Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Anyone has experience with these kind of houses? Besides the immediate up/down stairs upon entering the front door, I don't seem to find anything else wrong with this layout.
I have hi-ranch home. I love it. I have been there for past eight years. My home is little small, my wife keep saying she wants bigger. But now we don't have money. We will stay here for a while...
I have my home-office downstairs and child playing area downstairs. Up floor, we have bedrooms and living room and etc....
Anyone has experience with these kind of houses? Besides the immediate up/down stairs upon entering the front door, I don't seem to find anything else wrong with this layout.
If you're prepared to live with walking up two flights to get to your living space EVERY day of your life, then go for it! There's a reason nobody builds these anymore.
Most hi-ranch style houses around here were built in the 60s and 70s, around the time builders were trying to cut costs by using aluminum wiring. A few decades later, many of these houses are burning up due to electrical fires... not a coincidence.
You may like this style of home, which is fine, but they (like split levels) are harder to sell than the others. Furthermore, there is no good way to renovate those homes to try and hide the different levels, short of knocking the thing down. It's not my taste, but it's also not my business to impose that taste on others. Each to his own.
I don't find them to be the most effective use of space - most high ranches I've seen tend to have a bunch of smaller rooms split between the two levels, rather than the type of bigger, more open living spaces you'd see in a similarly-sized colonial or cape (so you end up with bedrooms spread across two floors, or cramming everyone into the small bedrooms upstairs and then having rooms downstairs that don't get used too often, plus the broken up spaces make it difficult to entertain, since people usually all want to socialize on the same level, so you end up with everyone crammed into the upstairs kitchen/living area while the - often larger - downstairs spaces go unused).
That said, if you've found a house you like that fits your needs that happens to be a high ranch, I don't think there's anything wrong with them.
#1 issue is that you can't expand up..you can only go out, which means more foundation ie a ton more money. Either that or get rid of the garage and build more living space.
My late 60's neighborhood is about 1/3 divided between splits, hi ranches, and colonials. The hi ranches are by far the smallest in terms of space.
I have seen many hi ranches on the island and while not the most desirable of layouts, I think its better than the typical cape
Pros
1- once you are upstairs, everything is on one level. this can also be a con.
2- I'm seeing many renos take down the walls, so you get a nice open concept between the living room, dining room and kitchen (typically when you walk into a high ranch the kitchen is the first room you see off the stairs). this in turn makes the home feel bigger.
3- great for mother/daughter/office setup as you can have 2 completely separate apts.
4- bedroom sizes are decent.
5- OK for large families given the number of bedrooms.
6 - usually get a wider lot
Cons
1- often no basement, meaning washer/dryer is in the garage. boiler etc. are in a room in the back of the garage
2- attached garage which for some presents an extra security issue.
3 - walking up several steps to the front door, then another 4 or 5 steps to the main floor.
4 - a *big* house that is small. the first floor of a hi-ranch tends to be empty space for many owners, then again it can be used for extra storage space in lieu of not having a basement. I have been to many hi-ranches where the first floor bedrooms/living spaces aren't well utilized since all the living/dining/sleeping occurs on the 2nd floor.
5 - short, 1 car driveways.
6- aesthetics - the design has fallen out of favor
7- layout - no den/family room etc unless its on the lower floor, it makes for a chopped up layout.
8 - small dining rooms. no backyard access from kitchen as its in the middle of the house/on 2nd floor, although many hi-ranches have decks off the 2nd floor dining room to compensate for the lack of direct backyard access.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
