Why We Love Ranch-style Homes - Marek Realty Group

If you?re a home?buyer, you either love ranch-style homes or you think they?re hope?lessly out of date. Either way, here are a few tid?bits you didn?t know that will help you appre?ci?ate them a lot?more.?

Eighty per?cent of exist?ing hous?ing was built before 1980, accord?ing to the U.S. Cen?sus, and the major?ity of the homes still stand?ing are ranch-style, par?tic?u?larly in the west, south?west, south and mid-west.

Every?where except the east coast, where pop?u?la?tions are dens?est, the ranch-style home is ubiq?ui?tous, and that means they?re noth?ing spe?cial. Or are?they?

All hous?ing reflects the cul?ture and the eco?nom?ics of their day, and the ranch-style home was the first icon of post-war pros?per?ity, grow?ing in pop?u?lar?ity with the increas?ingly afford?able fam?ily automobile.

You know the look ? it?s the hor?i?zon?tal shoebox-shaped house with the liv?ing and din?ing rooms on the front, the bed?rooms all together down the same hall?way, and the kitchen and attached garage at the other?end.???

Designed for econ?omy and func?tion?al?ity, ranch-style homes were mass-produced to serve post World War II fam?i?lies, and they stayed pop?u?lar while 78 mil?lion baby boomers matured into homebuyers.

The 1950s through the ?70s saw the first real sprawl in com?mu?ni?ties, away from town cen?ters, and mostly accessed by Pres?i?dent Eisenhower?s new high?ways. Land was plen?ti?ful, so most of these sin?gle story or split-level homes are sit?u?ated on com?par?a?tively large?lots.

These homes were designed as machines for liv?ing. They?re mod?ern, part of the design cycle of the space age. The only thing these mid-century homes need is a lit?tle 21st cen?tury?flair.

As a buyer, you may come across many ranch-style homes that appear dated, but their func?tion?al?ity is as use?ful as ever. Single-story homes, which the major?ity of ranch-style homes are, serve young fam?i?lies and seniors equally well.

Ranch homes are easy to remodel or expand. Most load-bearing walls are on the out?side perime?ter, which makes knock?ing out or mov?ing inte?rior walls?easy.?

Take the kitchen, for exam?ple. In the family-centered ?50s, the kitchen was the mother?s magic king?dom. She would con?jure her recipes and emerge wear?ing her pearls and high-heels with din?ner on a tray like there?s noth?ing to?it.

Fast for?ward 50 years to today?s two-income, time-starved fam?i?lies. Spend?ing time together is pre?cious. Instead of being walled off, the kitchen of today is open to become part of the fam?ily room. If that?s the look you want, it?s easy to accom?plish with a slight remod?el?ing in the ranch-style home.

When you pre?view a ranch-style home, don?t let your?self be prej?u?diced by what appears out of date. Think instead about how this home can serve your needs?today.

These homes were built to last. Just replace those Jetson-era Formica coun?ter?tops with pol?ished con?crete, ham?mered cop?per or honed gran?ite. Install ele?gant French doors in place of the slid?ing glass patio doors. Raise the 8-foot ceil?ings to nine or ten?feet.

Have fun dec?o?rat?ing with the lat?est fur?ni?ture. Open any fur?ni?ture cat?a?log and you?ll see a trend toward retro low-slung con?tem?po?rary designs. With today?s empha?sis on machines (flat-panel TVs, com?put?ers), and family-gathering places like dens, it?s not so very dif?fer?ent from the?1950s.

Since 1960, our pop?u?la?tion has added 100 mil?lion peo?ple. As our neigh?bor?hoods have sprawled out?ward, the mid-century gen?er?a?tion ranch-style home is com?par?a?tively close to city ameni?ties and jobs, sav?ing you a long commute.?

Retro is in because it works, and with a lit?tle imag?i?na?tion, you?ll find the ranch-style home can work for?you.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 27th, 2012 at 7:30 am and is filed under BHG Live. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Source: http://www.beaufortpropertyfinder.com/bhg-live/why-we-love-ranch-style-homes/

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