Styles of Architecture ....... Illustrated Architecture Dictionary

Ranch

A rambling one-story house, found from the 1930s on, but especially popular during the 1950s and 1960s, particularly in the West; usually designed to emphasize the width of the facade.

The asymmetrical Ranch house plan is generally built with a low-pitched side gable or hipped roof and a large attached garage. The entry may be protected by a recessed porch. Large picture windows are common.

Typically characterized by the following:

Ranch-style house

Ranch (also American ranch, California ranch, rambler or rancher) is a domestic architectural style originating in the United States. 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.

First built in the 1920s, the ranch style was extremely popular with the booming post-war middle class of the 1940s to 1970s. The style is often associated with tract housing built at this time, particularly in the western United States, which experienced a population explosion during this period, with a corresponding demand for housing. The style was exported to other nations. Their popularity waned in the late 20th century as neo-eclectic house styles, a return to using historical and traditional decoration, became popular.

- Wikipedia  (online Sept. 2016)

Examples from Buffalo architecture


Photos and their arrangement © 2002 Chuck LaChiusa
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