garages converted into art galleries

When we think of the houses of the wealthiest people on the planet, we imagine impossible architectures, houses built from the dreams of those who have an unlimited portfolio. However, something seems to be changing about the way they build their “palaces.” If before we dreamed of the homes of millionaires, now we are going to do so with their garages, converted into a kind of exclusive caves to display their wonders on four wheels.

Garages converted into art galleries. Gil Dezer, real estate developer and billionaire, told CNN that the least important thing in his residential tower are the views of a Miami beach. What he really likes is to admire his cars through the large interior windows: all rooms have a direct view to admire his eleven favorite cars, including a McLaren Speedtail or a Bugatti Chiron, each valued at more than a million dollars.

As we will see below, there are no limits to turning garages into lavish spaces when you don’t have to worry about money. From skyscrapers with elevators “only” for cars, to heated floors, personalized lights, or even televisions that possibly cost more than your home. A vein that some architecture studios have detected before the rest.

Impossible screens. One of the studios most savvy with this new “need” of millionaires was SHH Architecture and Interior Design, based in London and founded by Graham Harris. The trend gave them a free rein to innovate in spaces where it had never been done before, converting and mixing concepts such as luxury dens for men and garages, all to create spaces where one can relax and store the car.

Harris explained that by fusing the garage and the traditional American basement living room, these super-luxury “exclusive caves” can range from advanced car racing simulators with immersive screens or virtual reality headsets, to all kinds of elaborate bars. , life-size bowling alleys, golf simulators or giant screens to watch sports. In fact, the head of the studio says that one of the most in-demand screens is the Samsung ‘Wall’ (a custom-made LED), with a starting price of $385,000.

Dezervator. Dezer was so obsessed with being able to get into his vehicle from home that he made the “easiest” decision in 2017. His firm Dezer Developments patented, together with the architecture studio Sieger Architects (SSA), a car elevator concept. Yes, the man built a tower or skyscraper called Porsche Design Tower, and on each floor there is a garage with an electric charging station. The Dezervator, the patented elevator, takes owners directly to the house with their car.

As? Apparently, in the technology used, residents of the Tower can access the elevator thanks to RFID tags that are scanned through the system. Once you enter the skyscraper with the vehicle, the technology guides drivers using lights to the correct elevator that takes them to their home. Among other celebrities, when Messi signed for the Miami team he went to live in the Tower.

Bentley Residences. And since there is no one without two, Dezer has launched another complex in Miami with similar characteristics. It will be a 62-story tower that is more than 200 meters high, one where, instead of one, there will be up to four Dezervators. Not only that. The lifts will be larger and will have room for up to four vehicles. In total, 216 apartments (with pool) with prices ranging from five to 35 million dollars. The Bentley Residences complex is expected to be completed by 2026.

More luxury in the city. Another of the leading firms in converting garages into majestic spaces also comes from London. Thorp Design, an architecture and interior design studio, built a garage where the client wanted all the amenities, “featuring a kitchen and bathroom hidden behind custom shelving designed to display a wonderful collection of automotive literature. It is also ecological with solar panels on the roof and Tesla batteries hidden in the woodwork,” explains the studio.

The design studio ND Studios has also joined this boom, “we have a garage that surrounds a games room with glass windows, transforming the client’s car collection into a colorful art exhibition. The garage itself is a spectacle, with an illuminated ceiling, dynamic turntables and a wall full of televisions.”

Garages with the scent of 007. Study No 1, also in the city, explained that in Mayfair, where walking is already a luxury, the owners of a development of 44 apartments can store their cars in Vault, an automated parking system straight out of a James Bond movie , “Drivers enter at street level and park their vehicle in a large space. “The vehicle is then taken four levels underground, before being parked at one of 47 stations.”

Not only that, Vault has an automated system where vehicles are ready to return to the top based on the time their owners start their day, it has an intelligent system that uses automatic license plate recognition and is password protected for maximum security .

The extras of having these fleets. We have said it on more than one occasion, these dream cars that now seem to “live” better than millions of people, not only have the initial cost to get one, there are many more extras. In fact, sometimes the difficult thing is not buying a luxury unit, it is maintaining it. The cost of having it “ready” is unfeasible for most people, and if you are unlucky enough to have it go through a shop, the repair can easily cost as much as a normal sedan.

Study: cars, rich people and happiness. We reach the end of this walk through the most extreme luxury of millionaires and their vehicles, asking ourselves the big question: why so much ostentation? Does it give you happiness? A few years ago, two American researchers, Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko, surprised the United States with their book The Millionaire Next Door,

In it, they interviewed 1,000 Americans with an average net worth of $3.7 million. Each interview consisted of 249 questions. Virtually everyone saw themselves as frugal, and when asked about their habits, they found the following:

• 50% of millionaires had paid $399 or less for the most expensive suit they ever bought and 75% had never paid more than $599.
• 50% of the millionaires surveyed had never spent more than $140 on a pair of shoes and 75% had never spent more than $199.
• 50% of millionaires had never spent more than $235 on a wristwatch in their lives and 75% had only paid less than $1,125.
• 50% of millionaires had never spent more than $29,000 on a motor vehicle and 95% had never spent more than $69,000.

Finally, separating out the 14% of millionaires who had inherited their wealth (and who on average spent more than $36,000 on a car), the millionaires in the study spent an average of just $27,000 on their most expensive motor vehicles.

Second study. A decade later, Stanley again questioned the “well-off” from the previous study. He found that in the previous ten years, more than 99% of the millionaires surveyed had not purchased or leased any of the following motor vehicles: Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Lotus, Ferrari, Rolls Royce and Bentley. Additionally, 79% had not purchased or leased a BMW, 79% had not purchased a Lexus, and 75% had not leased a Mercedes. Surprisingly, the most common car driven by American millionaires was not a luxury car, but a regular Ford.

All this leads us to another question. So, is there less “Gil Dezer” in the world than we think? It is possible, although it is also possible that even being a millionaire, there are “classes and classes.”

Image | Porsche Design Tower, Dezer Developments, British Land

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