It was not until 1965-6 that he built his dream house in the woods at 70 Lake Avenue. When he built it, “All of Glendale was thrown,” but today architecture aficionados consider it to be an important Mid-Century Modern home. It’s located on a 5.5-acre parcel Woodie bought in partnership with Tom and Kay Muir, who lived next door. Woodie’s house is a two-level structure with a flat roof; it sits on a slope so that the basement is on grade on the rear and the living space above is on grade on the front.

The plan is nearly square – 56′-8″ x 53′-4″; or 17 by 16 meters. Garber based the dimensions of the house on a grid of 40″ modules or meters because he believed the meter was “the most intelligent dimension for human planning.” He reasoned, “an average man walks comfortably through a 3′-4″ x 6′-8″ opening, or 1 x 2 M, and sleeps in a similar dimension in plan. Dimensions take on comprehensibility as well as order and can be committed to reason and simple recollection instead of memory.”

The lower level was used to store up to 12 antique cars, along with his tractor and freezers full of produce raised on the property. One approaches the house from below via a stairway to an open porch. The living space on the upper floor is open, with glass walls on two sides. He wrote, “I’m sure the thought of one room for cooking, dining, play, living and everything else would be shocking to many,” but Woodie anticipated the popularity of the Great Room, which is standard in today’s homes.