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After buying one and looking at many starter homes in the process, it gave me an appreciation for these underrated (imo) homes. From a purely aesthetic pov they are simple and usually don't incorporate any unneeded flare...the Toyota Corolla of the housing world.
1. Often located in established neighborhoods (for less money comparatively)
2. Usually made with studier brick exteriors - no cheap/faded/falling off siding like many 10 yr old "new homes". My parents haven't replaced a single brick or any mortar on the '74 ranch.
3. ~0.5 acre lots seem to be the norm - no spitting on your neighbor's house from your living room.
4.. Typical 8 ft ceilings - perfect functional height. Vaulted ceilings seem to be purely for aesthetic value. 95%+ of people are under 6'5". Lower ceilings = lower energy bill all else equal. They also make cleaning cob webs in corners and painting much easier.
5. Everything is on one level so they work great for children and the elderly. No worries about one of these groups taking a tumble down the stairs.
6. Replacement parts are readily available and usually in pretty standard sizes. I'm thinking things like basic square windows, doors, etc. Carpet, hardwoods, vinyl, etc all suit the unassuming nature of these homes.
Yes, the bathrooms are small, but small don't mean they aren't functional...look at many European homes.
I live in a neighborhood full of 1950s ranches. There seems to be a few predominant floor plans, but you really wouldn't be able to tell because each house looks slightly different. My house, for example, has an added bedroom with a walk-in closet and bathroom plus an additional family room on the backside of the house (totaling around 500 sq ft of added space). The typical floor plan for this house has only 3 small bedrooms and a small bathroom in the center.
There's really a whole lot of different outside variations on these ranches (as well as some bungalows mixed in) and it's actually really subtle and done a lot better than contemporary housing styles, imo. Driving through, the houses seem pretty cookie cutter, but a closer look and they're all pretty unique with something different about them, and of course, all out of real brick. This house feels as about as sturdy as a mountain.
OP - you covered the features well and your list is the reason I love mid-century ranch houses of the 1950s and 1960s. I grew up in one built in 1963, but unfortunately haven't owned one myself. I am going to be selling my house soon and I want one of those ranch houses very much. The area we're looking at happens to have a variety of those houses so I am optimistic.
I grew up in a 50s ranch myself, and these are the negative features I've noticed about many of them:
Small kitchens
No or small dining rooms
Tiny bedroom windows high on the walls
No front porches
On the other hand, they tend to have large yards and backyard patios, roomy basements, and spacious garages. My mom's house has decent-sized bedrooms and a relatively large bathroom, and plenty of closets.
One drawback with the small bathrooms is that there is often a window in the shower. This is because originally the houses didn't have a shower and a window over a bathtub isn't quite as problematic as a window in a shower. People end up covering the window with glass block or taking out the window other than just a small window at the top for light.
The ones I have seen don't have tiny windows high on the walls in the bedrooms. They have decent sized windows - 4-1/2 feet by 2-1/2 feet or so? The ones I've seen do have a front porch - not one with a porch swing or anything, but a small front porch. Usually a screened in porch in the back too.
I once considered buying an early 1970s rancher. I think it was custom because the interior looked pretty unique. The livingroom fed into a step-down family room with a giant ceiling and beams. A stairway on the side led to a loft area over this family room which I think was a library. the loft had a center window overlooking the backyard. On the back of the family room, a sliding door opened to a patio and then a built-in swimming pool.
The livingroom was paneled with beautiful wood--not cheapo wood paneling but really nice. I am not a fan of wood paneling but if I owned that house there was no way I'd take it down.
There were all different floor plans for ranch houses.
The one my parents bought in 1956 had a living/dining combo which ran the depth of the house. One step down and to the side from the dining room was the den. The kitchen was galley in style, but wide enough to accommodate a kitchen table for 4 at the end. That kitchen had great counter space.
The hall bath had no window. The master bath was shower only.. and had a regular sized window. Shower was in the corner along interior walls. Master had one walk in closet and a regular 6 ft closet.
Second bedroom was normal size, the third bedroom....smaller..... but accommodated all my kiddy stuff. All the windows were pretty standard sizes. But I have seen some ranches with rather small windows that would have bothered me.
The current owners of our old house, extended the den, vaulted the roof and put a fireplace in.
I love ranch homes. Unfortunately, there are not many where I live now.....and these knees of mine are very tired of climbing stairs.
I live in a ranch and i'd take issues with the low ceiling height, which is also generally manifested in a low hatted roof and tight attic. Hope you enjoy crawling to do any work in there! Also ceiling fans and light fixtures hang down from the 8' ceiling. I have to be careful not to raise my arms or I'll hit a fan and I'm average height. That's not efficient, that's dumb.
They lose a lot of space in storing things above your head. Hope you don't require a bunkbed for example.
To make the living room seem more expansive, many had step down floors, which is the dumbest thing ever. It's hard to replace your flooring, hard to navigate for people with mobility problems, and involve a more complex cement slab than building upwards.
Also the lack of windows and front porches make the houses generic, ugly and unfriendly. Many are also dominated by their garage which makes them even more unattractive, and when they are, the front door takes second place to the car door.
In short, I think ranches are more like a '80s Ford Tempo than a Toyota Corolla. Not as good as other inexpensive models, and designed with no care or thought whatsoever, but different just to be different.
Most of the other things you mention (bricks, large lots, established neighborhoods, build quality) are done by other types of houses better.
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'50s-'70s ranch home appreciation...function over form.
