Small Home Gazette, Fall 2017
Letter From the Editor: Are Yards Becoming Less Important?
I think the summer of 2017 will go down as one of the best in recent memory. Only a few hot and humid days, and timely rains that kept our Twin Cities gardens and lawns looking lush. Over in St. Paul, the numerous monarchs, tiger swallowtails and painted lady butterflies that graced our yard capped off a great summer.
Gail and I enjoy spending time in our yard because we’ve created an outdoor room. Our yard is a key element of our bungalow life. However, recent home expansion projects in the neighborhood have me thinking we’re seriously out-of-step.
With houses on three sides, these homeowners sacrificed most of their small yard for a two-car garage.
With the construction of a new garage, the small backyard that remains is just beyond a low retaining wall.
Consider these two photos. The first shows a home on a busy street that now features a large garage on the front of the home. With other homes on three sides, the front was their only option for parking cars. The second shows a home closer to ours where the owners converted a tuck-under garage into living space and pushed the garage back toward the alley with a deck above. Don’t be distracted by the aesthetics of either project—focus instead on the loss of yard space.
Almost by definition, home additions gobble up green space. But recent projects that I’ve seen take this to a new level. Do young homeowners not value their yards? Do they see yard work as a chore? Is this a trend?
Twin Cities bungalows were pitched as affordable spaces that gave people greater independence. Bungalows were purchased by the working classes who wanted fresh air; space to hang out the wash to dry; a yard for the kids to play in; and space for vegetable and herb gardens to save on the family food bill. Those first owners of our homes not only enjoyed their new homes; they also enjoyed their yards.
Today the air is still fresh, but clothes dryers and farmers’ markets have eliminated some of the reasons why bungalow owners value yards. And playing in the yard is a low priority for many kids. Some of us will always prefer to spend time tending to a yard, but I worry that this preference is dying with our generation of bungalow owners or soon thereafter.
While it seems as if we have an endless supply of bungalows with generous yards, the reality is that, year after year, more bungalow yards are made smaller by expansion projects that leave a tiny yard that is merely ornamental rather than true space for living. Yard by yard, our neighborhoods are losing the green space that was a key piece of the original bungalow lifestyle.
As expansions continue, future homeowners who value a yard will have fewer choices when shopping for a place to experience a “complete” bungalow existence. And that’s a loss we cannot restore.
