What is an American Ranch Style Home in Portland?

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Portland is known for its charming early and revival Craftsman, Bungalow, Foursquare, and Tudor style homes that mark the city’s early settlement days. Portland also has sections that are home to a fair amount of Ranch styles with their own historic place in Portland’s history, all of which give the Rose City its diverse personality.

Did you know that Ranch style homes sell faster and for more than other home styles? Check out our research here.

We thought we’d focus on this classic style and see what the real estate market has to offer. If you’re a fan of the Ranch, you’ll want to take a look at what’s available. We have the full map of all Portland ranch style homes for sale.

To find these homes on the Portland Homes for Sale website, we simply entered “Ranch” in the search bar. From there, you can zoom in on any quadrant or neighborhood in the city for a closer look.

What are the Features of the Ranch Style Home?

Ranches provide a different experience from the quaint, cozy charm of older architectural styles. A primary sought-after bonus of this classic home style is the lack of stairs, making for easy navigation throughout, and a lighter load when it comes to exterior maintenance and easy-to-access gutters. The ranch also marked the addition of attached garages for ease and comfort of movement, especially during inclement weather.

Inside this classic, American design, you’ll find casual and inviting, open-concept spaciousness for smooth traffic flow between living, dining, and kitchen areas, many of which have an additional eat-in feature or breakfast nook.

Original interiors were often void of the wallpaper found in earlier home styles, replaced with the warmth of wood paneling on the walls. Large windows, rather than dormer windows, are also commonplace in ranch style homes.

Other features include devoted patio and/or deck spaces, sizable front and back yards, and sliding glass doors.

The common lack of porches gives ranch style homes a clean, minimalist facade.

This quintessential American home was so common that, according to House Beautiful, 9 out of 10 homes built in the U.S. by 1950 was a ranch.

What are the Different Types of Ranch Style Homes?

There are several types of ranch style homes with similar and differing features, depending on the type of ranch style home in question.

California Ranch—This type ranch, also called a rambling ranch, typically has a U- or L-shaped structure and spacious, flowing open-concept interiors. Patios and front lawns are also associated with the California ranch.

Suburban Ranch—The suburban ranch is asymmetrical in its structure while still reflecting the U or L shape with an open-concept interior. This type ranch also usually has a back yard and attached garage.

Split-Level Ranch—The split-level ranch is shaped similarly to the suburban, and has a distinctive layout, usually over three tiered levels. The main level usually houses the living, dining, and kitchen areas. Sets of two- or three-step stairs lead to bedrooms, dens, and other living spaces.

Raised Ranch—The raised ranch also has multiple levels of living space with a different interior layout. Once inside the front door, stairs lead to both the upstairs and downstairs with the kitchen and bedrooms on the upper level, and extra space, like a den, on the bottom level.

Storybook Ranch—Unlike all other ranch styles, this type, also known as a fairytale ranch, has ornamental features, like steep-pitched, gabled roofs, decorative stone or brick chimneys, and diamond-shape windows.

Where Did the Ranch Style Home Get its Name?

The ranch style, sometimes also called a “rambler,” is said to have gotten its name because of its sprawling, open appeal, nodding to cattle ranches of similar shape, with low-pitched roofs, and a connection their connection to nature by design.

When Did the Ranch Style Home Come to Portland?

The first ranch-style homes started showing up in the U.S. in the 1920s in California. The style became popular and within twenty years had spread across the country.

By the end of World War II when soldiers returned home and needed affordable and functional housing for their young families, ranches started popping up everywhere. They were quick to construct with pre-fab, off-the-shelf materials, eliminating concerns for hand-crafted artisanship, as seen in the Craftsman.

Portland was no different, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that ranches started showing up in Portland and were constructed on through the 1960s. The impulse to build these homes came from an interest in both utility and style.

The term “ranch” is synonymous with “American ranch,” and more specifically, many of Portland’s ranch homes are considered Mid-century ranches with thought given to simple lines and other design elements that allow the home to blend with or parallel its natural surroundings.

Floor-to-ceiling windows are often found in Portland’s ranch homes, flooding interior spaces with ample natural light. Many of these homes also have high, eight-foot ceilings, adding to the spaciousness typically found in ranches.

The standard layout for Portland ranch homes includes a kitchen that flows into the dining room, with other rooms sometimes separated by room dividers and utilitarian built-ins, like bookcases.

Where Can You Find Ranch Style Homes in Portland?

Almost all of Portland’s ranch style homes are scattered on the east side with concentrations in certain areas. Neighborhoods with a high number of ranches are Glendoveer, Lorene Park, Argay Terrace, and Regency Park.

Two developments, went in during the mid-sixties—Clovercrest near NE 192nd and Halsey, and Seymorr Terrace near NE 122nd Ave and the Banfield Freeway. Here, you’ll find both standard ranch and split-level ranches, most with three bedrooms and double garages.

When driving through these neighborhoods, note the post-war street, block, and lot patterns and how they differ from neighborhoods in inner Portland: subdivisions shaped by cul-de-sacs, irregular lot dimensions, and curvilinear streets. Many of the homes located within these areas have manicured, composed yards, inner courtyards, or are located on public greenways.

Looking for a Ranch Style Home?

Get in touch with our top 1% Portland buyer’s team today! We’d love to put our 18 years of experience in the Portland metro area and our customer-focused approach to work for you. Chat with the bot on our site, or give us a call at 503-773-0000, and let’s get busy finding the ideal home for you!

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