Motor Court Designs that Highlight a Historic Home

Parking courts and historic homes go hand-in-hand. Consider that many historic New England homes were built when horses, carriages and buggies were the norm, which meant homes were designed with wide, sweeping exterior entryways. You can recapture the essence of your historic home’s “first impression” by using parking court designs for historic homes.

Take Advantage of Parking Court Designs for Historic Homes to Highlight Your Architecture

This parking court was designed by the team here at TMS Architects. You can see how the parking court implements three tenets of good design:

• The material choices are varied to create more visual interest and to reflect the home’s architecture.
• The shape of the parking court is attractive and draws the eye to various landscape and architectural features.
• The colors chosen for both the hardscape and landscape elements of the court are all complementary with the existing landscape design.

Here are some more examples of parking courts that have used these same principles to yield stylish and attractive driveways and parking areas that add to – rather than detract from – the home’s design.

In this motor court, the warm colored pea gravel creates a well-draining surface for winter elements and matches the similar color palette found on the home’s exterior walls. A brick and cobble stone border adds another texture in a similar color scheme, while the stone entrance gate is an exact match with the exterior stone work. The entire presentation is cohesive and welcoming.

Shape is an important element in designing your court. Take a look at your existing footprint, architectural features, and landscape elements to design a parking court that works. In this case, a square-shaped upper-parking court makes more sense than a round one as it echoes the other square, geometrical elements of the lower pool level area and property footprint.

Consider how your color and design will affect the whole. This historic home opted to choose a less formal parking court design, using large, pale pavers with green grass planted in between. It perpetuates the understated elegance of the home and continues the white and green color scheme.