Ranch

Ranch-style (also American ranch, rambler or rancher) 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.

Ranch-Style Features

The following features are usually considered key elements of the original ranch house style:

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

History & Development

The 20th century Ranch House style has its roots in North American Spanish colonial architecture of the 17th to 19th century. These buildings used single story floor plans and native materials in a simple style to meet the needs of their inhabitants. Walls were often built of adobe brick and covered with plaster, or more simply used board and batten wood siding. Roofs were low and simple and usually had wide eaves to help shade the windows from the Southwestern heat. Buildings often had interior courtyards which were surrounded by an U shaped floor plan. Large front porches were also common. These low slung, thick walled, rustic working ranches were common in the Southwestern states.The California bungalow of the early 20th century also served as a precedent with its simple one story outline, ample porch, and garden orientation.

Early Modern Period

Several American architects of the early 20th century were instrumental in taking the Spanish colonial ranch homes and fusing them with Modern Architecture to create the California Ranch House Style. Cliff May of San Diego and later, of Los Angeles, and William Wurster of San Francisco are two of the more common names associated with this innovation. Cliff May's book, "Western Ranch Houses," written with the editors of Sunset Magazine, stresses three basic concepts about ranch houses that serve as foundational philosophical underpinnings. First, is livability, second, flexibility and third is an unpretentious character. All three elements were addressed by combining modern building practices with the rustic Spanish Colonial rancherias.

Era of Popularity

By the 1950s the Ranch, by now often called simply the ranch house or even "rambler house", accounted for nine out of every ten new houses. The seemingly endless ability of the style to accommodate the individual needs of the owner/occupant, combined with the very modern inclusion of the latest in building developments and simplicity of the design satisfied the needs of the time. Ranch houses were built throughout America and were often given regional facelifts to suit regional tastes. The "Colonial Ranch" of the midwest and east coast is one such noted variant, adding American Colonial features to the facade of the California Ranch House. Ranch homes of the 1940s and 50s are typically more deliberately rustic in nature than those of the 60s and 70s, with features such as dovecotes, Swiss board edging on trim, and generally western and even fantasy trim styling. In the 60s the Ranch house echoed the national trend towards sleekness in design, with the homes becoming even simpler in trim and ornamentation. The Canadian 1970s simple raised rancher house style had a basement underneath it, was a great new hip design for the middle class.

Decline

American tastes in architecture began to change in the late 1960s, a move away from Modernism and Ranch Homes towards more formal and traditional styles. Builders of Ranch Houses also began to simplify and cheapen construction of the homes to cut costs, eventually reducing the style down to a very bland and uninteresting house with little of the charm and drama of the early versions. By the late 1970s the ranch house was no longer the home of choice and had been eclipsed by the Neo-Eclectic styles of the late 20th century. (Very late custom Ranch Homes of the later 1970s begin to exhibit features of the Neo-Eclectics, such as dramatically elevated rooflines, grand entryways, and traditional detailing) These Neo-Eclectic homes typically continue many of the lifestyle interior features of the Ranch House, such as open floor plans, attached garages, eat in kitchens, and built in patios, though their exterior styling typically owes more to Northern Europe or Italy or 18th and 19th century homes styles than the Ranch House. Neo-Eclectic houses also have a significant level of formality in their design, both externally and internally, the exact opposite of the typical Ranch Style House. Additionally the increase in land prices has meant a corresponding increase in the number of two story homes being built, and a shrinking of the size of the average lot, both trends which inhibit the traditional ranch house style. Ranch style houses are occasionally still built today, but mainly in the Western states and, usually, as individual custom homes.

Revival of Interest

Beginning in the late 1990s a revival of interest in the ranch style house occurred in United States. The renewed interest in the design is mainly focused on existing homes and neighborhoods, not new construction. Younger house buyers find that ranch houses are affordable entry level homes in many markets, and the single story living of the house attracts older buyers looking for a house they can navigate easily as they age. The houses' uniquely American heritage, being an indigenous design, has furthered interest as well. The houses simplicity and unpretentious nature, in marked contrast to the more dramatic and formal nature of neo-eclectic houses, makes them appealing for some buyers who are looking for something different. The more distinctive ranch houses, such as modernist Eichlers or Cliff May designs, as well as custom homes with a full complement of the style's features, are in particular demand in many markets. Many neighborhoods featuring ranch-style houses are now well-established, with large trees and often with owner modifications that give these sometimes redundant styles significant character. As these homes were mainly built in the time frame of 1945 to 1970 they are modern in their infrastructure, their heating/cooling systems, wiring, plumbing, windows, doors, and other systems can be easily repaired and upgraded.

Variations

Two Story Versions - The raised ranch is a variation where a furnished basement is mostly or completely above ground foundation serves as an additional floor. The common result is a two story version of a Ranch-style house. It may be built into a hill to some degree, such that the full size of the house is not evident from the curb.

Commercial versions - The ranch house style was adapted for commercial use during the time of the style's popularity. As the concept of a "drive in" shopping center was being created and popularized the ranch style was a perfect style to fit into the large tracts of ranch homes being built. Commercial ranch buildings, such as supermarkets and strip malls, typically follow the residential style with simple rustic trim, exposed brick and shake roofs, and large windows.

Criticisms

Ranch style houses have been subject to criticism almost from their inception. This section will discuss some of the most common criticisms of the style by detractors, and counter arguments often used by supporters of the style in defense. General criticisms are that ranch style houses lack a style and are too sterile and utilitarian. Their sheer commonness often makes them a target of disdain. A counter argument to this criticism is that the objector is simply uneducated in the style the ranch house represents, which is simplicity and lack of ornamention. Furthermore, the ranch house very much is a legitimate style that has a long historical basis.

Cultural criticism - The ranch house phenomenon was very much centered in the blue collar lower income and white collar middle income socioeconomic groups. Almost from the very start of the ranch house era the style was criticized by the established architectural elite. Thus a clear cultural divide can be seen in the criticisms of the ranch house, the "masses" embracing the design for decades and most of the established architectural community deriding it. The early ranch house tracts were mocked for their treeless nature, and "soulless" was a common adjective to describe such housing, along with the term "ranchburger". A counter argument to this criticism is that the arguments against the house on an architectural style basis, or a "soulless" basis, reflect a class divide and differing cultural visions of house styles and home life. Another counter argument is that ranch house neighborhoods, which now are at least 30 and often 60 years old, are no longer treeless tracts and have developed "character" and have generally not decayed as many previous house style neighborhoods did after their popularity waned.

Environmental criticisms - Since the 1970s green movements began, the ranch house has often attacked for being wasteful of resources. The large lots of the ranch houses have been attacked as wasteful to water in order to maintain their turf, and for creating "suburban sprawl." The long and rambling nature of the homes for a single family is seen as a waste of building materials and as increasing the energy required to heat or cool the house. The suburban nature of the homes, with their encouragement of car culture by having attached garages, is criticized as destroying community and encouraging alienation and isolation. A counter argument to this criticism is that this argument is really focused on the very nature of modern housing and cities: ought cities and modern life to be dependent on personal automobiles for transit or other methods and ought modern living to be centralized or not? The ranch house merely is one style of housing that has been built in the last hundred years in America that is responding to a decentralization of living, an increase of suburbia that predates the ranch house, and the desire for greater anonymity of modern living. Further counter arguments are that individuals ought to have the right to choose the mode of housing they prefer and that satisfies their needs and wants, without "moral" judgements on their housing choices.

Copyright (c) 2009 brianserpone.com. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.

Brian Serpone can be reached in the Harwich office of Today Real Estate at 508-568-8104.