Loving and reviving MCM ranches is more than my job. It’s a personal crusade. I see updating a ranch as a radical act of sustainability and I’m on a mission to help as many new homeowners as I can with the process of moving into, and adapting, an existing mid-century ranch to suit their lifetime needs.
I want America’s MCM ranches to become the same sort of forever home for us millennials that they were for our grandparents.
When I was in college, I decided to become an architect so I could change the world with the power of good residential design. I did become an architect but along the way I learned that most people don’t work with architects to design their homes and I resigned myself to the – really great – work of improving one family home at a time.
Recently, though, I’ve realized that by taking on a pool of houses as big as MCM ranches, and by spreading the word and making connections on social media, this blog, and the Mid Mod Remodel podcast, I actually can make a difference on a Bigger Level.

The more mid-century ranches – and ranch owners – I can help, the more that impact resonates.
Over the last few years I’ve geared up and developed a powerful sense of mission. I work with homeowners to tune up their MCM houses to retrofit and future-proof their homes for another couple of generations.
Join me on the quest!
Lets Revive MCM ranches together.
The saddest thing that can happen to a recently sold MCM home is to be bulldozed to make way for something bigger, newer, and worse. But it’s also really tragic (to me) when ranches are viewed as nothing more than starter homes. After all, many ranch houses are still home to their ORIGINAL BUYERS. With a little love and careful updating, they can be the forever homes of the millennial generation too. Let’s make it happen!
In today’s episode you’ll hear …
- How I moved backed to Madison, WI to reunite with my hometown … and fell in love with the idea of reviving an MCM ranch. [1:58]
- What happened when I went looking for the book on how to update a modest mid-century ranch (spoiler alert: it didn’t exist) [4:11]
- Why MCM ranches are are a key component of US housing stock [6:48]
- The story of how I came full circle from swearing off anything to do with suburban housing based on my youth in mcmansion central on the north side of Chicago to committing myself to a crusade on behalf of reviving MCM ranches. [8:24]
- The worst thing that can happen when a mid-century house is sold … and the best [12:51]
- A tease for my new Digital Course: get ready to clarify your desires, analyze your house, find the resources you need, and put it all together into a laser-focused vision to help you get the remodel you want with the budget you have. Find the waiting list below [14:59]
Listen now on
Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher
Resources mentioned in this episode
- Learn how to update any MCM room with this easy “recipe”
- Grab my EXPANDED LIST of favorite mid-century resources HERE!
- Why I see remodeling your mid-century ranch is an act of radical sustainability
- Join us on in the new Facebook Community for Mid Mod Remodel
- Find me on Instagram:@midmodmidwest
- Find the podcast on Instagram: @midmodremodelpodcast