Not long ago, the garage wasn’t much more than an oversized shed, a greasy, haphazard repository of home, family and yard-related stuff.
But no more. Like an ugly duckling turned beautiful swan, what was once ignored and overlooked has become the focus of attention and energy, morphing into an often-stylish and well-appointed space. When the makeover is on the larger and more luxurious end of the scale, the result is known as a “garage mahal,” a term that’s picking up speed as more and more deluxe garages pop up across the land.
“It’s the creation of an environment that’s never existed before,” says author and auto expert Phil Berg, whose interest in the garage mahals of some rich and famous car collectors turned into the 2003 book Ultimate Garages, now in its fifth printing. “There’s a lot more interest in the garage than in the past.”
Britta Hnatow of Garage Strategies, a garage systems and accessories store in Edmonton, has customers with pool tables and plasma TVs in their garages. “It’s not some place to store junk anymore, it’s a more functional, durable room that looks nice,” she says.
Lee Wilburn, owner of Castle Rock Contracting Ltd. (and a three-car garage), says he knows some folks who put as much planning into their garages as their basements. “Lots have washrooms, lots have fridges. Some people actually spend great deals of time there—it’s their release,” he explains.
“With the larger garages, it’s (often) a family with two cars and the third car is an exotic car, one that’s driven on Sunday in the middle of summertime, and they tinker with it constantly. A lot of people have that passion for cars, and with the economy, people here have the money to do that, to (indulge) whatever their fancy is, exotic cars to trucks.”
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