Great source for one level (ranch) house plans?

7 years ago

I've looked at Wm Poole and Southern Living, but they have very limited true one-level plans (mostly 1 1/2 - 2 stories). Has anyone found a good source for ranch plans?

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User

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

Look at vintage 50’s -70’s home plans. Thats the era of the true Ranch. These days, lots of people call any single story home a ranch. It’s not. A ranch has a single long axis, low sloped gable, maybe with a cross gabled wing, or even two. It is 2 rooms deep along that axis. It is a simple, classic design.

It was a vernacular utilitarian design at its peak production, having millions built without any professional designing them. It was also elevated and very well done as a professional design, creating a wonderful indoor outdoor connection, and rooms with a lot of light. The professionally designed MCM ranch homes are in high demand and enjoy tremendous resale value because of that design sensibility.

While you can get a utilitarian design from a self designed simple ranch, or a bought plan, most lack that connection to the site that elevates a home from OK to Great. The site has to rule the design choices. Not the reverse. From the side of the property with the road cut acces, to any elevation changes that it has, to the direction that it faces. Start your exploration, not with “plans” but with the demands and constraints of the building site. You can have a well designed, thoughtful, simple plan, just as easily as you can have a poorly designed, wrong for the site, plopped, “simple” plan.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/antiquealterego.com/2013/01/21/vintage-house-plans-1960s-ranches-and-l-shaped-homes/amp/

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Comments (10)

chispa
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Search for "Florida house plans" and you will get many that are 1-story. What do you mean by ranch? To me there is an actual "Ranch" style, so not all 1-story houses are ranches. I would not use the word Ranch to describe most of the Florida 1-story houses.
jewelisfabulous
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago

jewelisfabulous's ideas · More Info

Ranch/rancher = one story where I'm from...
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new-beginning
7 years ago
couple of weeks ago someone else had same question. https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5804588/help-finding-traditional-ranch-floor-plan#n=39
jewelisfabulous thanked new-beginning
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
7 years ago
Search for a good local architect and you will get a home that meets your needs and fits your site. While they are designing a home with you, you can spend your time on life instead of looking at an infinite number of house designs online or in books.
User
7 years ago
or find a local, or online designer who has a style you like. they will typically be a lot less expensive than an architect with equal or better results
PRO
Virgil Carter Fine Art
7 years ago
Debbie is trolling again.

OP, unfortunately Debbie does this to a lot of threads, sidetracking them and pulling them away from the original subject.

Be patient .
User
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
A typical ranch house is one story with simple low roof slopes, large overhangs and large windows and sliders.

When searching for designs you will find that most internet house design sites have substituted large hipped roofs with multiple front facing gables and called them ranch houses.

That might be an indication of the current popularity of ranch houses in today''s market. In general multi-gables rule.

I have some old plan books from the 60's that contain real ranch houses.
georgiabluet
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Ranches were also often ramblers; but architecturally disciplined or otherwise, they were always comparatively spacious. Coming from the west, I just can't call smallish one-story tract-appropriate layouts "ranches." It makes sense that homes would have been built to ramble in the rural west where they might roam as wide and free as the rancher fancied. Just thought I'd throw that in because ramblers are a big favorite with me.

The suggestion to search on Florida is a good one. We have a place down there, and one-story homes are as ubiquitous as two-story most other places. Virtually all will be standard layouts suitable for tract lots.

If you were interested in customizing and breaking out of the box a bit, you might also look for inspiration at vintage one-story Craftsman bungalow plans with protruding rooms or wings. Most were built on town lots. And muse on life seemingly without accumulation and need for storage space. :)
new-beginning
7 years ago
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/144-N-Granville-St_Bellville_TX_77418_M83600-67228