Hopefully it's the kind that you're living in right now. Or maybe you have pleasant thoughts about the style of the house you grew up in.
My parents built two new homes – both ranches – on the west side of Lorain, one in the late 1950s, one in the mid-1960s. Consequently, that was the style I was used to. Our last ranch with three bedrooms on E. Skyline Drive was a little cramped, but it was perfect for my parents when they eventually became empty nesters.
Most of my friends in the 1960s and 70s lived in ranches as well. A couple of them lived in colonials, and I remember thinking that they must be sort of rich. They even had their own bedrooms – a foreign concept to someone like me who shared his bedroom with two brothers. (Ironically, I now look back and get sentimental about those days.)
During my adulthood, I've lived in two colonials – one on the east side of Lorain and one in Sheffield Lake. During those years, I was no longer awestruck about colonials. And I certainly knew I wasn't rich.
Anyway, what I'm taking my time getting around to is the observation that everyone has their own concept of what is the perfect house.
Sixty years ago, the ad for Robert Masley, Builder above from the August 29, 1964 Journal made the case that the home mentioned in the ad was 'the most outstanding and most accepted home in Lorain.'
It's hyperbole to be sure, but it was a different time. Constructing a house in Lorain meant either building in a new subdivision, or buying a vacant lot in an established neighborhood and working with a builder on your own. The concept of gated communities was still years off. Rock Creek Run was probably the closest thing.)
And what did the house profiled in the ad look like? Here it is, sixty years later, still looking great.
I grew up in a tiny cottage-ranch built on a slab. Six of us in less than 1,000 sq feet. A porch converted to a bedroom for the parents. A "real bedroom" for Mum's mum, and bunkbeds for 3 boys in the laundry room.
ReplyDeleteWe boys were only inside to eat, sleep, or if the weather was too bad to stand being outdoors. It was doggone crowded for a few years but, it was perfect for our parents once all us dadgum galoots got the heck outta Dodge. (Western simile there, for all our GRIT fans.)
I don't like basements. I don't like going up and down stairs to get where I'm going, so I'm happy in a rambling ranch that's a little bigger than a thousand square. It's all ready for Hoveround races with my sweetheart!
The description sounds pretty much like where I live now 'cept our place is a bit bigger.
ReplyDeleteFor ranch houses to be practical they must have a basement.I can do without a 2nd floor above,but a basement has to be a requirement.A split level without a traditional basement would even make do.And I like planter boxes, exaggerated roof overhangs,an open floor plan,wood paneling and breeze blocks.Some older ranch houses today still have a cool looking,usually non working intercom/radio system in their walls.A left over of good times gone bad.
ReplyDeleteOur ranch is on a slab, but it's big enough (or there are so few living here) for us to have one 15x15 room we call "the basement" where the furnace, chest freezer, and toolboxes live. It's filled with wonderfully sturdy shelving holding boxes of stuff deemed impervious to disposal. It's not musty, nor do we have to worry about mold, or water, and I don't have to worry about falling down the stairs as I am prone to do.
ReplyDeleteNice lawn too.
ReplyDeleteI too shared a bedroom growing up in a tiny 3 bedroom on a slab. We also mostly played outside - in bad weather played board games at the dining room table and matchbox cars on the “racetrack” ovals of the braided living room rug. We kids were the TV channel changers for dad too. Great memories of our home and neighborhoods in the sixties!
ReplyDeleteMy "most outstanding" home would be a 2 or 3 bedroom ranch with a basement. I currently have a slab and the "basement" room someone else described. Absolutely must have a covered front and back porch. Somehow I have made it through life without ever having a porch. The kitchen must have all drawer base cabinets because who wants to get on their knees to look in the back of a cabinet shelf? Most importantly, good neighbors, because who needs all that B.S.
ReplyDeleteI've never lived in a ranch house, although I like the looks of them. My parents must have favored colonials, because that's what they always chose. I spent as much time as possible outdoors (and have had melanoma as a result). Today I am pretty much confined to my cluster home because of various ailments.
ReplyDeleteAs for the ad, I wonder why the builder didn't include a photo or drawing of his attractive ranch.
I too grew up in a ranch house. It was 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. My brother and I had bunk beds and shared a room. When my youngest brother was born, my parents had an addition put on to the back of the house adding a large family room and master bedroom. The house seem to double in size but I still shared a room with my brother and baby brother got his own room.
ReplyDeleteDan, I too thought people living in colonials were rich. I thought my Aunt and Uncle's house was gigantic since it had a second level..........although they did have 6 kids so probably didn't have much of a choice.
Great comments and reminisces, everyone! Sounds like ranches ruled the roost in our area!
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