Reminiscing about my first obsession with residential architecture, I remember the copious details I added in the exterior of a house I drew on my chalkboard. Drawing with colored chalk was half the fun, but the house itself best identified with a ranch-style layout: it was horizontally long as opposed to vertical in height, I added a brick trim to the base of the house, and large windows to the front. The reason this was the house I decided to draw was based on my reality, all the houses in my neighborhood were modified ranch-style homes.
Now that I’m hoping to become a home owner in the near future, I’m researching homes for sale. And what style house am I finding? Mostly modified ranch…shocking. Living in suburban Southern California, the ranch-style home became the norm. Its design was based upon Frank Lloyd Wright architecture: low roof lines, horizontal fronts, lots of windows to let the outside in. Many communities in my neighborhood were designed by some well-known ranch-style architects like Joseph Eichler, Cliff May, and Gilbert Leong. These homes were known for their open floor plans, many contain atriums, and some have radiant heat under the flooring; quite modern for their 1950’s and ’60’s build date.
In my neighborhood, the majority of the homes were built between 1940 and the 1960’s. The architecture tells quite a story and I can almost see how the shape of homes morphed from one decade to the next. For instance, my block was built in 1951 and 1952. Using an online digital library, I found an old brochure advertising our community called Meadowlark Park. I’m pretty sure that most of my neighbors have no clue that they live in a community with such a name. There’s not a single placard anywhere stating that this is Meadowlark Park. Yet, the brochure went on to describe the houses as ranch-style homes with “massive chimney’s” (they are really very small in today’s standards), a “garage-and-a-half” (these single-car garages will barely house a mid-sized SUV) and “country living” in the valley. Oh, if only they developers had known that the valley would soon turn into a little city unto itself!
But these homes were larger in comparison to those built 10 years earlier and 3 miles south of where I live, a difference of 300 square feet. The ranch-style home was in the making; 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, it was a home owner’s dream come true. As the 1960’s approached, the true ranch-style homes emerged through Joseph Eichler and Cliff May, taking on architectural attributes similar to Frank Lloyd Wright. These homes were gigantic in comparison to the homes built in the 1940’s and ’50’s, almost twice the size in square feet (around 1,800 to 2,400 sq. ft.) They included an open floor plan, large patios with sliding glass door entries into the back yard, and many even incorporated atriums to really bring the outside in. The idea was to incorporate outside living in temperate Southern California.
The 1970’s homes are similar to the 1960’s, there is still a “modern” ranch feel to the architecture, think the Brady Bunch house. However, the homes of the 1980’s, mainly found on the perimeter of the valley, began to stray from the ranch-style floor plan and design. They became more heavily stuccoed, the features are larger and a little heavier in feel, many of the homes of the 1980’s have wood shingles or tile roofs. Over the past 20 years, residential architecture has moved far away from the ranch homes of the mid-century. Today’s homes are modified Mediterranean style homes with red tile roofs, two story floor plans, and a more vertical use of land, mainly because land is so limited in our urban-suburban neighborhoods. The ranch floor plans are still preferred by many, however they can only be found in older homes that often need more work than a newer model.
Here is a sampling of homes for sale ranging in age:
As I continue my house hunt, I’m sure I’ll see many variations of the ranch style house. I have to admit, it wasn’t my favorite style until I researched the architects and ideas behind the design. Now, I love ’em!
7 Comments
I had to laugh when I got down to the pictures — because the first thing that popped into my head when I started reading “ranch homes” and “California” was “Brady Bunch house”! Now, I’m wondering how that type of home is defined as a ranch. Personally, I’ve always wanted a two-story home — lived in a ranch briefly as a teenager and hated that there was minimal separation between the bedrooms and the rest of the home. I’m sure some ranch floorplans are better, but that was my experience.
@RainyDaySaver – I think you’re right, most of the ranch floor plans I’ve encountered have all the bedrooms on one side of the house. They seem to like to “group” them together. I’ll have to write a follow-up on floor plans to better explain the layout interior instead of just describing the exterior. Happy New Year!
I used to draw pictures of my dream home when I was a child but it was an architectural drawing of the house in the movie CLUE – with trap doors and a library. LOL.
I love ranch style homes now, too. I didn’t care for them much when I was younger. But I now see the idea behind the layout and love it. I can picture a courtyard outside my backyard. 😉
Now if they weren’t so darn expensive!
Ranch style is nice, but I really love Mediterranean / Spanish-style houses. Also, my favorite streets in Norcal or Socal are areas where each house has a different style, i.e. not just cookie-cutter development homes with different paint colors.
It’s so exciting you’re planning on buying a home. That’ll be on my list of goals in a few years.
By the way, I also write a personal finance blog – feel free to check it out. 🙂
@WellHeeled – Thanks for stopping by! I too like the streets where there are different house styles. In my area, it happens to be the really old parts of the valley, when the houses were built between the 1920’s and 1950’s, then you see quite the variety. The ranch styles have grown on me, though. I’ll check out your blog. Thanks again!