I am in the process of building a new home and would like to know what are my options as far as driveway design

by Moe
(Palatine,IL USA)

Hi Nancy,

You seem to be really passionate about what you do and this site has helped me discover a lot. Thank you!

I am interested in having a driveway that's circular but I was told I probably will not have enough room to do it.
The size of the lot is 200 feet deep and 100 feet wide.
The street is a very busy one especially at times of rush hour. Today on the existing property that will be demolished is a straight driveway to the front of the house. It's difficult to reverse out of the driveway because you have such a busy street.
the traffic from the south end is a bit less visible than the traffic from the north end and this is magnified a bit if I move the driveway to the south end of the house. The house is 40 feet deep and 52 feet wide. We are positioning the house to the north end of the property to take advantage of a side yard as I was told. The current property to be demoed has a driveway that's sitting on a lower elevation than the street, it ascends as you go towards the street from the garage.
The topo from the engineer with a recommended driveway for the new house is attached. The engineer suggested the new constructed driveway very close to where the current driveway is.
Please advise me on the best driveway design as I not only want access to be easy to the street but would like curb appeal with it.

Hi! I'm so glad you found my site helpful. I was able to see the picture, but unable to read the topo with the engineer's driveway design on it. It looks like you have a garage on the lower level of the existing house. This may be what drove the design of the driveway to be on this lower level. Will you have a garage under the house on your new house? Because of the slope from the front lawn area to the driveway, it appears that it would be difficult to connect a front driveway to a side driveway going to a garage. I agree with you about the street appeal and functionality of the house needing more focus on the front door. The size of your lot may better accommodate a U-shaped driveway in the front. They can fit in narrower spaces than a circle drive. Please try resending the topo with suggested driveway design again and hopefully I can help you in more detail.

Thanks for the submission,

Nancy