The Ranch Style house has been around for a long time -- long enough to become an icon of mid-twentieth century culture. Returning soldiers, fresh back from the conflict in Europe and Asia at the end of World War II, set up house for the first time in new developments that featured the affordable and flexible style. More than a few kids in the Baby Boom generation learned to ride bikes and waited for schoolbuses on countless streets marked by their sameness -- detractors of the style in those early days complained about the "rubber stamp" quality of the new developments -- but over time, as the kids grew, the landscaping and trees did, too, and eventual additions and remodeling projects added the marks of individuality.
Whole populations grew and drifted; racial and demographic boundaries changed, and changed again, but the Ranch remained, and still does remain, a popular choice among builders and buyers, for the same reasons today as when the style was new: it's comfortable, flexible, affordable; and, for some of us, it's fun. The Ranch style is enjoying a revival, and we're glad to be a part of it with this website, a work in progress for homeowners who are discovering -- or rediscovering -- this suburban classic.
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