{"id":14331,"date":"2025-02-19T04:31:46","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T12:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=14331"},"modified":"2026-04-15T10:07:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T17:07:26","slug":"ranch-house-curb-appeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/ranch-house-curb-appeal\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Instantly Boost the Curb Appeal of Your Ranch-Style Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

First built in the 1930s as a spinoff of the bungalow and the ground-hugging Prairie-style houses<\/a> that Frank Lloyd Wright created<\/a>, the ranch style boomed during the late 1950s and 1960s. Its rectangular, L-shaped, or U-shaped design, all on one story, appeals to first-time homebuyers and small families, as well as people with disabilities and seniors eager to avoid stairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Upgrading Your Home? First, See How Much It's Worth<\/h3>\n

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Ranches are popular in 34 states<\/a> throughout the South, Midwest, and West, especially in Kansas, Minnesota, and Wyoming. But distinct features<\/a> like a natural exterior of oak, wood, or brick and a low-pitched roof give sellers and real estate agents a curb appeal<\/a> challenge, according to Aaron Tobias<\/a>, a top real estate agent serving the Grove City, Ohio, area.<\/p>\n

48% of the agents surveyed in HomeLight\u2019s End of Year 2024 Top Agent Insights report say curb appeal<\/a> has become the strongest selling point in their market \u2014 plus, it entices buyers to come inside in the first place. Here are some expert ways to boost your ranch home curb appeal.<\/p>\n

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1. Break away from the boxiness<\/h2>\n

A ranch-style home averages about 1,500 to 1,700 square feet, although some can be as large as 2,500 square feet. But its boxy exterior tends to remind visitors of a shoebox \u2014 not a good impression, considering a ranch house tends to have an open interior layout.<\/p>\n

Break up that boxy look by adding visual interest and decreasing the number of angles. Brick&batten, a virtual exterior design service in Atlanta, Georgia, ramped up the curb appeal for one Michigan ranch-style home by suggesting a curved flagstone walkway<\/a> leading from the driveway to the garage.<\/p>\n

The Scott family of Atlanta, Georgia, blogged about revamping the exterior of their 1960s ranch-style home, including adding a path of chunky crab-orchard stepping stones from the porch to the street<\/a>. Not only does the path create a direct and welcoming way to reach the front door, but it also contrasts with the home\u2019s strong horizontal lines by being perpendicular, they wrote.<\/p>\n

Installing a pathway<\/a> costs about $8 to $19 per square foot if using pavers and $11 to $35 per square foot if using flagstone, according to HomeAdvisor.com. For less cost, consider a gravel walkway (starting at about $1 per square foot<\/a>) dotted with stepping stones, such as these 16-inch square ones<\/a> in Limestone at Walmart ($3.66 each) or these recycled-rubber ones<\/a> that resemble flagstone from Gardner\u2019s Supply Company ($29.99 each).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Distinct features, boxy exteriors, and a low-pitched roof give you ranch house homeowners a curb appeal challenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":364,"featured_media":54382,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[320,246],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-add-value","category-curb-appeal"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRanch House Curb Appeal: Adding Visual Interest and Color<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Distinct features, boxy exteriors, and a low-pitched roof give you ranch house homeowners a curb appeal challenge.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/ranch-house-curb-appeal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Instantly Boost the Curb Appeal of Your Ranch-Style Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Distinct features, boxy exteriors, and a low-pitched roof give you ranch house homeowners a curb appeal challenge.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/ranch-house-curb-appeal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HomeLight Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-19T12:31:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-15T17:07:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" 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