Ranch Style Home Remodels & Additions

One of our favorite types of home to either entirely remodel, or add large scale additions to in the Sacramento Area, are older ranch houses; fortunately for Elite Construction’s general contractor, Sacramento and Elk Grove are full of them! Some of Sacramento’s most desirable neighborhoods were built in the ranch style decades ago. The reason that California Ranches built in the 1950s through the 1970s are such a favorite with Elite Construction and Remodeling is because most of them have great bones, and large interior spaces. The drawback for many homeowners is that these great interior spaces are often broken up into many awkward smaller rooms and don’t jive with the open layout so many modern families want.

The house in the featured picture is a perfect example of what a Sacramento Ranch could end up looking like on the outside and the interior can be modernized just as easily. Installing engineered beams enables Elite’s general contractor to remove interior walls and turn what is probably a cramped and dark formal living room, dining room and kitchen into a spacious great room where the entire family can be together. Once the walls are removed, reconfiguring kitchen layouts while maximizing existing plumbing and electrical, can help minimize remodeling costs and stretch your budget. Large kitchen islands- the desire of most homeowners- can help define the spaces and improve the kitchen’s efficiency and flow, while adding coveted storage or space for a large range top and island hood. A once unimaginable walk in pantry or butler’s pantry is a simple and relatively inexpensive addition, when the space is opened up.

What may have been long halls ways with small bedrooms and inadequate closet space can be combined to create larger bedrooms with walk-in closets and private en suites or jack and jill bathrooms. Expansive master suites can be added as a new addition just about anywhere on the house.

Sacramento area Ranch houses were built are as a simple rectangle. The new design can remain within the original footprint, or to give the exterior some character, bay windows or new entryways can completely modernize a Ranch. Garage doors can be switched to a side entrance making the home seem larger or additions can be built off the front. The usual boring roof lines can even be updated with a little creativity. We like to give our client’s this challenge: find us a house that could not have once been a 1970’s ranch style home. We think you will be hard pressed to do so. Ranches can easily transform into just about any style house you could imagine, from a colonial to a contemporary to a Mediterranean– to… let’s say …a California 1920’s Spanish Colonial Revival… which is exactly what Travis ( the general contractor) is doing to his own current private residence.

Sacramento Area Ranch houses come with a bevy of benefits. They were built in what are now highly desirable areas of Sacramento and the surrounding areas, with easy commutes, great school districts and all the amenities near by. Ranch houses are usually built on large lots, that current buyers would pay a million or more to acquire in new construction. Ranches are in established neighborhoods with mature trees and a sense of community.  Most of them were built very well, in a time where quality materials mattered and houses were meant to last generations. This also makes them the perfect income property, if you are in the business of buying, remodeling and selling. They do have one con though: they are dated and at first glance can be unappealing to many buyers. Good thing you know a contractor who specializes in turning midcentury ranches into modern showpieces, perfect for families and the envy of neighborhoods.