Hey guys, what are your thoughts on this?

i have an old garage in the corner of my backyard with the driveway removed for green space purposes. I am looking the convert the garage into more of a barn like structure for kids parties or maybe future collector car storage / workshop. The backyard is a bit funky in layout. So the thought is to replace the old casement windows in the living, add centered French doors. Then in the back TV room adding bigger French doors and a corner full height window. And demoing the patio and adding a bluestone patio closer to the corner of the house

this way, the two backyard spaces flow better for play. And if I or a future owner wants to add a driveway (maybe stone ribbon pavers driveway) there will still be enough green space left.

Photos

Some more shots

Last set

Here are many older variations...some of which exclude the garage for more open space

Do you think the final design is the most sensible option?

A few things I was struggling with, which are addressed in the final design

1. Lack of storage / resale if I were to take down the garage
2. Better visibility from back family room into both side and backyard
3. Having enough yard space leftover if a future driveway were to be installed. Hence the final design having the smaller patio tucked away close to the house, and a secondary pea gravel sitting area in front of the garage.

I really liked the idea of two sets of doors. But realized that the ground level on the other side of the garage is a foot higher, which makes things awkward in terms of stepping down, or cutting through a beam to have the doors higher up in the wall. Plus with the new sets of doors in the living room, I didn’t want the garage to be so in-your-face, as that could deter future buyers when I go to sell.

The sellers pretty much left it behind for the same reasons. I don’t plan on using it too much. It’s fairly dilapidated but structurally is okay. It needs a new slab, roof, and obviously the windows and big doors. So it won’t be inexpensive by any means, but still less than to build new. But I’m also really tired of looking at this abandoned garage sitting in my backyard, and want to incorporate it better and repurpose. And if I ever have a mid life crisis and wan to get a nice summer car, I still have that option

I dont plan on staying here forever. Maybe 20 years tops. Max stay will be when kids are out of the house. The taxes here are really high and that’s when most ppl sell. Unless the taxes have me lookin elsewhere before that.

Theres no plumbing but but there is electrical which is very dated, so new electrical will be added as well as switches in the house to turn on exterior lighting etc

Agreed. But again, the taxes come into play. If this turns into bathrooms and fished square footage it could tack on another 5k a year in property taxes into the 30s. Which is why I’m not building a semi attached garage at the top of the driveway. Escrowing another 500 a month for many years leading up to a future car purchase doesn’t make sense. Swapping out doors and windows and replacing old, versus new improvements, is better for the assessment.

Someone is about to gut renovate my neighbors house and the assessors will be snooping around for the next year or so. Lol

but I wouldn’t do that. The contractors around here strictly abide and those that don’t are horrible

just take interior and some exterior overall measurements, and download a student version of cad. I mocked this up on a Sunday.