It’s worth emphasizing now more than ever: Diversity is what the United States of America is all about. The country, of course, was cobbled together on this very idea—diversity of geography, beliefs, people. And even the homes they live in! We’ve got architectural styles rooted in the history of our nation before it was a nation (Colonial, Pueblo), a variety of imports (Spanish, French, Mediterranean) and lots of utterly contemporary styles.
So what is an American home, really? It might be easier to come up with a definitive answer to the question: What’s the ultimate American TV show or ’80s rock band? (For the record, “Breaking Bad,” and the Replacements, respectively). But just as with pop culture or food, there are some tastes that unite us and others that are regional preferences.
We thought it was the ideal time to dive deep into our own data to find the architectural home styles that best define our nation. We looked into realtor.com®’s listing descriptions to find out which types of homes are mentioned the most, where they are most popular, and whether their prices are going up or down as they fade in and out of vogue.
Here’s what we found: some seemingly ironclad regional preferences. Some changes. A few surprises. And one clear winner for the title of the American home.
Most regional architectural styles in the United States have their roots both in history and in the environment: They grew out of the types of building materials, such as stone, wood, or clay (for bricks), that were readily available during the early period of development, and the climates that these homes were constructed to withstand, says architect Mark Hogan of OpenScope Studio in San Francisco. They were also often reminiscent of popular styles in the regions where the builders and buyers hailed from—including European influences for Spanish, French, and Tuscan-style homes.
For those reasons, “when people were first settling the West Coast … it ended up looking very different than what was being built on the East Coast at the same time,” Hogan says. “They were very limited to what [materials] they could find nearby.”
And yet there is one style that has managed to conquer most of the nation. Drumroll, please. The most popular home style in 29 of the 50 states is….
The ranch home.
To housing experts, this is no surprise. Ranch houses can be built quickly and inexpensively and can be customized easily to suit the whims of buyers. Although the low-slung style is inspired by the Old West, it spread across the country with the rise of automobile culture in the 1960s. Able to accommodate one or two cars, the sprawling homes quickly populated the new suburbs.
“The ranch style signals a lifestyle change of that age. Front porches went away, and people are more into backyard living and protecting privacy,” says Tim Cannan, president of PreservationDirectory.com.
The second most popular architectural style is the “traditional,” a somewhat vague classification encompassing a variety of classic designs, defined by simple rooflines and symmetrical windows, …read more
From:: Finance and Economy