Sunday, September 20, 2009

Adventures in House Hunting Part II.

We've agreed that we need a home with at least 1000 sq. ft. of living space and we decided to focus on trying to find a mid-century ranch house. We personally prefer the style of mid-50s and 'early '60s ranch homes, plus they tend to have more room, the ceilings are higher and the layouts are more open. But the larger size also means that they're a bit more pricey so that's limited our options.

Finding an affordable ranch home in a decent location that's safe from flooding won't be easy but we've expanded our search. Below are some examples of wonderful mid-century ranch homes in the area. Most of them need some work since they've been modified over the years. Only the last three are for sale but the first house caught my eye and I had to snap a pic of it. If it was for sale it would probably be too pricey for us.

Atomic Ranch House


Atomic Ranch House


Atomic Ranch House


Atomic Ranch House


Will one of these be my new home? Only time and bidding wars will tell!

5 comments:

  1. I'm personally not a big fan of the ranch style (we live in a late Arts & Crafts bungalow), but I like the look of some of those examples. Not so fond of the green house; the little nook jutting out really kills the lines.

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  2. That green house has been really butchered, but it would be fun to restore it and I love that garage door! I personally like the Eichler/Cliff May style ranch homes best, but finding an affordable one in a decent location isn't easy.

    I really like Arts & Crafts bungalows too and the whole "Prairie School" movement. I love homes with lots of exposed wood, etc. since I like the whole idea of "bringing the outside in" that was at the epicenter of good modern ranch inspired home design that definitely has roots in the Arts & Crafts movement.

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  3. That's true. I've often regarded Arts & Crafts as a predecessor of Modernism. The de-emphasis on facades, use of simplified form, and emphasis on materials.

    The garage door on that green one is pretty nifty. Shame that it was so butchered, but I suppose that comes with the territory. We saw several bizarrely remodeled bungalows, often not keeping w/the original integrity.

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  4. Frank Lloyd Wright is really the godfather of modern ranch home design and he's one of my favorite architects. I'm kind of lucky to have spent a lot of years growing up in Northern CA since we're surrounded by his design influence here. I'm sure that helped shape my own interest in modern design as well as my love for Arts & Crafts, the Prairie School movement and modern ranch houses. Many of the original ranch house designers worked directly with Frank Lloyd Wright at some point and were trying to develop smart suburban developments that contained beautiful homes average Americans could afford.

    It's a shame that so many of their ideas were lost or criticized at the time so now the world is swamped with fugly giant McMansions.

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  5. Most of the ranches in this area are on the Kansas side, and there is a Wright house just off State Line, I believe. Kansas City also has the Frank Lloyd Wright church, the design of which he never actually completed before his death and was probably mostly designed by his younger associates. Nonetheless, it's an interesting building (also where my college graduation ceremony was held).
    I love Wright's work, so no criticisms there.

    The biggest housing boom in the KC metro area was in the 1920's and 1930's, and we are lucky to still have many of these sections intact. It's a good place for late Arts & Crafts in America.

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