Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty | Know Your Architecture: Ranch Style
“The ranch architectural style is like jazz and great cheeseburgers,” writes Karin Beuerlein on HGTV.com. “It’s an art form unique to America.”
Ranch style is rooted in North American Spanish Colonial architecture of the 17th through 19th centuries: single-story floor plans, native materials and interior courtyards surrounded by a U-shaped floor plan. Low-slung American homes in the style were first built in the 1930s and by the 1950s nine out of every ten new homes was a Ranch house.
Ranch homes embrace open spaces and the connection between indoor and outdoor living: The backyard is usually just steps from the kitchen or living room via sliding glass doors.
The style’s design cues are distinctive: a long, low horizontal orientation; single-floor living; asymmetry; hipped or gabled roofs; flowing interior spaces; large picture windows; and an attached carport or garage. Ranch homes tend to be easy to maintain because they are often made of brick, which requires little fuss. The roofs’ wide eaves help shade the large windows from the Texas sun.
Famous examples include the ranch house in The Parent Trap, 1961, and Rancho del Cielo, Ronald Reagan’s “Western White House” near Santa Barbara, California.
The 1940s Ranch home at 6416 Drury Lane in Fort Worth is in the Ridglea North neighborhood. Updated and professionally designed throughout, it offers an open floor plan, hand-scraped wood floors, high-end lighting and marble countertops in the kitchen and both baths. The spacious backyard features mature trees and a potential guest house.
The home at 6416 Drury Lane is represented by Ota Vozeh and priced $375,000.
To learn more about architecture styles, briggsfreeman.com/architecture is a unique source of information, including available homes in each style. To see all the exceptional homes, ranches and land offered by Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty, across North Texas and around the world, visit briggsfreeman.com.