Municipalities Demand Better-Looking Neighborhoods
for Increased Home Values

Municipalities nationwide are enacting ordinances requiring the use of "curb appeal" techniques to beautify neighborhoods to increase home values. Major contributors to curb appeal, especially in budding neotraditional-style developments, are carriage house garage doors, as well as decorative rocks, shutters, and wrought iron.

"Architects are designing more and more communities in the pre-World War neotraditional style using nostalgic elements creating strong curb appeal. The character of a carriage house door fits the style of these communities," said David Gibson, President of Collaborative Group Architects Inc. Gibson serves on the City of Gilbert, AZ design review board, and helped design Verrado, a unique "home-town" community nestled in the foothills of the White Tank Mountains in Buckeye, AZ., recognized for its use of timeless town-building principles.

Since contemporary garage doors are the largest moving part in a home and the broadest piece of curb appeal on display, often taking up 30 percent to 40 percent of the front elevation of a home. More municipalities are demanding housing characteristics which downplay the garage door's large horizontal mass.

Garage doors often incorporate carriage house motifs that greatly enhance the architectural character of the home and the neighborhood. The latest garage doors offer increased style and function that can enhance the aesthetics of any home, detailed to blend into the aesthetics of the home's design. Their architectural frame occupies a major portion of the front landscape and has a major impact on the street perception of the home. And they are safer to use than ever before.

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