Atomic Ranch
At the close of World War II, during a time when the United States was suffused with optimism about the future, America began a love affair with the ranch house that lasted for the next twenty-five years. From the decidedly modern gable-roofed Joseph Eichler tracts in the San Francisco Bay area and butterfly wing houses in Palm Springs and Sarasota, Florida, to the unassuming brick or stucco L-shaped ranches and split-levels we see every day, midcentury ranches can be found all over the country.
Today there is a growing new enthusiasm for ranch houses and the midcentury furnishings that go with them. Atomic Ranch illustrates in stunning color photography the virtues of the ranch house, often decried as "cookie cutter," and shows why these homes worked so well for their first residents and still function beautifully today. With private front facades, open floor plans, secluded bedroom wings, and walls of glass that bring the outside in, midcentury ranches mix function, comfort, and style with ease. Instead of trying to turn your ranch house into a bungalow, Spanish adobe or two-story Tuscan villa, why not let it be what it was meant to be-a modest one-story house with a casual, comfortable lifestyle.
From updated homes with high-end Italian kitchens, terrazzo floors, and modern furniture to affordable homeowner renovations with eclectic thrift-store furnishings, Atomic Ranch presents plenty of inspiring examples of stylish living in America's favorite house.
One look at the Borsellino-Kafka house and you might conclude that it's a nice original home. It is and it isn't, as the before photos show.
Monika Kafka and Tom Borsellino had already lived in this San Jose neighborhood before relocating to Chicago. But work and a hankering for the sunny, casual California lifestyle pulled them back. Borsellino found a house and bought it with his wife's blessing but without her actually seeing it. He told her it needed a little work, and an early inspection indicated some dry rot and termite damage. Mostly it seemed to be suffering from claustrophobic '60s-meets-Asian decor.
When the couple, with a two-year-old and two-month-old in tow, pulled up to move into the house, the front facade had been stripped down to the insulation, and the baby's room was completely open to the street. It was 105 degrees outside, but an even more stunning 108 degrees inside. Kafka was not charmed.
Introduction 6
Inspiring Originals 8
Is My House a Ranch ?
Stunning Transformations 52
Modest Makeovers 88
Pure Fun 108
Outside the Ranch 136
Adding Personality 152
Preseving Midcentury Neighborhoods 175
Ranch Resources 190
Anonymous
Posted March 22, 2008
The best book on this subject! Mid Century Modern,Palm Springs, design ideas, this book has it all. Guys start with this one, it's worth it.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 24, 2010
This book is amazing. Read the entire book in less than two days because you just have to keep turning the pages to see whats next! Awesome color pictures and great information about the homes and their owners, very interesting. If you like Mid-Century Modern this book is for you!
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Overview
Atomic Ranch
At the close of World War II, during a time when the United States was suffused with optimism about the future, America began a love affair with the ranch house that lasted for the next twenty-five years. From the decidedly modern gable-roofed Joseph Eichler tracts in the San Francisco Bay area and butterfly wing houses in Palm Springs and Sarasota, Florida, to the unassuming brick or stucco L-shaped ranches and split-levels we see...