Podcast Archives - Page 21 of 21

Features of a Midwestern Ranch you should Recognize

10 min readI’m going to be talking about what I know best: the builder basic Midwestern ranch, built by the millions across the country.

Knowing the history and key features of midwestern ranch will help you make good decisions as you work on your home.

Understanding what’s unusual about some of those original features – and also the history and the reasoning behind how they were built – will help you identify what’s rare, cool, quirky, or valuable about your home. And in other cases, it will help you know when something about your home isn’t that important to its overall character and you can modify it with a clean conscience.

Know This before Updating an MCM Home

4 min readWe aren’t the same people our parents and grandparents were, so we might need to tweak their houses to make sure they work as well for us as they did for their original owners.

Before updating an MCM home, you want to know what has changed in the generations that have passed since those mid-century ranches were constructed.

We aren’t the same people our parents and grandparents were, so we need to tweak their homes a bit to make them facilitate a modern lifestyle.

A Short History of Mid-Century Ranches in the Midwest

13 min readWe can all use a reminder that history comes with context — what was important and why –before we make informed choices about what we change, and what we shouldn’t.

This week, I’m digging into the history of mid-century ranches in the midwest. After all, it helps to know where we’re coming from before we plan where to go next.