Ranch House StyleIf you grew up in postwar America, chances are you lived in or next to a ranch-style house. And the things we loved about ranches when we liked Ike are still attractive—perhaps more so—today: the liberation that comes with open-plan living, the casual feel of easy kitchen access, the comfort of having bedrooms and children near at hand, the convenience of one-level living, and the everyday luxury of smooth indoor-outdoor flow. So it’s no surprise that the ranch is in style again—and this book showcases the best of it. Whether that style is the mid-century modern of Corbusier and the Eameses, or the cross-cultural awareness of the sixties, or the Pop Art and plastic of the seventies, Ranch House Style offers inspiration and instruction on re-creating these looks in your own home. But this book isn’t just for style mavens with professional decorators. Because if there’s any one completely American, democratic architectural style, it’s the ranch house. Ranches, in all their glory (and sometimes utter lack of it), are everywhere, usually affordable, just waiting for the right shag carpet to restore their hipness, the right flea-market find to liven up that patio. AndRanch House Styleshows how—with examples of the ranch’s flexibility for any decorating style, from Victorian and French Country to thoroughly contemporary, from primary homes in the suburbs to vacation getaways on the shore, from vintage gems to newly built originals. It also shows how to solve the special challenges that come with one-story living in a decades-old house, including how to expand into today’s more spacious footprints, how to renovate for modern amenities, and how best to use the ranch’s typically large plot of land. Remarkably, there hasn’t been a book on ranches available in decades. Despite the millions that exist across the entire country, the ranch has been ignored by the high-design community. To address that insult to ranch lovers, Ranch House Style also includes thoroughly researched, authoritative material on the style’s history, sociological context, architects, designers, and furniture. This is a serious work that stands alone in its field, in addition to being a beautiful, inspirational, and practical decorating book. So come visit the ranch—both the remarkably familiar and the strikingly original, from modest to luxurious, in styles from charming to mod—available in neighborhoods everywhere, here showing in all its coolness. |
Contents
The New Cool Ranch | 6 |
A Cooks Paradise | 29 |
Secret in the Neighborhood | 37 |
Copyright | |
11 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
added allowed American architects architecture Austin beach bedroom brick building built cabinets California called ceiling chair changes Charles classic Cliff color Company complete construction continues courtyard covered create curves developed dining room doors explains exterior fabric feeling feet fifties fireplace flat floor flow French front furniture give glass green helped inside installed interior it's kitchen lamp land landscape leads light lines living room look master materials metal Mindel mood moving natural Opposite original outdoor owner paint period pieces plywood raised ranch house Ranch Style Right roof says shape side simple sofa space square steel stone Street structure Study Sunset magazine Texas texture theme tile traditional trees trim turned vintage walls wanted West wood York