Garage Mahal
SANTA ANA, Calif. — While most home buyers might be oohing and aahing over custom kitchen cabinets, an ocean view or Olympic-size pool, eight years ago when Dave Powell bought his North Tustin, Calif., home, he couldn't help but consider the garage potential.
There wasn't a six-car garage on the property then, but he knew there could be. And the formal living room looked like the sacrifice.
"In eight years, I think I've gone into the living room once, and that was to get the dog off the couch," panned Powell.
Since his wife, Chris, wasn't keen on his parking two cars in the actual living room — "That way we could look at them from the dining room" Powell joked — he spent two years mapping out his dream remodel.
"My goal was to have a garage that was larger than the house we lived in."
The Powells demolished half the house. Chris got what she wanted — a new kitchen and re-landscaped garden.
Powell got a man space that included stalls for six collector cars, cabinets, a 1950s diner, pool table and "only one chair out there for a reason. The garage is where I hang with the trusty dog, read the paper and drink a glass of wine at the end of the day."Powell has been in love with cars since he was a teenager in Anaheim, Calif., where he took apart a 1934 Ford coup and put it back together. A lost art in the world of teens today."Today's cars are so complicated and computer-driven that it's impossible to tear them apart like we did in the 1950s and 1960s. I haven't a clue where the oil goes in a new model," he said.Powell had 14 cars at one point, but it was too much finding places to store them. Now he only collects what fits in his garage.After careful planning for two years, Powell worked with architect Cecil Carney in Tustin, Calif., and TIJohn Construction in Huntington Beach, Calif., to get exactly the remodel he imagined."I can't think of a single thing that I left out or would do differently," he said. "I did my homework."Linoleum tiles on the floors, built-in cabinets and three custom garage doors "that cost more than my first house" provide the garage environment he always wanted."The diner was an afterthought," he said.But it's where you will find Powell at the end of every day.
