| What is there to say about ranch style home | | | | open onto back patios or decks for summer |
| plans? For everyone over forty they represent a | | | | entertaining, barbecues, and recreation. The flow |
| nostalgic, bygone era in which hoards of kids | | | | in a home is from the garage to the kitchen to |
| trawled through the streets and sitcom families | | | | the dining area to the living area - open designs in |
| lived in homes exactly like theirs. Although the | | | | which living, dining, and family rooms all blend into |
| earliest ranch homes date to California in the | | | | one another. Kitchens were often placed adjacent |
| 1930's and reflect that relaxed, Western lifestyle | | | | to the family room, so moms, dads, and kids |
| homes didn't become popular until after the | | | | could eat TV dinners while watching Bonanza or |
| Second World War. Developers led by architect | | | | Ozzie and Harriet on the tube. Clearly, this style |
| builders such as Joe Eichler adopted the ranch | | | | home is adapted to a certain lifestyle and period |
| style to produce huge housing developments for | | | | of history; hence the nostalgia. |
| World War II veterans taking advantage of the | | | | Ranch house floor plans were oriented horizontally |
| postwar GI Bill. Some homes echo the low profile | | | | parallel to the street, usually two rooms deep and |
| of Craftsman bungalows and the wide, | | | | four wide unlike earlier architectural styles, which |
| overhanging eaves and hip roofs characteristic of | | | | were but two rooms wide, and presented smaller |
| the Prairie style. Other ranches extend the Minimal | | | | facades. As mentioned previously, the style owes |
| Traditional, with the Modern style's wrapped | | | | much to the ascendancy of the automobile in |
| corner windows. As in all 20th century American | | | | American life, which pushed urban sprawl into the |
| architecture, ranch style homes are eclectic, and | | | | burgeoning suburbs, and which became a central |
| an individual house may incorporate many stylistic | | | | feature of architectural design in its own right |
| elements of architectural antecedents. | | | | (garages taking the place of front doors and |
| Typical ranch style floor plans are single-story, | | | | porches). Rational design also influenced the |
| rambling designs with hipped or gabled roofs. | | | | clustering of working and living spaces into one |
| Where earlier styles tended to be cubic, ranch | | | | section of the house, and living spaces in another |
| style homes tend to be horizontal and long, with | | | | section. These homes continue to be popular |
| asymmetrical facades. The shape can range from | | | | because of their ability to combine universal design |
| an unadorned rectangular box to various U-shaped | | | | with single-story accessibility, which is a factor |
| and L-shaped configurations. Designed for families | | | | with baby boomers and other seniors who want |
| on wheels, homes usually had attached garages | | | | to age at home. On the other hand, generation |
| and the laid-back California lifestyle was reflected | | | | Xer's like the retro look, and the relaxed, laid-back |
| in huge picture windows and sliding doors which | | | | family lifestyle which ranch homes facilitate. |