Among the thousands of ranch houses across the country, however, there are some real gems, especially the earliest versions and some of the exciting Modernist iterations that followed.
While ranch homes can, in some ways, be the epitome of uninspired cookie cutter conservatism, many historians point out that the original concept was anything but conformist. In fact, it was downright radical according to author and Slate architecture critic Witold Rybczynski. He says that the ranch house represented an historical anomoly, a revolutionary departure from America's long love affair with nostalgic "domestic status symbols" like formal entryways, dormers, gables, pitched roofs and porticos (features so popular in today's new construction). The ranch, with its single-storied, low slung profile, its open-plan interior, attached garage and large windows conveyed a unique diffidence, informality and lack of pretention.
For Cliff May, the Californian designer credited with designing the first ranch house in the 1930s, the ranch house was developed to serve three basic tenets:
Livability: open floor plans created an informal and seamless flow between rooms. attached garages that integrate the car into modern life. For May, the ranch house offered "friendliness... informality, and gaiety.” With cross ventilation, sliding glass doors, large windows, private semi-enclosed patios and exterior corridors, the early ranch was all about "sunshine and informal outdoor living" that “connect you to the day, to the time of day and the weather of the day.” The post-and-beam construction and open floor plan allowed for a lot of light. For the first time, kitchens were opened up to an ever-shrinking dining area. Family and recreational areas were paramount, as was storage space.
Flexibility: Multi-purpose rooms could be adapted as children aged and the family's needs changed. The ranch's simple, unadorned style could accommodate all manner of styles and decor. The layout also mean that homeowners could also easily tack on additions. And the homes tended to be forward-thinking when it came to the latest in home appliances and technology.
Unpretentious Character: Simple antechambers replaced the formal foyer; unimposing exteriors were typically devoid of traditional flourishes like gables and dormers. These were homes in which families could grow and host informal parties and BBQs.
The Ranch is Born
Though it has its roots in 19th century Spanish COlonial adobe houses, the ranch house really took off in Post-World War II California, when it began its eventual domination of the American suburban landscape. By 1950, nine out of 10 new houses were ranch houses. Americans were feeling optimistic after the war, mortgage rates were generous, and demand for new homes was soaring as soldiers returned home. Developers cashed in on this demand by embarking on what would be an suburban building boom of unprecedented size and scope. Massive subdivisions of "tract" ranch houses on inexpensive land served the growing middle-class market. Ranch houses, with their sprawling footprint and large lots, were only possible, of course, now that the car was king in America and the average Joe could live further out and on bigger chunks of land.
Upgrades and Downgrades
By the late 1960s, builders were taking short cuts and the ranch house would be reduced to decidedly bland and charmless rectangular boxes; cheap imitations that often lacked the charm and functionality of the original models. The sheer omnipresence of the ranch house also made it the perfect target for critics. But to dismiss the ranch house outright would be to miss some of the magnificent reinterpretations of the style that emerged throughout the mid-century. In California, architects and builders at Eichler Homes and the Alexander Construction Company built some gorgeous ranch homes with a sleek mid-centiury modernist twist. It's no wonder that Eichler and Alexander houses are now garnering the much-deserved attention of preservationsists and mid-century modern afficionados across the country.
Characteristics of the Ranch House
• Single story
• Low pitched gabled or hipped roof
• Deep-set eaves
• Horizontal, rambling layout:
• Rectangular, L-shaped, or U-shaped design
• "Walls of windows": double-hung, sliding, and picture windows
• Attached garage
• Simple floor plans
• Natural materials: Oak floors, wood or brick exterior
• Lack of decorative details
• Open, informal and casual
• Family rooms
• Kitchens that open up to dining areas
• Multiple bedrooms and baths
• Ample storage
• Incorporation of technological advances (telephone wiring in every room, central heating and cooling, full-house vacuums)
• Integration with the outdoors: large windows and easy access to patios and courtyards
Images:
FIRST ROW
• 1 - 3 Eichler Design. The California home--an original Eichler ranch--of Barry Briscoe.
• 4 Eichler Homes of Southern California
• 5 Uncle Eddie's Theory Corner. This 50s ranch incorporates old ranch and barn ideas, and old European ideas like French doors.
SECOND ROW
• 6 Highly coveted "lanai model" Cliff May home in Long Beach, CA. Rancho Style.
• 7 A Palm Springs home built by the Alexander Construction Company. Eichler Network.
• 8 1953 ranch in Long Beach. Rancho Style.
• 9 Another California home designed by Eichler. Balboa Highlands.
• 10 1954 Cliff May ranch. Rancho Style.
THIRD ROW
• 11 Mid-century modern Palm Springs ranch with "butterfly roof". Retro Renovation. Note the diamond-patterned concrete blocks, emblematic of the Southern Californian mid-century modern design.
• 12 Eichler Design. Advertisement for an Eichler-designed home in a 1960s issue of Family Circle magazine.
• 13 A less than thrilling example of the ranch house. Baton Rouge Goverment
Sources:
• Cliff May and The California Ranch House by Laura Gallagos. 2005.
• Rancho Style
• Ranch Houses are Not All The Same by David Bricker.
• The Ranch Hosue Anomaly by Witold Rybczynski/Slate
Ellen's Thirties Style Small Space
Juan's Garage Turned Modern Guest House
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I love living in my Cliff May Ranch. Only 1,337 (I swear that's what the records say!) sf but 3br 2fb and it feels much bigger than it is b/c of the layout. Just had our wedding and party here and accommodated 50+ people easily!
It's sad to see so many mcm ranches, as well as "mid century modest" ranches torn down to be replaced by mcmansions. It makes me want to cry/punch someone.
In northern california the builders Eichler and Streng built amazing, affordable ranch style homes. Much like how Stanford University was originally supposed to be for the average person, these homes now sell for $600k+.
Ranch house is my favorite style, as long as it's done right. I love the walls of windows and the openness of them.
I'm with Violet. I thought there was supposed to be a return toward modest sized homes, so when I see a small ranch destroyed it makes me sad that another couple like me and my spouse won't be finding an affordable small house.
I love these homes in Tulsa, OK - http://www.lortondale.com/
We saw a msm ranch that needed work. To much work since it had mold and in foreclosure. It had beams, bricks, hardwood floors and two fireplaces. The potential was there. A developer bought it and stripped it of all the charm. Dry walled everything. Slapped some white paint on it, and sold it. So sad. We ended up buying a bungalow. Tiny and with lots of quirks, I wouldn't trade it in for something larger and newer in a second. They just don't make these old houses like they used to.
My 1954 small ranch house neighborhood must have looked cookie-cutter and very boxy initially since it had only two floor plans and their mirror image versions. Fortunately, the plain, basic architecture of a ranch is flexible, as mentioned, and makes custom upgrades easy. The ranch houses in this neighborhood have become distinctive over the decades due to additions, landscaping, hardscaping, styling, and paint. A few of the original owners still live in them happily.
Thank you so much for this feature! We are huge Cliff May fans and despite the fact that we were looking for a larger home to "grow into", we feverishly looked at every Cliff May that came on the market in Long Beach, despite the fact that our realtor just did not get it (considering it went against our size criteria). We ultimately went with a larger 1948 ranch house, that we plan on renovating bit by bit and we definitely plan on implementing some of Mr. May's aesthetics into it as well. Thank you for the reminder that not all ranch houses are boring. Many of them are gems waiting to be discovered! Just say no to McMansions!
I like all of these except for the last one. That one is just awful.
I love ranch houses, even though I grew up in one of the bland one.
HOWEVER, no discussion of ranch houses can be considered complete without mentioning Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian houses, especially the Jacobs house of 1936, which inspired many later ranch houses:
http://www.usonia1.com/
I love these types of posts. Thank you for the informative posts AT!
LOVE a ranch house - even the bad ones remind me of my childhood (going to friends' houses, mostly). Who doesn't love open space and easy flow?
I love living in my ficheler house! (east coast fake eichler.) The only complaint my three year old has is when are we going to build a basement. She associates basements as places to keep TONS and TONS of toys.
Ranches are great when generous windows take advantage of gorgeous landscaping. Ranches are also fantastic for the elderly and aging--no stairs and fairly easy to update for accessibility.
Violet Veil. I do not think violence is the answer to this problem.
OMG! I pegged that last one for a house in Baton Rouge and I was right! I grew up in one here in Baton Rouge that looked just like it! In fact, my sister-in-law grew up in the neighborhood that this house is in.
One more thing about the Baton Rouge rancher, it's probably not a true rancher since the ranch homes down here are greatly influenced by Acadian style homes that have the more severely pitched roofs seen in the photo above and often have wide porches across the front of the home. The interiors are very ranchy, though.
I love ranch style homes. I did my senior paper in Interior Design school on "lifetime homes", homes that a couple can buy as their first home, and grow old in, not moving when they retire. With the crop up of retirement living, condos, townhomes, etc all full of STAIRS that older people have a more difficult time navigating, I love that Ranch style homes have all rooms, utilities, and even garage on the same level, eliminating stairs and worries of falls.
Mid C Frank: thanks for the mention of the Jacobs house--I live a few blocks from it! The Usonian concept seems not as widely known on the coasts as it is in the midwest.
I am so pleased to see all these comments! I must admit, I didn't expect much when I started researching the ranch house. I grew up in DC so wasn't very familiar. I was really amazed at how much I love some of these original ranch homes. So cool, so practical. - Catrin
:) We moved to the Long Beach Ranchos early this year and loving every minute of it. We were lucky enough that all windows were intact as well as the mislite glass walls inside.
LOL. And photo 10 is our neighbor!
A lovely, clean design! Timeless!
I love my ranch home too. It was built in 1957 and is rather plain, but I'm slowly adding authentic and modern touches to it to give it more character.
I agree with Darlene, love them all except the last one.......it is more of the mid to late 1980's. Influenced by ranch. The body is ranch, but wouldn't call the roof ranch.
I saw the last one and immediately thought... "southern ranch?". Yep. Or something along those lines.
It's the fake shutters that almost every house in the south seems to have. Dead giveaway.
I don't understand the hate for ranch houses. To me, they seem like a perfect solution where/when space is possible.
on the dark side, that "flow" can create other issues, including lack of privacy. in our eichler, there's not a room on the house where you can go to fart and not be heard throughout the house -- sometimes good/sometimes bad.
i remember my grandmother's east coast brick tudor of the same size. you could hold fight-club in the basement while folks slept quietly upstairs.
I would k.ill for a Cliff May ranch.
I grew up in a 50s ranch in Buffalo, NY. Someone had put a front porch on it, totally shading in the big front picture window. The next owners took it down-- and put a center entrance in its place. Really too bad. The back views were lovely.
If you're really into these houses, check out my friends photography book!
http://www.amazon.com/Springs-Mid-century-Modern-Dolly-Faibyshev/dp/0764334611
I believe, but correct me if I'm wrong, the home in the movie "A Single Man" is considered a ranch. Well if there ever was an argument for this style of home, surely that is it! It's simply stunning. In fact, here is Apartment Therapy's own post on it: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/look/the-house-from-tom-fords-a-single-man-104264
one of my favorite things... all the natural lighting from the floor to ceiling windows! YES please! I dream of one day owning a rancher!
Here's another Cliff May shot. It shows the open main room floor plan. We have a fence now - so it's both open space on the inside and more private (and defined) outdoor space.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bensmithson/5594708045/in/set-72157625188852469/lightbox/
I have deep sentimentality for ranches. Having grown up in Southern California, these look like home to me. And I didn't even grow up in one, lol!
And to Alan Hess I'd say, "Speaking of Big Macs, how do you think the term McMansion came about?" I'd love to be around to see if the tract homes of today are still treasured 60 years from now like our mid-century ranches are.
The last house looks like most of the homes built here in North Central Texas in the early 80s. If I drove by that house, it wouldn't occur to me to call that a mid-century ranch at all.
I have always hated ranch homes. I've never been inside one, and from the outside they always look like they'd be tiny and dark. What an education this article was. Some of these are just gorgeous and filled with light.
In 1950, 9 out of 10 houses were 1000 sf, single story, 2 bedroom/1 bath priced at about $11,000 (US Census). There is no census data on style until the 1970s. The plan books (1945-1955) show a trend after WWII of building homes almost identical to those built in the 1930s. After the War, they were a mix of small traditional and starter houses. Though the ranch style gained popularity after the War, the ranch phenom really didn't take hold until about 1955, when the economy really began to pick up steam.
When I started researching mid century architecture, I expected to see more modern design earlier, but it took 20 years for the avant garde designers to gain any traction with middle-class home builders.
It's also important to remember that the ranch is a child of the bungalow movement (1900-1920). Open floor plans, natural materials, and integration with outdoor living rooms were hallmarks of the earliest California bungalows.
I've come to love Atomic Ranch style. I'd point anyone with a love or interest in the style towards http://www.atomic-ranch.com/ , their wonderful magazine and the corresponding active group on Facebook.
My 1955 house is more ranch than atomic, but the little touches sneak in: clean lines around the aluminum frame windows (oh, boy, now those are a pain), built-in hutches in TWO rooms, combined living/dining room, and a HALL (albeit tiny) into which the living room, two bedrooms and bath (and hot water/heater closet) open, the proverbial panelled den <sigh, not my fave>. I have more rooms with 5 doors/doorways than seems statistically possible.
I could never justify the cost in this house but I dream of custom kitchen cabinets based on Heywood-Wakefield bookcases. Wheat. <sigh again>
I grew up in a 1950s ranch on a cattle ranch on the prairie, replete with Danish modern furnishings. My grandparents custom designed an amazing ranch gem that continues to inspire my love of MCM, and the prairie :)
Most of the pictures shown are the more "retro" looking homes and many are being updated with a more modern day look. It's easy to update those types because of the sleek lines and the demand for more open floor plans. I like the ranch style house plans more like the yellow home pictured above. They seem more traditional.
Having grown up in California and then Portland, OR,, I have always loved single level ranch style homes with lots of glass, easy access to nicely landscaped outdoor areas and an attached garage.
Having spent the last three years in the Washington DC area I am still so puzzled as to why the homes built in this area do not have a garage at all (when the winters require people to scrape snow and ice off their cars on many mornings). Many of the brick bungalows do not have any access to the outdoors except the front door. Most homes are not landscaped with anything other than grass all the way from the home's foundation right out to the curb with maybe a few trees planted in the grass here and there. Most of the homes are built of red brick with wood trim painted white (boring to me). In order to see homes with landscaping and the more interesting diverse styles of architecture like I'm accustomed to throughout the entire Western US, I have to go to the wealthy metropolitan areas here in the East. I am counting the days till I can move back to the Western US!