Ranch-style house

Ranch-style houses (also American ranch, California ranch) is a uniquely American domestic architectural style. First built in the 1920s, the ranch style was extremely popular in the United States during the 1940s to 1970s, as new suburbs were built for the Greatest Generation and later the Silent Generation. The style was exported to other nations and so is found in other countries.

The style is often associated with tract housing built during this period, particularly in the western United States, which experienced a population explosion during this period with a corresponding demand for housing.

The ranch house is noted for its long, close-to-the-ground profile, and minimal use of exterior and interior decoration. The houses fuse modernist ideas and styles with notions of the American Western period working ranches to create a very informal and casual living style. Their popularity waned in the late 20th century as neo-eclectic house styles, a return to using historical and traditional decoration, became popular. However, in recent years the ranch house has been undergoing a revitalization of interest.

Preservationist movements have begun in some ranch house neighborhoods as well as renewed interest in the style from a younger generation who did not grow up in ranch-style houses. This renewed interest in the ranch house style has been compared to that which other house styles such as the Bungalow and Queen Anne experienced in the 20th century, initial dominance of the market, replacement as the desired housing style, decay and disinterest coupled with many of teardowns, then renewed interest and gentrification of the surviving homes.

Features

The following features are considered key elements of the original ranch house style, although not all ranch houses have all them.

• Single story
• Long, low roofline
• Asymmetrical rectangular, L-shaped, or U-shaped design
• Simple floor plans
• Open floor plans
• Attached garage
• Sliding glass doors opening onto a patio
• Large windows
• Vaulted ceilings with exposed beams
• Windows often decorated with shutters
• Exteriors of stucco, brick and wood
• Large overhanging eaves
• Cross-gabled, side-gabled or hip roof
• Simple and/or rustic interior and exterior trim

Links

• Ranch-style house – Wikipedia
• About Ranch Style Houses
• Atomic Ranch Magazine
• Ranch Revival
• The Ranch House Lives On

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