In the United States, ranch-style homes have become vogue and people show too much of their interest in searching for and buying one. A ranch-style home is a domestic architectural style comprising a single story constructed as an open floorplan.
Ranch-style architecture is quite popular in the West, Northwest, North, Midwest and Southwest. In the northern USA and the Midwest, raised ranches comprising finished basements are ubiquitous.
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Conspicuous Architectural Features of a Ranch-Style House
- Ranch-style homes have sliding glass doors that open into the patio or backyard. They also have large windows that provide an aesthetic outdoor view.
- They have wide roof eaves and an attached garage.
- Most ranch-style homes are confined to single-story dwellings. However, some might feature finished basements. The basement serves to increase the available floor area that can be feasibly utilized for a home theatre, a home gym or additional bedrooms.
- Traditionally, ranch-style homes are single-story residences commonly built on the concept of an open layout of the floor plan and a devoted patio or deck space.
- They feature long and low-pitch rooflines and large windows along the front of the house.
- The shape of the house also has a couple of nuances. Most of the houses are rectangular, but some may have a “U” or “L” shape.
Types of Ranch-Style Homes
Suburban Ranch-Style Houses
These ranches are located in suburban areas and are practically connected to the natural surroundings. These are mostly single-floor residences with wide and open floorplans and spacious indoors.
Split-Style Ranch House
Split-style ranches have foundations sunken deeper into the ground and the level of the driveway serves as the bottom of the foundation. Owing to this, the home entrance is located through a flight of stairs and the windows at the level of the entrance story are relatively short.
Once you enter such a house, you will see two flights of stairs, one leading downwards to the basement of the house and the other guiding you up to the main level of the house.
The thought process behind designing splits was to economize the house by reducing the foundation costs and cutting down on basement height while also getting a two-story residence.
Raised Ranch-Style House
A raised ranch-style house has two stories and the driveway and front door entrance are at the same level. However, in order to reach the main living level, you have to take the stairs leading you up. What differentiates this house variant from the split style is the provision of stairs for accessing the house entrance in the latter.
Raised ranches help maintain the compactness of the house and are particularly advantageous when the level of the ground water table is not much deep.
Pros and Cons of a Ranch-Style House
Ranch-style homes transcended in popularity after the second world war. This type of house offers advantages to people who want a spacious living and also those who have small families and want a simple interior.
Let us look into the advantages and disadvantages of buying or investing in a ranch-style house.
Advantages
- These homes are facile to design and construct because everything is practically on the same floor level. Be it a heating and cooling system or sewerage system, everything can effectively be housed on the same story level.
- With ranch-style homes, you get to experience the luxury and comfort of an open living space. This can give you the freedom to customize the interior without the hurdle of any space restriction.
- With a single-story residence, it is easier for the occupants to maintain the cleanliness and hygiene of their living space. In addition, such a house only needs nominal maintenance.
- Having a top story in the house sometimes makes it difficult for the elder ones in the family to navigate from one floor to the other. In addition, with toddlers crawling at home, you can let your worry go away.
- Ranch-style homes are easier to evacuate in case of an emergency such as a natural hazard or any fire hazard.
Disadvantages
- This type of home needs more land area and that too, a well-proportioned one. This is to ensure that the rooms will perfectly fit the plan layout corresponding to the available property area.
- The available outdoor space in a ranch-style home is relatively less. This is because the single-story construction entails all essential rooms on the same floor, leaving little space for a yard.
- With single-story construction, it might be difficult to ensure privacy with all residents living at the same level. The intrusion of people from the outside might also be troublesome for the occupants.
- The blueprint area of a single-story construction is more. This implies that the construction cost of such a house will also be relatively high and adding on more stories will definitely make a whooping sum of money.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What makes ranch-style homes special?
The distinctive indoor and outdoor features make a ranch-style house very special. With open floorplans and spacious indoors, you have the liberty to customize your interior as per your choice. These homes are easier to maintain and are adaptive to weather extremes.
If you reside in an area that is prone to unhampered snowfall or any other type of precipitation that occurs at an intensity greater than the average prevalent intensity, try considering a ranch-style house. You will end up with not just a comfortable living but also a protected and safer indoor.
Where are the ranch-style houses most commonly found?
These houses have their origin in the Southwest but can now be found all across the US, with different types prevailing in different parts of the country. Ranch homes on slabs can be found mostly in the warmer climates of California and the Southwest.
Why is a ranch-style house named so?
The house takes its name from the word ‘ranch’ which means an open space or a large farm for raising animals. Essentially, such a house is not just capacious but also connects the residents to the outdoor natural landscape just like the case of a ranch.
