What are the advantages of building a ranch house plan?

The most obvious advantage is having all rooms that are located on one level instead of two. Many older homeowners are opting to build a single story home to avoid having to climb stairs every day, while younger families prefer the two-story home where the kids' bedrooms are up and away from the main floor master. It really all boils down to personal preference, lot size and cost to build, all of which should be taken into consideration when deciding on the basic layout of your new home.

Originating in the 1920s, the ranch floor plan was first described as The American Ranch, or the rambler or rancher. Many people associate the ranch home design with tract homes which grew in popularity during the 1940s and featured one roof line making them easier, cheaper and quicker to build. Early ranch house plan designs featured formal living rooms, and open kitchen dining areas with the bedrooms towards the back of the home along a rather lengthy hallway. Today's ranch house plans feature open-concept plans and often have split bedrooms with the master on one side of the home and the second and third bedrooms on the other. Starting in the 1960s up through today, ranch homes began featuring several roof lines for curb appeal and updated floor plans that are more adaptable to today's homeowner. Ranch home designs continue to be one of the most popular styles of homes because of their practicality, ability to age with the homeowner and cost.

Can I build a ranch style home in a specific style?

Absolutely! That's the beauty of the ranch home style – it can be adapted to virtually any style imaginable. As you browse our portfolio, you'll notice that every one of our home design styles is represented in many different square footages. When we design our house plans, we focus on the actual floor plan before adding a style to the exterior. We keep things like ceiling heights in the entry and great rooms in mind as we create our plans so that our exteriors have the ability to be crafted in any style. In fact, some of our best-selling house plans can be found in a variety of different exterior styles.

Can I have a walkout basement on a ranch house plan?

Whether or not a walkout basement is possible for a ranch plan depends entirely on the pitch of your lot. If there is enough slope from the front to the back of the lot, then a walkout basement is not only doable, it's preferable. This square footage is cheaper to build, will have plenty of windows for extra bedrooms, and will face the back of the lot where there are typically better views. You can also consider adding an in-law's suite with a separate entrance if your lot is easily managed by your parents. With building costs going up every day, we are seeing a lot of our customers take advantage of building ranch house plans with only two bedrooms on the main floor and the remaining bedrooms along with a second family room and/or bar in the lower level.

Won't my ceiling heights have to be low in a ranch plan?

Nope. In fact, many of the ceilings of our great rooms have taller than normal ceilings. Imagine walking into a home where directly ahead of you is a wall of windows that stream tons of natural light into the kitchen and living areas – that's what our plans are designed to do. And chances are that your best view is out the back of your ranch home, so we use every design opportunity to make the best of that view from various angles within the home. You'll also notice that many of our plans have high ceilings in the entryway, and that's also by design. Just because your home is a ranch home doesn't mean that the wow factor cannot be present. Our entries are designed to be inviting.

Don't all ranch plans have long hallways?

While it is true that earlier ranch plans had long hallways dividing the bedrooms from the living areas, that is no longer true for today's designs. We work hard to keep hallways to a minimum by either splitting the bedrooms from the master, or designing the house with the bedrooms to one side instead of along a hallway to the back of the home. Unless you specifically like and ask for long hallways, we will always try to design a ranch home to make full use of every inch of square footage.

Won't my house look too big if it's a ranch?

They called them rambling ranches for a reason back in the 40s and 50s. Those house designs were also not nearly as deep as today's ranch home plans are. And, it's more difficult to find a lot that will accommodate a rambler in today's market. Instead, our ranch house plans are deeper and narrower making them more square than rectangle. Again, if a rambler is what you're looking for, and lot size isn't an issue, you'll find those in our portfolio as well. The square footages of our ranch house plans range from small and cozy to large and rambling, so you'll find a little bit of both. You'll also see that our ranch homes are designed in every style, but if you find a plan you like in a style that you don't, we can easily change the exterior style to whatever you want. We modify our ranch home plans on a daily basis to satisfy our customer's needs so don't hesitate to give us a call at 1-800-752-6852 to discuss changes.