Bay Area Home Styles: Spotlight on the Ranch-Style Home

This is the seventh installment in a series of bimonthly posts about architecture styles, each dedicated to a popular home type that can be found in the Bay Area.

A ranch-style Home in Palm Springs, California

The all-American ranch home was born in the 1920s and became a popular post-World War II residential building style in America in the 1940s through the 1970s. Their cost-effective construction especially appealed to middle-class homeowners. In fact, ranch homes became the dominant American home style from California to New Jersey through the 1950s and 1960s. Ranch homes are usually one story (sometimes split- level), often feature a finished basement, and typically have the bedrooms away from the living area.

Other common features of ranch-style homes include:

• Brick construction
• Often shaped like an L or a U
• Minimal decoration
• Low-pitched roof
• Horizontal layout
• Simple, open floor plan
• Indoor/outdoor flow
• Attached garage

The ranch home personified an informal, casual living style. According to this Houzz article, the ranch-style home “celebrated the postwar profusion of cheap land and sprawling suburbs, with a horizontal footprint that turned its back on the streetscape to focus on backyard living.”

And speaking of backyard living, one popular feature of the ranch-style home is the sliding glass door, leading most often to a back patio. The house was meant to be a blend of modernism and the style of the American West ranch, and access and connection to the outdoors was an important element.

Clifford May was the man behind the popularity of the ranch home. According to this The New York Times article about May, “The ranch house was everything a California house should be — it had cross-ventilation, the floor was level with the ground, and with its courtyard and the exterior corridor, it was about sunshine and informal outdoor living.”

The first home May sold went for $9,500 despite the Great Depression. He went on to sell plans for approximately 18,000 ranch homes. The Eichler home was actually a version of the suburban ranch house popularized by designer May and others.

The ranch-style home’s popularity began to wane in the late 20th century, as “neoeclectic architecture” — homes with a wide array of decorative techniques — were revived.

Haciendas, the modern ranch, the suburban, and the tract ranch — the ranch-style home does have a few different incarnations. You can read more about the evolution of this house style and its characteristics at Old House Online.

Visit this Pinterest page to see 1,000-plus photo inspirations based around the ranch-style home. This Houzz page is filled with ranch-style home design photos. To learn more about the ranch home’s characteristics, visit this Mid Century Home Style webpage.

(Photo: Flickr/JoeinSouthernCA)

Article and images sourced from http://blog.pacificunion.com/bay-area-home-styles-spotlight-on-the-ranch-style-home/

Bay Area Home Styles: Spotlight on the Craftsman

A Craftsman-style home in San Jose.

This is the first installment in a series of bimonthly posts about architecture styles, each dedicated to a popular home type that can be found in the Bay Area.

The Craftsman home is a piece of work. Literally. And by that we mean that the home builder’s highly skilled work is prominently on display.
Simple and natural, the Craftsman home often features porches with round columns or stone supports, low-pitched gable roofs, wide eaves with brackets or exposed rafters, and handcrafted stone or woodworking. The Craftsman home’s emphasis is indeed all in the craft — the pared-down, simplistic quality of the workmanship. In its original era, it was also a response to the ornamentation of the Victorian home.
Craftsman-style homes were built from approximately 1905 until the Great Depression. They were constructed all over the country and can be found scattered in most older Bay Area neighborhoods. Many homebuyers look specifically for the Craftsman-style home and make a project of restoring it to its original glory.

The bungalow is a popular version of the Craftsman, and though the name might suggest a small home, this isn’t always the case. There are definitely Craftsman bungalow-specific enthusiasts, and this website is an excellent resource for them and those who want to learn more.
There is plenty to say about the Craftsman home, but here are a few highlights:

The Arts and Crafts Movement
In the mid-1880s, the Arts and Crafts Movement made its way from Britain to Europe and the U.S. This decorative and artistic style presented a more natural, less ornate style of décor and architecture. This movement was the inspiration behind the Craftsman-style home.

The Prairie-Style Home
The Prairie-style home was popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright and the Chicago school of architects. Built from 1905 to 1920, it was said to be the first American architecture style. Prairie-style homes feature an open floor plan, strong horizontal lines, a central chimney, and built-in cabinetry.
“The Prairie style had many similarities with Craftsman-style bungalows — including a low, horizontal form and roof lines with wide, overhanging eaves,” according to a post at Historic Home Blog.

Sears
What does Sears have to do with the Craftsman home? The department store actually sold them through its catalog from 1908 to 1940. Sears had a selection of more than 400 different designs, ranging from small bungalows costing $450 to large two-story homes priced at $4,500. It sold approximately 700,000 kits that were shipped to buyers via boxcar and came with instruction books and 10,000 to 30,000 pieces. There are several ways to tell if you do indeed have a Sears-catalog home — check them out here.
The Internet is teeming with photos of, and resources for, the Craftsman-style home. You can check out 10 Bungalow Restorations from Old House Online. Houzz offers a gallery of Craftsman homes to further acquaint you with its unique features. HGTV will take you on a few tours that will give you decorating ideas. Better Homes and Gardens will give your some layout, design, and color inspiration.
If you do end up choosing a Craftsman-style home for your residence, congratulations on a great investment. You now own a work of art in a sturdy, square package. Enjoy!

(Photo: Flickr/David Sawyer)

Article and images sourced from http://blog.pacificunion.com/bay-area-home-styles-spotlight-on-the-craftsman/