'Garage Mahals' are taking over Minnesota — and homeowners associations hate them
Mar 3, 2025
Key Points
- Minnesota homeowners are building sprawling garage structures ranging from 2,700 to 6,000 square feet—complete with heated floors, bars, and fireplaces—to store luxury vehicles and equipment in a state where winter temperatures freeze ground for months.
- Cross Lake has imposed two moratoriums on new storage buildings as metal structures prompt residents to rebrand the vacation community as 'Tin City,' exposing a clash between aesthetic concerns and municipal tax base expansion.
- Minnesota's loose zoning rules enable garage mahals to flourish where California restricts them, transforming functional storage into status symbols that blur the line between hobby space and second homes.
Summary
Minnesota is experiencing a boom in oversized residential storage structures—garage mahals, car barns, barn dominiums, toy sheds, or shop houses—that are drawing complaints from homeowners associations and city councils.
These structures range from 2,700 to 6,000 square feet. Brett Bailey built a nearly 2,700-square-foot climate-controlled garage after his racing trailer's wheels froze to the ground during a brutal Minnesota winter. The space now houses two Porsches, a Ferrari, a custom Harley, a dune buggy, and a racing trailer, along with heated floors, a tequila bar, bathroom with shower, car lift, and leather seating. A Cross Lake property owner constructed a 4,200-square-foot structure outfitted with a full kitchen, flat-screen TV, stone fireplace, and taxidermied Kodiak bear, storing boats, RVs, sports cars, motorcycles, and a Model A automobile.
Cross Lake, a vacation community 2.5 hours north of the Twin Cities, has imposed a moratorium on new storage buildings twice. The metal structures have prompted some residents to call the community "Tin City." Homeowners associations object to the aesthetic impact. Proponents counter that the buildings expand the municipal tax base and serve a genuine need: in a state where temperatures drop below freezing for half the year, residents need space to build and store equipment.
Minnesota's looser zoning rules have made garage mahals possible where other states impose strict limits. California residents face strict constraints on accessory dwelling units and cannot easily build such structures. The trend has turned functional storage into a status symbol that blurs the line between hobby space and second home.