All About Ranch House Plans Levit
Article by Tina Berg
Contemporary ranch house plans levit have their roots in the Spanish colonial architecture of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. These homes used single-story floor plans and incorporated native materials into a simple style which met the needs of the inhabitants. Frequently the walls were built of adobe brick and then covered with plaster or else board-and-batten wood siding was used. The roofs were low and had wide eaves to shade the windows from the heat of the Southwestern sun. The buildings were often constructed in a "U" shape surrounding an interior courtyard, and had large front porches which extended the living areas into the out-of-doors. These low-slung, thick-walled constructions characteristic of working ranches in the Southwestern states were progenitors of the California ranch style of the early twentieth century, with its simple one-story outline, its ample porch, and it orientation towards gardens and greenery.
A number of American architects in the early twentieth century were instrumental in adapting the traditional Spanish colonial-type of ranch home to the modernist architectural style in order to create the style known as California ranch house. This style of coastal cottage house plan is most closely associated with San Francisco's William Wurster and San Diego's Cliff May. Western Ranch Houses, which May wrote in conjunction with the editors of Sunset magazine, stresses the three basic concepts which are the philosophical underpinnings of the California ranch style: livability; flexibility; and simplicity. All three of these elements are brought together by combing the practices of modern building with the rustic look of Spanish colonial ranches.
In the first place, southern living ranch home plans stress livability through open floor plans in place of the small and divided-up rooms of traditional architectural styles. In the modern ranch home each of the major living areas is designed to flow into the next one. Large picture windows are used to bring in the outside light and feeling of closeness to nature. Garages are attached to the house instead of being in a separate building, as in previous architectural styles. This was in acknowledgement of the great importance of the automobile in modern living, by incorporating the vehicle into the floor plan. The flow is from the garage to the kitchen, which opens onto the dining area, thence to the living area and recreation areas, and finally to the sleeping areas. Since land was cheap and plentiful at the time, ranch homes were rambling and long. Open floor plans also make for flexibility, since rooms can be rearranged to serve multiple purposes. Separate family, living, and dining rooms can be redone for other purposes as the need arises, and siding glass doors opening onto patios in the rear of the home allows for a functional relationship with the out-of-doors. Finally, simplicity was achieved with the clean and lean lines of the houses, with their low roof-lines and their rustic trim, intended to create a casual and relaxed feeling.
The California ranch house plans levit style incorporated modernist architectural style with traditional Spanish colonial and southern living ranch home plans. Today's coastal cottage house plan is designed for an easy, laid-back, relaxed style of life.
About the Author
Tina graduated college in 2008 with a major in Philosophy
