Ranch vs. Foursquare-ish Homes?

[kalisis]

Do you have any thoughts about the merits of one over the other? My mother and I are having a friendly disagreement about the style of home I am purchasing and I am interested in thoughts on this subject.

FWIW, I am a single mother of two children, 2 and nearly 5. We plan to be in this house for 5-10 years (probably on the shorter side of that time frame). Laundry in the foursquare would be upstairs. All other things are equal - lot size, location, school district, etc. The ONLY difference is the type of house that is on the lot.

Do you have one of these designs and you wish you had something different? Do you love your particular design? If so, why? And then specifically, with us in mind, which would you prefer and why?

I know what I want, but am really trying to see it from the other perspective and see if there's something I haven't considered.

[Nikki Christina]

Id go with a ranch
I like everything on 1 floor

we lived in a townhouse before with the bedrooms upstairs & i hated it.
I hated taking laundry upstairs (although if it was upstairs it would have been a tad better)

I hated being upstairs & wanting something from the kitchen downstairs. or downstairs & needing something from upstairs.

the upstairs was always hotter also, and the downstairs would be cold.


& I like my kids being able to play in their rooms & be on the same floor as me. & they are forever calling me for something.. Id be up & down the stairs all.day.long if they where on different levels.

& i have a baby. .shes 13 months now & she follows her sisters around everywhere.. but likes to come check on me, then go back to them.
and i like to stick my head in their rooms every few minutes when shes in there with them.
If we had stairs , she would not be able to go play with them in their rooms unless I stayed up there with them.
which wouldnt work.. I use that time shes with them to get cooking & cleaning done.

[annettemarie]

We have a foursquare. I'm not a huge fan, to be honest, but it could just be our particular house.

[lucyem]

Around here a ranch is considered outdated and has a harder time selling. My BIL built one. Its been on the market for 4 years and has always been priced less then it cost to build. It may be new but looks old because of the design.

I would talk to some non interested in the sale agents and see what they have to say.

[ekortering]

DH and I lived in a ranch style condo when we first got married. We now live in a 2 story with cathedral ceilings. We just purchased a foreclosed home that is a cape cod.

I really like ranch homes. I'm a practical person that likes the ease of living on one level. When we move into the cape cod, we will be living on the main floor and moth balling the upstairs bedrooms. I seriously CAN'T wait!!!

[thriftyqueen]

These are just my opinions as I have lived in both styles of house.

Pros of Foursquare:
-Character
-Bedrooms are separate from living space (nice when you have company)
-You only have to clean up main floor when you have people over since they probably won't go upstairs

Cons of Foursquare:
-Most likely older home with poor insulation (higher heating/cooling costs)
-Stairs+kids (my son fell down the steep stairs a lot)
-Less closet space with older home
-Running up and down when you forget something

Pros of Ranch:
-Everything on one level
-Easier to keep eye on kids
-More closets
-Easier to organize

Cons of Ranch:
-Louder when you have people over (kids sleeping)
-Not as much character

I love American Foursquare houses! The character is great, BUT for us it was not practical as our heating bills were very high and the rooms were very small. Now that we are in a ranch, I can see why the ranch style house was designed. It is more convenient.

[kalisis]

Thanks for all the replies.

Both homes are brand new and will be built to spec, so age isn't a consideration.

These are basically all the points we have discussed and I stand by my decision to build a foursquare. The fact that the sleeping quarters are basically private and no one should be up there unless they're living there or staying with us is really important to me.

She swears I'm going to hate the stairs and wish I had bought a ranch, but my gut tells me that I won't.

[CarrieMF]

I grew up in a house that had an upstairs. My parents still live there.

I would love to have that again & when we buy in a couple of months it's what we're going for.

In the upstairs were the 5 bedrooms and a bathroom. It really separates people when they're sleeping from those still up on the main floor. It makes sleeping much quieter when people are up.

Laundry was on the main floor, but we had a big laundry schute. It was big enough that a large adult could go down it if necessary though my mother would have had something to say about that.lol

We had a basement too, so we had lots of stairs in the house. The stairs upstairs were hardwood so they were slippier. In my sister's house & my brother's townhouse they're carpet. The stairs were never a problem.

In my sister's house her toyroom & the family tv is upstairs so when we're there we do spend a bit of time upstairs.

Mom now wishes she'd never built the upstairs, BUT that's only since she got older & her knees creak when going up & down.

I currently have a basement & everything else in on 1 level. I hate it.

[Rico'sAlice]

As long as there is no one in the household who is unable to do so (elderly, in a wheelchair, etc.) having to run up and down stairs is a plus with regards to your physical health.

[Rebecca]

I love to have an upstairs to escape to and I find ranch style houses to be so 50's style and inconvenient when you have company. The only positive to a ranch that I can think of is that you'd have a bigger footprint meaning a bigger basement to use for whatever your heart desires.

[The4OfUs]

We're in a four square built in 1922, and aside from the tiny closets and laundry being in the basement, I love it - love the character of the moldings, etc. I've always liked 2-story homes more than single level homes though.

[philomom]

I loved my ranch with toddlers. It was easy for everything to be on one floor. It was however, a pain if you give parties because every single room had to be cleaned. There was no hiding the mess.

I have a up-down house now and I love it. Other than dragging laundry up and down; it is awesome. I can keep the common areas downstairs neat enough to never fear drop in company. I love it.

[zinemama]

This is a very individual decision.

I think ranch houses are ugly and a blight upon the architectural landscape and foursquares are classic and delightful. Others disagree profoundly and I respect their arguments for the practical advantages of ranches, especially for the elderly/disabled.

In your shoes, naturally I'd get the foursquare!

[Leta]

Where do you live? Ranch houses are better in warmer climates, and foursquares are better in cooler climates. This is true even if both houses are energy efficient and well insulated.

Personally, I like foursquares better athstetically, but if I lived in the Southwest, and was building, I'd go for a ranch.

[annettemarie]

Really, the steps aren't a huge deal. Other than the bathroom being up there, I don't find myself running up and down the stairs fifty billion times a day. And even if I did, that probably wouldn't be such a bad thing, you know? Good exercise! I do like having two floors. I don't think I'd want a ranch.

[kalisis]

I'm going to pay to have an extra half bath built on the first floor. That way, it is *guaranteed* that no one will need to go upstairs. Let's just say that my family is VERY nosy and I don't trust all of them to keep their grimy fingers out of things they shouldn't be in.

And laundry will be on the second floor, so the only things that will have to be taken up and down the stairs will be kitchen towels.

I think I've really thought about all of these pros and cons and I agree with everything said about a ranch. I know why my mom likes them, but she's also a bit older than me and stairs are a consideration for her. If I was 50, I might think differently, but right now,with my situation, I am not scared of the stairs.

We're in Wyoming, so it's very cold here. I can see heat maybe being an issue on the first floor, but I think I'd have the same issue with a ranch too.

Thank you for your thoughts, it's helpful to read them all.

[ChetMC]

Four Square

My vote is totally for four square.

We live in a larger 3 bedroom rancher right now. I hate it. The house is sprawling. It's like a rat maze. It drives me nuts. I prefer the division of a multi level house. I agree that it's nice to have the bedroom separate, and to not have to clean the whole house when people come over.

We have small kids, and in a two story we'd have the stairs gated because of the baby so the kids would just be on the first floor most of the time. In the ranch house that we're in right now, the kids can be anywhere in 1800 square feet, and there's no easy way to do a pass of the house and no logical reason to block off part of it.

We used to live in a four level townhouse (two proper floors, a basement, and a loft conversion). I liked that the laundry and our junk was in the basement out of way. It was a lot of stairs, but honestly, the exercise is good for you. I hate hearing the washing machine in this house, and the fact that the laundry seems to work it's way out of the laundry alcove into the kitchen.

Our townhouse was very narrow, and had stairs to the extreme. I think a four square is nice because you have a good amount of living space on each floor. It's possible to have most of what you need on the main level and not be running up and down stairs with small kids.

Although multilevel houses get hot I've actually found that ours had much better air circulation and it was easy to clear out the hot air and fill the house with cool air in the evening. The rancher we're in has crappy airflow. It's hard to get cross drafts that get all the air in the house moving. I suppose that's less of an issue if you live where everybody has air conditioning.

I also think that two story houses look about a million times better. I imagine that's a matter of taste, though it boggles my mind. Ranchers are all over the place here, and people have no problem paying $400K for them. Our real estate agent actually told us that people here love ranchers and hate split entries.

[Peony]

I much prefer a four square for all the reasons listed.

[artemis33]

I love four squares! Beautiful spacious style.

I prefer having the bedrooms separated. Our house is an old farmhouse with the bedrooms and laundry up (added in a remodel). We love it!

I would definitely build what you want. I've never been a big fan of ranches.

[elsie]

I go with whatever has the easiest driveway to shovel