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Writer's pictureAbhishek Desai
Sep 17, 20244 min read

Architectural Styles: The Ranch



A ranch is a unique architectural style that is not very common in modern housing. Ranches originated in the 1930’s and 1940’s in Southern California. Many of the original ranch styles were made by Jason Eichler, an experienced architect. In the 1950s and 1960s, ranches were the most present type of residential-style housing in the country. This popularity declined at the end of the 1900s when new styles of housing arose. 


General Information About Ranch Housing


Ranch houses typically have only 1 story. These houses are mainly U or L-shaped depending on the needs of the ranch owner. Typical building materials include wood, stone, brick, and stucco. However, cabinets, frames, window frames, molding, and doors are all mainly made of wood. The qualities that make ranches unique from other houses are that they are single stories, have U or L shapes, and have low and wide roofs. Specifically, the roofs are low-pitched but they do have wider eaves than normal houses. Furthermore, ranch-style houses are most common in California, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas. This is because ranch houses are helpful in hot locations as ranches protect residents from heat due to their low and wide roofs. Additionally, the environment, geography, and businesses tie into these locations where ranch-style houses are most common. Regardless, ranch houses are typically used by farmers and ranchers who do not spend much of their day indoors.


What Is the Main Purpose of Ranch Houses?


There are many purposes of this house style. Ranches protect residents from heat due to the low roofs with wide eaves being able to shield heat from the windows. Additionally, ranch houses are more accessible than other forms of housing because they are single stories. Residents do not have to go up and down stories as there is only one floor, making it easier to move around. Older This especially helps older residents as it is difficult for them to move upstairs without having dangers of injury. Also, the wide layout of the ranch allows residents to be flexible with how they want to set up their houses. Therefore, ranch houses are very useful, but they may only support the needs of few.


What Are Some Engineering Design Principles and Elements Used In Ranch Housing?



Single Story

U or L Shape

Low and Wide Roofs

Design Principles

  • Proportion & Scale: Because the ranch house is one story, its ground level will be bigger in scale and proportion than many other types of houses  

  • Emphasis: One of the main points of a single story is that it provides a lot of space and accessibility on the big ground floor.

  • Balance: The U shape is symmetrically balanced as the U shaped ranch house would look the same (in terms of shape) from both sides 

  • Proportion and Scale: The L shape has a different scale/proportion than U shaped houses because L shaped houses are a little bigger to make up for the missing line that the U shaped ranch houses have 

  • Unity: the roofs have similar shapes and layouts, therefore creating unity of the roofs

  • Proportion/Scale: Each roof is sort of a different proportion/scale from the other roofs. Some are larger triangles and some are flatter, smaller triangles

Design Elements

  • Space: There is a large amount of space on the first floor because there is not a second story

  • Form: You can see that there is a large amount of space due to the 3D view 

  • Shape: From the top view, you can see the 2 types of ranch house shapes

  • Lines: You can see how the lines are structured in the U and L shapes as both will have straight lines for the shape of the ranch house 

  • Line: The roof lines are diagonal and also some are straight

  • Shape: The roof shapes are mostly isosceles triangles with varying triangle sizes


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