[PGH423]

Originally Posted by LINative

They do have some advantages.

There is often more property - For instance, the house is at least 40' to 50' wide, which means the property is at least 60' and often 75' wide. In other words, if you do not have the property you are not building a raised ranch (unless it is a inline), your going to build a cape or something else instead.

Easy to convert - one of the easiest houses to convert to a mother-daughter or a more private area for a teenager/young adult. And the bottom floor is not underground usually, so you do not have to worry about basement flooding issues.

Those are good points. However, I actually like the aesthetics outside and inside of a well-done raised ranch (not the plain ones, though). If it has brick or stone and a gable (I think that's the term) on the outside and high ceilings with an open design on the inside, I like it. I like other home styles too though.

[Lalalally]

I don't know how to post full size photos here, so apologies in advance for this stupid thumbnail... anyway this is probably one of the more unique RR transformations in my town. It started out as a very typical 1970s version.. Picture is from the Town assessor website

[PGH423]

Originally Posted by Lalalally

I don't know how to post full size photos here, so apologies in advance for this stupid thumbnail... anyway this is probably one of the more unique RR transformations in my town. It started out as a very typical 1970s version.. Picture is from the Town assessor website

They raised the front door so it was no longer a split entry? And added a whole third floor?
I wouldn't have even realized it was a raised ranch if you hadn't said so. I'm not crazy about that look, though.

[Lalalally]

Originally Posted by PGH423

They raised the front door so it was no longer a split entry? And added a whole third floor?
I wouldn't have even realized it was a raised ranch if you hadn't said so. I'm not crazy about that look, though.

I'm not too crazy about it either, I'm just amazed that you can almost no longer see the original raised Ranch lines in the structure anymore. And it was a 100% typical 1970s RR style before the renovation. (With cedar shake siding shingles and all!)

The Assessors field card has the left peak side coded as a finished upper story and the right peak as a three quarter story, although they appear to be the same height to me so I'm not sure how the two sides differ on the inside. I'm not sure if they raised the entrance. Before the renovation there was a stoop and you did have to walk up a few steps to get to the front door. I was in this house pre-renovation (friends with the previous owners) but it's been 10+ years since they sold it to the new owners (the ones who renovated it), so I really don't remember now how high/how many steps there were to the door

[GeoffD]

I'd point out that raised ranches are not thermally efficient. A concrete foundation is a thermal bridge. You need to insulate it with 4" of foam panel with no breaks in it to meet cold climate R20 energy code for exterior walls. You're still going to have all kinds of thermal bridging losses at the windows and ground floor doors. In 2017, I don't see that anyone would want to build a house with an exposed foundation.