Apr 25, 2007

Sundown on the rancher



"Home buyers' affair with modernistic design is over. When I leaf through a directory of one big home builder's current models, I notice that all the houses have similar architectural features: pitched roofs, gables, dormers, bay windows, keystones, shutters, porches, and paneled doors.
Americans' fondness for such conventional imagery is characterized by some critics as nostalgic and retrograde. In fact, it represents a long domestic tradition that extends to colonial New England and Virginia. In that history, the brief fling with the rancher was an anomaly."
- Witold Rybczynski

4 comments:

Penwrencher said...

Agree! That's certainly what I've been seeing in the local real estate market over the past six months. Ranchers, split levels and split foyers sit forever, while the colonials and bungalows of the 20s and 30s disappear as fast as they hit the multiple list service. Er, at least that's how it seems...as I attempt to sell my own split foyer with dreams of a nice little bungalow in northern Baltimore county, complete with original millwork, front porch and dormers.

falmanac said...

I love those old bungalows, especially the Sears models. We hope to feature a fair amount of vintage 20th century housing in the months to come.

Penwrencher said...

Looking forward to that! With luck, one of them will be my new home...

falmanac said...

Send me a picture & a little history of the place after you move in. mu23ATmsn.com. Try not to shoot into the sun.