anyone live in a ranch?

Pros? Cons? I have always lived in a colonial. All bedrooms upstairs.

I have seen a lot of ranch's for sale and have avoided them but think I need to expand into a different house type.

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

I live in a raised ranch and I really don't like it. I'm trying to sell so I can get a colonial.

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

What don't you like? And sorry I am an idiot but what is a raised ranch?

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

I grew up in a split and always thought I wanted a split. We ended up buying a ranch and I absolutely love it! We also have a finished basement though, which I think is important for when we have kids or company over. Lots of space!

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

I grew up in a colonial so wanted somethign different when I was ready to buy I house. We only looked for ranches. Now that I am living in a ranch I don't love it. My SIL lives in a high ranch and I'm not a fan either

pros-great starter home for a couple
-good for a new baby bc everything is on one floor and makes life very easy
-cozy
-easy to clean
-easier to add on and build up

cons-
-everyone is always in your bedrooms bc they are right there
-not enough house
-your always on top of everyone bc everythign is on one floor
-bedrooms are not as cozy as if they were all upstairs in their own area
-just doesn't feel like a real "house" if that make any sense at all

In all honestly, we have enjoyed our ranch but feel that we are done with it after only 2 yrs. We also paid for the "area" so feel like our house is small for what we paid. I have seen some really cute ranches for great prices in other areas and think they make adorable homes.

This is all just my opionion

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

I love my ranch! I grew up in one and so did DH, so we both knew we would wind up in a ranch. I love that everything is on one floor and we will be able to "build up" if we ever need/want to. All of my bedrooms are on one side of the house, and the kitchen, living room, dining room and den are on the other side of the house, which is great for entertaining - my guests are never on the bedroom side of my house unless I bring them over there. My LO has never had a problem sleeping while we are entertaining on the other side of the house.

It's easier to clean the gutters, put up Christmas lights/decorations, clean windows, etc.

It's easier for people to navigate through if they have any issues w/walking. It's also nice to be able to not worry about having to climb up and down stairs when you're exhausted.

The only thing I cannot do is decorate a stairway w/lights and garland for Christmas. I love the way that looks.

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

grew up in a expanded cape we purchased a ranch. I love the fact everything is there our bedrooms are in the front and back but have a door so if i don't want people roaming around i close the door but honestly when i have company over my bedrooms are in mint condition. We have a full huge basement so we plan on finishing it at one point.

I don't see a point of a formal living room (we never used ours growing up) our kitchen is open to our dining room so its more open concept but not too open so it works for us. When/if we have kids its all on the same floor no wondering what the kids are doing or if a baby cries you have walk upstairs, etc.

Colonials are great and all if it works in your budget but the only house i dismissed (house style) was a high ranch because i can't stand them. But that is me - if you can't stand a ranch after viewing a few then def. don't settle. There are large ranches and med sized so you might want to look at larger sized ranches for space reasons.

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

We are on our second ranch and love them.

Pros:
great with young kids, I have 1 step down into my playroom but I really have never had to worry about DS falling down stairs (our basement is bolted shut)
Growth potential - If you need more room one of the easiest homes to expand is a ranch, you could go up, or out, if you have a basement in many cases its nearly the size of the main house lots of potential.
Everything is much mroe accessible to do work to (assuming you have a basement) have a leak, pipes are easy to get to, want to run cable, pretty easy to do. My BIL had a leak in his 2nd floor bathroom, he had to cut a hole in the ceiling of his kitchen to fix it.
Also ranches are some of hte most cost efficient to run heating and cooling wise

Personally I really dont have an cons. The whole bedrooms upstairs I guess is nice, if you are entertaining downstairs you can put the kids to sleep, but we have never run into that issue where I wished we had an upstairs.

Message edited 2/18/2011 12:37:17 PM.

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

Message edited 2/18/2011 12:38:44 PM.

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

I grew up in a high ranch and now have a ranch.

I don't mind the layout at all - my house is just so tiny that everything feels too close together. If it were bigger though, I wouldn't care!

We hope to have at least one kid in this house though so I can see that there are benefits to having everything on one floor.

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

owned 2 colonials, grew up in one

but I LOVE a ranch layout. I live in one

now & with 2 young children and pets

its the best for me and my family.

I dont plan on owning another 2 story

again. Its a personal choice. Only you

know when a house feels like a "home".

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

I grew up in a L-shaped ranch, then lived in a ranch style townhouse and now we live in an expanded ranch(second story was added by previous owners)

the layout of the house I grew up in was great, the foyer, kitchen, dining & living rooms had a good flow and all of the bedrooms were down a long hall that was pretty removed from the rest of the house. When I was a teenager my parents expanded it into a U-shaped ranch by adding a great room. My parents always had tons of parties, even before they expanded & it was great.

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

I live in Whitestone & thats primarily all you see.. Ranches.
Pretty small overall on an average 40 X 100 sized lot. After a few yrs most owners raise another floor. Its so popular my friends & I call it the "Whitestone Special". Basically converted to a colonial. So in that sense, a ranch is the most versitile type of house.

But, the other night I went to see a Ranch in Beechurst. BLEW MY MIND. Huge,HugeHuge. Sunk-in LV, familyroom, all living space on left while all bedrooms on the right. 85 x 150. So much potential.

I think the right layout/footage is key.

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

I grew up in a 3 bedroom split ranch with an additional 2 bedroom extension made the year I was born (1970). Loved it. Love living in a ranch more.

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

Much prefer a ranch to a colonial. So much easier living.

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We live in a ranch with a finished basement and love it. Of course we wish it was bigger, but that doesn't change the fact that we really enjoy having everything on one level.

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

I grew up in a ranch and now live in a colonial. While I love my house, I sometimes wish that we bought a ranch instead.

Being in a ranch has the ultimate pro of not having to walk up and down stairs a million times a day. When I get downstairs and realize that I forgot something upstairs, only to get up there and forget what I went up there for, grab something, to only get back down to remember that thing, and then go up again, is when I curse my colonial and wish we had a ranch.

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

I love our ranch! It's a California Ranch, so it's a little different. My husband never wanted a ranch, he always wanted a colonial. However, when we bought, this ranch was truly the best option for us (meaning value for our price range). We love it now!

I have seen some ranches that are not my style, though. I think the layout is key!

Re: anyone live in a ranch?

I'm not a fan of high ranches or splits, but we have an L ranch and I love it. The kitchen, dining, living room, and foyer are huge, and the bedrooms are down a long hallway. We have our own private bath in our bedroom, with another bath in the hall. We generally close the bedroom doors when we have guests.

Now with a baby it's perfect--I never used a monitor, and could be in the kitchen or wherever and hear him and get to him in one second w/ no stairs. I didn't think I would love it as much as I do.

The only con for me is that I don't feel 100% comfortable leaving my windows wide open since it's all easily broken into. We live in a very safe neighborhood, but our windows have locks when they are open 2", and that's the max I leave them open. When growing up in colonials, we always left our bedroom windows wide open at night.