The Sporting Life

Secret Spaces

While the lower level is the most obvious place for fun, homeowners have found the garage—within, above, and beneath it—a prime place for sports and recreation. For a client in May Township near Stillwater, Purcell built an additional, oversized three-car garage with a game room on the floor above.

The garage itself features a colored, patterned concrete floor, in-floor heating, and hot and cold water—all of which help showcase the homeowner’s prized car collection and keep it clean. Stairs around the back of the garage lead to the game room, which features a full kitchen, pool table, TV, seating area, and bathroom with a clawfoot tub. All the millwork, doors, and cabinets are made of alder, while the ceiling above the pool table features a 200-year-old beam reclaimed from a barn.

“By creating a freestanding structure, you’re able to be more creative with what you do,” Purcell says of the space. However, he cautions that a separate outbuilding might not work for every property, given site and mechanical restrictions. But for those who do make the investment, Purcell says, they’re immediately rewarded. “In all our cases, our clients have found value in it. It’s not always about the money. It’s about being able to make your family comfortable, being able   to entertain.”

Homeowners have also discovered that the space underneath their garage is the perfect place for a gymnasium because the mechanicals are often already in place, you don’t need windows, and it’s relatively easy to dig the 15 feet or so needed to get enough arch on the basketball for shooting hoops. “It’s a hit when guests are over,” Lecy says. “Everybody becomes a jock.”

The size of the space can vary, though a typical court is about 24 feet by 34 feet, Lecy says. (A high school regulation basket-ball court is 50 feet by 84 feet.) Though basketball is popular in the home gymnasium, the space often gets used in other ways, says Stephen Imholte, president and owner of Golf Landscapes and Sport Surfaces in Hopkins, who installs flooring in these types of rooms.

“You see a lot of rooms that are more multifunctional and are big enough to play basketball or volleyball or hit tennis balls or golf balls [into a net].” In one project, Imholte installed a pitching machine with net in a home gymnasium for a former Minnesota Twins player who used it when his children weren’t playing basketball. Imholte has also helped build sub-basement gymnasiums—ones that are below the lower level of the home—with locker rooms included.

Although athletic purists might prefer hardwood flooring, most home gyms feature a synthetic surface such as polypropylene tile. “The advantages of using polypropylene are that they can be put down for less money, they’re more durable, and they can be used in a lot of different applications,” Imholte says. “And you can get more color into it. Because the tiles already come pre-cast, you’re able to mix and match, and from there you can paint logos.” Homeowners often customize the space with the colors of their favorite sports team. Mark Scherer, for example, chose orange and navy blue, inspired partly by the University of Virginia Cavaliers.

Outside the home, putting greens are as popular as ever, Imholte says. “When most people are doing a putting green, it’s in a small yard where they’re not hitting the ball a great distance. They want to practice chipping and 10- to 12-foot putts,” he says. “It’s the same type of situation as indoor rooms, as people are looking to improve and have some fun.” Although his company has installed putting greens as large as 4,000 square feet, Imholte says that the average size of a green is 500 to 600 square feet. Oftentimes, golfers will also set up a tee box and net for practicing driver shots.

Regardless of the type of sports or recreation space you choose, the investment will pay for itself many times over. “Especially with the cost of land, you want to maximize the value of your land,” Scherer says. “I’ve got a great lot. I’m never moving. Why not do it right?”