If you’ve been house hunting recently, you’ve probably noticed stylistic differences and characteristics across the board. You’ve also probably been able to create or narrow down your dream home must-haves list, whether that be the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage, or unique design elements.
Here, we’ll be discussing the rambler style home, also known as a ranch style in different parts of the country. It’s basically two names for the same type of home. Rambler style homes are the types of homes you’d see in older neighborhoods across the country: flat, spacious, simple. After a stylistic hiatus spanning a few decades, the rambler style home is rising in popularity once again due to the sought-after informal and casual living style of the flat and open layout.
Other popular styles of homes include Craftsman, Contemporary, Colonial, Tudor, Queen Anne, Townhomes, Cape Cod, French-Style, Victorian, Cottage, and Mediterranean. Each style has its own defining characteristics and identifiers that make it unique. Some of those styles are exceptionally ornate, while others, such as the rambler style, are more minimalist and simple.
According to Reference, characteristics typically include a rectangle or an L-shaped layout to start. Typically, there is an attached garage as well as a low-pitched, gable roof. Sometimes there will be sliding glass doors that lead to a patio or backyard. Rambler style homes feature large picture windows (allowing for plenty of natural light), often specifically facing the street, with shutters for aesthetic purposes only. Ramblers typically have extended eaves, and can also feature post and beam ceilings in addition to sliding doors.
While typically single-story, many architects and home designers tend to branch off of the basic design to create different types of split-level or raised-level style houses, borrowing elements from Colonial or Mediterranean style homes while still being defined as a ‘rambler style’ home. Rambler or ranch style homes typically contain long, open, internal layouts, and are best suited as a single-family dwelling. As for the outside, this style of home has a few options for exterior material, including brick, stucco, and wood.
If you’re worried about space, specifically not having enough of it, that’s a complete non-issue when you go with a rambler style house. The very nature of the style is meant to be open and airy, seamlessly transitioning to the outdoors in front and behind it. The backyard of a rambler style home is the gathering place, with potential for backyard barbecues and patio parties galore.
If the two-name, same-frame thing hasn’t confused you yet, we’re going to add a few different ‘styles’ into the mix.
California Ranch
According to Freshome, this was designed by architect Cliff May and was particularly sprawling, extended seamlessly into the landscape of California. This style borrowed from different movements such as the Arts and Crafts movement and various characteristics from the Spanish Colonial movement. These homes fall in the typical L or U shape and often feature a courtyard in the center of the home. The “California Ranch” style was the original ranch style rambler home.
Suburban Ranch
The smaller and simplified style of rambler home is the “Suburban Ranch” style. The home type popped up across the United States after WWII, and is typically built on concrete slabs. These homes are still open and blend with the outdoors, but they’re smaller and more manageable.
Split-Level Ranch
This style of ranch home looks traditional on the outside, but the inside features two to three levels. Each level is separated by half-staircases and still showcase an open floorplan from the entryway to the kitchen, living, and dining room.
Raised Ranch
This style is fairly self-explanatory in that upon entering the home, you choose between walking upstairs or down to get to the rest of the house. This style is often called simply a “split-entry” house and has things like garages and storage directly beneath (rather than separated on the same level) well-traveled rooms such as the kitchen, bedrooms, or living rooms.
Storybook Ranch
This style breaks out from the minimalist and simple ranch style with ornate and unique exterior features. Aside from trim, different shaped windows, and other design characteristics, this home is equally as open on the interior as a ‘typical’ ranch style house.
These different styles showcase the minute differences and unique features that this type of home can have, making it less cookie-cutter than at first glance.
If you’re looking for some tips and tricks to personalizing your ranch style rambler home, we’ll review some tips from the home blog The Spruce. Their first renovation tip was to ditch the carpeting if you’re starting with a home that was built in the 70s and 80s. If you’re partnering with a home builder like EDGEhomes, you can bypass that tip and opt for wood, tile, or whatever you please. Then, you can throw down a stylish area rug in your preferred color scheme.
Another tip that they shared was to stick to simple trim work if you’re looking to maintain the integrity of a ranch style home. Think traditional square-cut case moldings and baseboards, while sticking to naturally finished materials.
Sometimes, this style of home features a fireplace centerpiece made of stone or brick, whether that be one-sided (against a wall) or open-sided (visible from both sides). This staple feature sings the classical ranch style tune.
family, parenthood and people concept – happy mother, father with baby at home
When you’re looking for your first home for your growing family, you want to be able to manage it. Luckily, with a rambler home, you’re getting something adequately low-maintenance and simple, with added safety to boot since the style is known for being one-story. Not to mention that when you work with EDGEhomes, you have ample opportunity to customize your interior and finesse your floorplan to suit your single-family home needs.
If you’re scouting the market for your perfect first family home, check out our moving checklist blog or our blog on how to make moving easier on the kids.
According to Forbes, you want to consider the location both when buying and selling. The ‘perfect’ location will be different to everyone, but luckily when you work with EDGEhomes, we have multiple idyllic Utah communities that are certain to satisfy any neighborhood need, find that dream school district, or reduce that dreaded commute.
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