Reappraising the ranch

If ever a house style suffered from low self-esteem, it would be the poor, underrated ranch. Log cabins once got more respect. By the 1980s, ranch homes were dismissed as drab and repetitive. Often they were, thrown up with cookie-cutter quickness on too-tight lots -- icons of suburban conformity.

But the ranch has made a comeback, and its significance is well-explained in this new book by Alan Hess. He reminds us of the changes the ranch home brought: a more casual lifestyle, more open living spaces and an affordability that, for millions of Americans, brought the dream of homeownership to life.

With 266 images that include floor plans and photos, Hess takes us through the history of the style and offers some appealing examples of the ranch done right. There’s the Dadd-Griffith house in Altadena, a modernist’s delight, and the sprawling, exposed-beam Christiansen house in Phoenix. Through it all, Hess and photographer Noah Sheldon make clear the versatility, beauty and lasting power of the ranch design.

“What these architects developed together was a hospital Modernism,” Hess writes. “Ranch implied a lack of concern for convention and for following fashionable tastes.” Ranch’s record may be more mixed than that, but Hess makes a compelling case for both the romance and practicality of the design.

Chris Erskine