything an amateur mechanic would need, including an engine crane and a mini refrigerator. Now the family is able to spend more time in the garage working on their projects -- a 1918 Ford Model T and a 1980 Triumph Spitfire.

"I just never had a place to work on it," Charlie Carroccio said of his beloved Spitfire, which at one time sat in his law office garage. "There is always something to do."