Best Ranch House Plans

Ranch house plans - often rambling, patio- or courtyard-oriented one-story designs - developed in the late 1920s and early 1930s and were inspired by historic early California haciendas and ranchos with their open "corredors" or exterior hallways connecting major rooms. Ranch houses were popularized by designers like Cliff May in Southern California (see my Cliff May and the Modern Ranch House, by Daniel P. Gregory, published by Rizzoli, 2008) and architects like William Wurster in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1930s and 1940s and became the dominant American home style in the 1950s and 1960s. They combine rustic elements like wood overhangs and simple gable roofs with modern features like open plans and window walls. Key rooms connect easily to the outdoors. Examples of mid-century modern versions of the ranch house style include Eichler houses.