Atomic Ranch: Design Ideas for Stylish Ranch Homes

      atomic RANCH

atomic RANCH

DESIGN IDEAS FOR STYLISH RANCH HOMES

Michelle Gringeri-Brown

Photographs by Jim Brown

First Edition

10 09 08       5 4

Text © 2006 by Michelle Gringeri-Brown

Photographs © 2006 by Jim Brown

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except brief portions quoted for purpose of review.

Published by

Gibbs Smith, Publisher

P.O. Box 667

Layton, Utah 84041

Orders: 1.800.748.5439

www.gibbs-smith.com

Designed by Deibra McQuiston

Printed and bound in China

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gringeri-Brown, Michelle.

Atomic ranch : design ideas for stylish ranch homes /Michelle Gringeri-Brown;

photographs by Jim Brown.-—1st ed.

     p. cm.

   ISBN 10: 1-4236-0002-9 : ISBN 13: 978-1-4236-0002-2

   1. Ranch houses—United States. 2. Architecture—United States—20th century.

I. Title.

NA7208.G75 2006

728'.3730973--dc22

2006004614

Contents

Introduction

Inspiring Originals

Is My House a Ranch?

Stunning Transformations

Modest Makeovers

Pure Fun

Outside the Ranch

Adding Personality

Preserving Midcentury Neighborhoods

Ranch Resources

Introduction

ARCHITECTURE’S UNDERDOG

A ranch house? Are you kidding me? Those homes are ugly.

If you’re house hunting or live in one of the millions of ranches built across the nation after World War II, you’ve probably heard a sentiment like that from one of your less tactful friends. Maybe you even think so too.

But this book shows that there’s more to America’s architectural stepchild than first meets the eye. You say they don’t have the curb appeal of a Victorian or bungalow? That their attached carports and garages and sometimes bland facades don’t really do it for you?

Well, come inside a ranch house that still shows its midcentury roots and you’ll see why fifty years ago young homeowners found them to be cutting edge and their own piece of Tomorrow land.

The open floor plans that bring residents together in the kitchen/family/dining/living room foreshadowed today’s ubiquitous great rooms, yet were designed on a livable, human scale. The private bedroom wings, the walls of glass that flood the interior with light, and the sliding glass doors that erase the barrier between indoors and out—these are other hallmarks of the late-’40s through 1970s ranch. Durably built with materials that combine the natural (wood post-and-beam construction, aggregate and cork flooring, rock roofs and stone fireplaces) with the modern (Formica counters, radiant heated concrete floors, aluminum windows, plywood cabinetry)—these postwar homes may not look flashy but they were designed to last.

The homes may be decidedly modern looking, like the flat- or gable-roofed Joseph Eichler tracts in the San Francisco Bay area, or the butterfly roof houses in Palm Springs and Sarasota, Florida. Or they may be modest, unassuming L-shaped or split-level ranches that have been built so often across the nation that they’re virtually invisible. You probably drive past dozens of such homes on your way to work every day.

We think that the midcentury ranch house deserves a place of honor in our hearts and minds, and we think that postwar neighborhoods should be preserved for the next generation. Buying, renovating, and living in a ranch-style home can be a great joy, and we’ll show you inspiring examples of people who get what a ranch house was designed to be. This mousey little wallflower of a home may very well be the stuff of your dreams.

Here’s to the bad boy of architecture.

Inspiring Originals

Dive into wonderful homes that showcase original midcentury details, architecturally appropriate renovations, and inspired furnishings. Their homeowners love vintage and contemporary modern, making for a personalized take on stylish living.

Eichler Two-Timers

When the homeowners arrived on moving day, the front of the house was completely exposed. After the renovation, the flat-roof Eichler looks pristine and original.

Monika Kafka and Tom Borsellino had already lived in this San Jose neighborhood before relocating to Chicago. But work and a hankering for the sunny, casual California lifestyle pulled them back. Borsellino found a house and bought it with his wife’s blessing but without her actually seeing it. He told her it needed a little work, and an early inspection indicated some dry rot and termite damage. Mostly it seemed to be suffering from claustrophobic ‘60s-meets-Asian decor.

When the couple, with a two-year-old and two-month-old in tow, pulled up to move into the house, the front facade had been stripped down to the insulation, and the baby’s room was completely open to the street. It was 105 degrees outside, but an even more stunning 108 degrees inside. Kafka was not charmed. In all, 90 percent of the distinctive grooved Eichler siding needed replacing, and while the walls were open, the couple opted to insulate and ground the electrical system. Although the roof was only four years old, they decided to install operable skylights in several rooms and replace the black tar and gravel with an insulating foam roof, which Borsellino estimates has cooled off the house 15 to 20 degrees.

The construction crew had found substantial damage in most of the posts and some of the beams, and awaited Borsellino’s directions on what he wanted to do—as if he had an option. The original kitchen cabinets were painted a sickly harvest gold, and Borsellino’s first inclination—though one that runs counter to his preservationist tendencies— was to rip it out. But with the huge structural job they had fallen into, the kitchen’s aesthetics were the least of their worries.

From late summer on, three to five guys were here every day, Kafka says. She

our previous Eichler was the beta plan for this later model;

this house is much more functional.

The refrigerator is one of the few new elements in the lightly renovated kitchen. With the mustard-color paint replaced with crisp black, and the fretwork room divider removed, the original white laminate counters, built-in Thermador wall oven, and mahogany wall paneling look very today.

became adept at feeding the crew and facilitating any construction snags while juggling the kids’ needs. But by April it was my house again, she says.

Instead of slate, bamboo, or hardwood flooring, the couple settled on vinyl composite tile from Armstrong as a good, affordable option—$4,000 versus $24,000 for slate—and the closest to the tract’s original 9-inch asbestos floor tiles. Some of the original mahogany paneling had faded or was beyond repair; Borsellino used a combination of Watco Golden Oak and Fruitwood with some orange universal colorant mixed in to match new pieces to the existing. In the kitchen, they simply painted the cabinets black and found they liked the kitchen just fine that way. The baths were a different matter, though.

Joseph Eichler didn’t think out the baths in these houses, Borsellino says, "so I have no problem making changes. They ran the same mahogany paneling from the bedroom into the bath and tiled

Facing: The family room and kitchen share one expansive space. The couch and light fixture are new, while the dining table, chairs, and bar cart are vintage.

Above: In this Eichler model, the living room is separate from the kitchen and family room, but still has plenty of light and architectural detailing.

right on top of it. Of course they’re all full of dry rot and termite damage by now." Taking a clue from the one-inch tile on the shower floor, they installed glass mosaic tile throughout the toilet and shower area and added a skylight to brighten up the small room.

The couple furnished with a mix of vintage, modern reissues, and inexpensive kid-proof furniture from IKEA. The ‘dog-bone’ sofa is from Modernica and the Saarinen table with the lazy Susan in the center was bought on eBay, Kafka says. And while the lamp over the table and the dark couch in the living room are IKEA designs, and two armchairs were retrieved from someone’s curb, the living room arc lamp is from Design Within Reach and a George Nelson bench used for a coffee table was bought through Herman Miller.

Despite a rather rocky start with their dream house, they don’t regret the move one bit. Borsellino even sees how Eichler and his architects continued to learn what worked and what didn’t as they built their numerous tracts. Our previous Eichler was the beta plan for this later model; this house is much more functional, he says. They had 15,000 tries to get it right and they did.

Desert Alexander

A late-’40s dinette set makes the Herman Miller chairs and couch look coolly elegant. The color in the home comes from furniture and collectibles like the coral-colored Jitterbug wall sculpture by Frederick Weinberg.

When Nick Lorenzen was visiting