A Vision Deferred Begins

I can only hope I haven’t lost all the followers I had. I really enjoyed sharing my projects with you.

When I purchased 3063 Henshaw, my vision for the property had two phases: restore the house as my home and build a garage with an apartment above it on the adjacent lot. The apartment was my plan to generate rental income to help offset the cost of the entire project.

I wanted the garage to complement the Cape Cod style of the house, complete with dormers on the second floor. I searched online until I found the exterior design I wanted. My father then reworked the apartment floor plan to fit my vision.

In 2018, I started working with Sean Keith to create official construction plans. At the time, Sean and I both served on the board of the Camp Washington Community Council. He had also completed the plans for my house. He offered to prepare the garage plans for $750 if I paid in advance. Having no reason to doubt him, I did.

The plans were never completed. After repeated attempts to contact Sean, I filed a claim in Small Claims Court. Sean did not appear, I was awarded a judgment, and the judgment has never been paid.

Couper Gardiner of M.Arch, who also served on the Community Council board, stepped in to complete the project. It took two years, and I owe Couper a tremendous amount of gratitude. He went far beyond what anyone could have expected and charged me only a fraction of his normal fees. Getting the plans drawn was only part of the challenge. Getting them approved by the City was another.

The original garage lot was only 25 feet wide. Because I was three feet short of meeting the required fire separation, windows were no longer permitted on the rear of the structure. The solution required a lot split and consolidation. I cut five feet from the house parcel and consolidated it with the garage parcel, increasing the width from 25 feet to 30 feet.

Although a curb cut already existed when I purchased the property, its location did not meet the City’s setback requirements. As a result, the garage had to be moved forward 20 feet. I had specifically designed the garage so it would sit behind the house. After the relocation, the two structures now overlap.

The City also required the entire garage to remain within its own parcel, and new water and sewer service had to be designed and shown on the plans.

With plans completed, I discovered I had been given incorrect information regarding the maximum width allowed for a driveway apron. Because the City had forced the garage 20 feet forward, I wanted to take advantage of that space by adding a parking pad beside the garage. I was told it could not be approved.

While researching another issue, I stumbled across the City’s regulations stating that driveway aprons could be up to 30 feet wide. That was more than enough to accommodate the parking pad, so I requested the City reconsider its decision.

The City approved the change. Unfortunately, the plans had already been completed, requiring Couper to make one final revision over a year after he started.

By the time I paid the architect, surveyor, attorney, and City fees, I had invested more than $3,000 just to obtain approved plans. I was so focused on my vision that I should have considered the early project woes might have been a sign the project was not meant to be.

Instead, they paled in comparison to what came next.

The elevations below show the vision I had been working toward for years. After everything it took just to get approved plans, I was finally ready to build.