Located on a quiet street in the new Long Grove subdivision of Insignia Green, Carl Cullotta’s 2,150-square-foot, one-story ranch home almost seems dwarfed by the significant two-story structures that surround it.
Cullotta, however, doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, he’s quick to boast how much he loves one-level living.
“I’m very happy with my choice,” says Cullotta, who runs a heating and air conditioning firm in Spring Grove. “I’m a single professional and I have all of my needs filled on one level.
“And I don’t have to walk up and down the stairs,” he adds with a laugh. “That’s a nice perk.”
Cullotta isn’t the only homeowner who likes the idea of the one-level living that comes with a ranch home. However, many who embrace the idea of residing in a ranch are finding their choices limited.
To say the least, the ranch home, once a sought-after suburban symbol of homeownership status, has been threatened in the last decade by an onslaught of two-story homes that offer as much as half again, and sometimes double, the ranch’s square footage in the same size footprint.
Home-building officials say the shift has occurred for a simple reason: economics. As land prices increase, it’s harder for builders to construct ranches.
“The ranch option has not been offered as much because of utilization of land,” says Jim Raymond, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago. “You can get more house for the money with a multi-level structure on a lot than you can with a single-level structure.”
For example, says Raymond, a typical 2,000-square-foot ranch home can cost between $250,000 to $260,000. The same size two-story would cost closer to $200,000 and would take up less space on the same lot. “A ranch costs a lot more to build per square foot,” he says.
At Buschman Homes’ Cedar Crossing in Lake Villa, for example, the 1,816-square-foot Bardwell ranch home starts at about $190,000. For $10,000 less, buyers could purchase the 1,930-square-foot two-story Ludington.
“Generally, buyers come in looking for a single-story house but when they see they can get more square footage with a two-story, they switch,” says Gary Buschman, vice president of sales and marketing.
When the subdivision is completed by the end of next year, Buschman expects about 15 percent of the 310 single-family homes there to be ranches.
The increased costs of a ranch are a result of its construction techniques.
“You not only need a bigger lot for a ranch, you also need a larger roof, a larger foundation and more complicated roof trusses,” says Susan Piazza, sales manager for Windsor Development Corp.’s Park Ridge Estates subdivision in McHenry.
Of the nine floor plans at the single-family development, two are ranch plans — the 1,650-square-foot Cheyenne, whose base price is $187,400, and the 2,000-square-foot Dakota, priced from $213,000.
“I would say that a ranch the same size square footage-wise as a two-story would cost 30 to 35 percent more than the two-story,” says Victor Plastiak, sales manager at Gallagher & Henry’s Ishnala Estates and Ishnala Woods in Orland Park.
“For example, when you build a two-story, the second floor deck also acts as the ceiling for the first floor,” he adds. “Those are separate costs with a ranch. So you pay a premium for everything being on one level. It’s cheaper to stack levels.”
Complicating this equation is the fact that many builders are required by municipalities to keep a home’s footprint to a certain percentage of a lot. This is to reduce the feeling of congestion.
As a result, in the Chicago area, ranches are mostly being found in the south and southwest suburbs, where raw land costs are less than north, northwest and west.
At Camelot Homes’ Walker Country Estates in New Lenox and Heritage Knolls in Frankfort, as many as 35 percent of the homes planned there are ranch homes, says sales manager Will Albright. Both sites will have 200 homes when completed.
Of the eight home designs offered at both subdivisions, three are ranch designs.
“In addition to the fact that land costs are cheaper here, many of our buyers grew up in ranch homes or bungalows and are sold on the idea of one-level living,” says Albright.
Of the 25 home styles at Ishnala Estates and Ishnala Woods, five are ranch homes, says Plastiak.
There’s an irony with ranch homes, say the builders: As they become more expensive to build, more of the Baby Boom generation are requesting them.
“The Baby Boomers are aging and they’re demanding ranches,” says Piazza. He expects that about 25 percent of Park Ridge Estates homes will be ranch homes. “And that’s probably going to continue.”
Two years ago, at Windsor’s Columbine subdivision in Elgin, Piazza’s company got so many requests for ranches that they added two ranch floor plans. About 20 of the 116 homes built there were ranch homes.
Ranches are particularly appealing to home buyers with older children or children who “have already left the nest,” says Piazza. “At that age group, they want what they want,” she says.
“People who are attracted to ranches also like the simplicity of the floor plan and the more open space of a ranch,” says Buschman.
“For empty-nesters, it’s a physical issue,” says the home builders association’s Raymond. “They want more congregate space and they don’t want to go up and down stairs. Empty-nesters also aren’t trying to get away from each other as younger families are. With young families, you’ll see the kids in the family room or bedrooms and mom and dad in the living room.”
“Ranches also appeal to smaller families, say those with one or two children, who are happy to have three bedrooms versus four,” says Plastiak.
Having lived in a home for two decades or so, these older buyers have the equity to purchase more expensive ranches. “They have the money to upgrade,” says Piazza.
“They’ll pay the premium to live in a ranch,” says Plastiak. At Ishnala, for example, three-bedroom ranches range in price from $286,000 for a nearly 2,300-square-foot home to nearly $350,000 for 2,750 square feet.
“For people who want everything on one level, they truly feel that the extra cost is well-worth it,” adds Plastiak.
