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Theirs' is the perfect example of why
the ubiquitous Ranch has gone from prized by veterans with GI loans burning holes in their pockets to reviled by
their baby-boomer children for its conformity — and back to prized once again. (Hey, a whole lot of us were conceived
in them. So they had to be good for something.)
The Michaelson home is perched on high bank just outside Gig Harbor. It also can be found among the pages of "Ranches"
(Taunton Press, $29.95) from the "Updating Classic America" series. Yes, the Ranch has become a classic,
a highly desired classic.
The Michaelson house "had a good core and nice ceiling structure," says architect Bret Drager of Drager
Gould Architects in Tacoma. The dark ceiling was painted white, "and that made a big difference. Plus, we
added wings to each side, kitchen-dining on one, and on the other, the master suite."
That's the thing about the Ranch. It's a style that offers homeowners practically a blank canvas to work with.
In the 1940s and '50s, the authors point out, homeowners fixed things rather than replaced them. So interior finishes
of linoleum, cork, wood and slate were installed to last. The homes offered simple geometry and detailing with
a subtle and modern feeling. Interior and exterior walls were often covered in materials that are now almost impossible
to get: mahogany, teak, pecky cypress and old-growth cedar.
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| Jayne Michaelson grew up in the house when it was a classic ground-hugging Ranch. |
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| The roof was raised to expand the kitchen and lifted over the great room to add a second-floor master suite. As a low-lying Ranch, the home was covered in wood siding over a brick-veneer base. Today it is dressed in cedar shingles. |