Customer Reviews

Atomic Ranch: Design Ideas for Stylish Ranch Homes

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a great book that finally gives America's "average" midcentury tract houses their due. The photos are beautiful and the information is great. Eichler, Levittown, Westlake, and other midcentury neighborhoods are pictured along with detailed information on remodeling, restoring, and preserving these underappreciated little gems of modernism. It's a nice coffee-table presentation of the subject that is pleasing to just flip through for the sake of the photos, but also informative enough to spend some real time with.

I have purchased many books on mid century modern style to get ideas for my remodeling project and while they were full of excellant examples of the style the biggest part of them only showed examples of high dollar showcase homes. (example: Frank lloyd Wright's creations) While they are beautiful they are far beyond my means and impractical for my life style. Atomic ranch fills the gap of real world affordable design and livablity that I was seeking. I have gotten many great ideas from Atomic ranch that I will likely use in my own home remodel. The book is excellant to browse, to read, or to use as an example when conveying your ideas to contractors or builders. Atomic ranch is a joy to any fan of serious modern, mid century, googie, or boom generation cold war living and style!! I can't recommend it more. Nuff said.

"These modest homes were the fulfillment of the American middle-class dream, bringing a higher standard of living to average people, and giving birth to a whole new way of life. There is a type of beauty in their simplicity, their efficient use of space, and the creativity with which they employed inexpensive materials to deliver a modern look." ~Rob Keil

Twenty-five inspiring homes are showcased in Atomic Ranch. Outdoor red walls are gorgeous with greenery and stone fountains while indoors we find warm sunny rooms with fireplaces and stylish comfy shag carpets.

The beautiful windows of walls on the exterior of the houses allows an open expression and brings nature indoors. The front of the houses retains privacy while the backyards open up into landscapes filled with unique rock pools and lush foliage.

"Escape to the Islands" is one room filled with rattan furniture, tiki mugs, island art and sea grass mats. The collection of Fiestaware pitchers and colorful housewares adds nostalgia and a longing for the serene simplicity of the past.

I'm always intrigued by the Eero Saarinen Womb Chairs (Shown temptingly throughout the entire book numerous times!) and there is a beautiful red chair in a cozy corner beneath a wall lamp which can I say costs about three thousand dollars for the chair and ottoman. It is on my eternal wish list! Rarely has any piece of furniture so captured my attention.

The kitchens all have a classic streamlined appeal and it makes you want to go look for your Betty Crocker Cooky Book (ISBN 0764566377) and bake up something with vanilla frosting and coconut like Bonbon Cookies. The turquoise, orange and sunlit white (very mild yellow) cabinets in one kitchen create a playful lime/lemon/orange citrus theme that is surprisingly appealing and playful.

With many of the furniture pieces being reissued you can truly recreate the magic of a bygone era. Personally, I'm dreaming of a shag carpet in the living room. You don't have to redecorate the entire house, but you might want to incorporate elements from various settings to create the cozy warmth you desire. Unique features like a fireplace filled with river rocks and candles or the patio with an outdoor dining table presents comfort and practicality. The pictures show you how you can mix and match a variety of colors and furniture styles to create inviting spaces for entertaining or relaxing. The use of purple, red and green as wall colors enlivens the rooms and reminds me of reading about famous literary figures and how they painted each room a different color. It is striking and adventurous.

~The Rebecca Review

Having just purchased my 1954 Mid-Century Marvel I was ecstatic to find this book. It has become an essential resource guide to help me restore my Mid-Century Marvel to its former glory. It is full of gorgeous photography, decorating ideas, and it even has a section on landscaping. This book is a must have for any Mid-Century enthusiast. Simply, excellent!!!

If you're familiar with the magazine Atomimc Ranch and like it, you'll enjoy this book as well. Great photos and stories from owners of mid-century ranch and modern houses. Lots of ideas, as others have said. I wish they showed more bathrooms because we are desperate to update ours while maintaining the spirit of the era. I have nearly read our copy cover to cover.

Having owned two Eichlers in the Bay area, and currently live in a Craig Ellwood mid-century home in the Palms Springs area. I have about 30 hard backs on Mid-Century Archtecture, furnishings and style variation. This by far is the best of all. Great photography, lots of color plates, and detailed stories on the various homes. Simply put.......... Eye Candy for the purist.

As a subscriber of the "Atomic Ranch" magazine, published by the same authors of this book, I had high expectations on its content, which were more than fulfilled, as i simply loved the book. It highlighted many homes that have been previously published on the magazine pages, but it had many others that I have not seen before in print, probably from the earlier issues I missed. The photos are superb, the book format is so elegant and perfect for Coffee Table display and the content is just wonderful. From Amazon, I have also purchased the Alan Hess book on Ranch Homes and the one from Katherine Samon on decorating Ranch homes, but "Atomic Ranch" is by far, my favorite of those three.

Atomic Ranch is a book that I would recommend. What is nice about the book is that it includes design ideas for ranch houses that are within the realm of financial possibility of "average" people. Often, it seems like architecture books only showcase the high budget projects which are spectacular eye candy. After reading the book, I found myself wishing that there were some more exterior pictures of some of the houses although there may not have been good angles from which to take them. Some plan diagrams of the projects would also help orient the reader to the photos taken in the book and get an idea of room layout. Overall, this book would make a great addition to the library of someone who is interested in ranch houses, or just house design in general.

Another positive note: the pages didn't come out of the binding the first time I opened it, which I can't say for some of my more expensive architecture books.

By far the best book about the unique style of mid century homes I have come across. Much better source of information for 50's & 60's interior than Modern Retro or other similar publications.
Beautifully illustrated, perhaps the only thing I would have liked to have seen was the inclusion of a few floor plans - however that is not really the intended scope of the book.

God Bless the folks at Atomic Ranch! I have been a subscriber to the Magazine for over 2 years now and have been dying to get the book. Finally, after a couple of strong hints, my wife got it for me for my birthday.
This book is chock full of beautiful photographs of incredible mid-century masterpieces. Some are preserved, some restored, and some modernized.
If this is your thing, (and I doubt you'd be reading these reviews if it wasn't)then this is the book you want. I've gambled on a few other books covering ranch homes, and none of them come close to this book. BUY IT!