WILLOW GLEN CONTEMPORARY RANCH

A ranch-style home that preserves a connection with the surrounding architecture despite its modern look

Willow Glen Contemporary Ranch

Our clients wanted a contemporary style for their new home, but they were concerned that it would not be compatible with the existing single-story ranch style context surrounding them.

We pointed out to them that the “Ranch style”, with its roots in California, is more about the building’s connection to the land and embracing the indoor-outdoor lifestyle than it is about stucco walls and a hip or gabled shingle roof.

The fantastic David Weingarten/Lucia Howard book “Ranch Houses: Living the California Dream” in fact explores this notion of how flexible the “Ranch” vernacular really is, and features many modern-style homes by such modernist architectural luminaries as Cliff May, Richard Neutra, John Lautner, and Charles Moore.

Our design features a low-slung profile that emphasizes the horizontal and connection to the land. Natural stone and wood help warm the house, while exposed steel, bronze aluminum windows and doors, smooth stucco, and a bit of metal paneling firmly root the design in the contemporary style.

The house features both a gracious front porch and rear patio.