Scholars Mind

The House With a Snout

Many suburban homes don’t hide their parking lots at all—their garages are front-and-center. Consider these so-called “snout houses”, then discuss with your team: have you seen any in your community, and would it be better if their garages were more hidden?

Drive through any suburb and the first thing on every house is the garage door, jutting toward the street like a snout. The car, not the people, sits at the front.

Key concepts

The Snout House
A home whose protruding front garage dominates the street view, pushing living spaces and the entrance to the back — 'a house for a car, with a couple of rooms for the car's caretakers behind it'.

+ 2 more concepts inside

Every work — at a glance

  • The Snout House (house type)

    A suburban home whose protruding front garage dominates the street view, pushing the living rooms and entrance to the back — the car gets the prime spot, the people get what's left.

What to know

  1. 01
    A snout house looks strange because it tells the truth — by 'form follows function', its most prominent feature from the street is car storage, so it honestly reveals a home built around the vehicle rather than the people.

+ 1 more insight inside

Across subjects

The front garage is a 20th-century arrival. Early cars sat in a shed out back, like the horse before them; the attached garage crept forward, and post-war

Theme connection

"Are We There Yet?"

The house now meets the street with a garage door where a front porch used to be. Should garages be hidden? One side says yes: front garages create dead streets and put machines over people. The other says it is honest and practical — families do revolve around cars, and hiding the garage just makes homes cost more.

Practice — a sample

ARTA snout house's most prominent street feature is its garage door. By 'form follows function,' this MOST supports that the home is built around —

  • A The garden
  • B The car
  • C The family
  • D Energy use
  • E The neighbours

Sign in to answer and see why each option is right or wrong.

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