Rating: 
Summary: Exceeded expectations
Review: Hispanics will be proud to see that Samon says that Hispanic architecture and culture sets the root of ranch houses. I live in a ranch house and so I took interest in the article the LA Times had on ranch houses. And I saw Samon's book in it and bought it and I now have pages of ideas. There are A LOT of color photos which I like and appreciate.
Rating:
Summary: Hooray for my modest house!
Review: How fortunate that Kathryn Ann Samon includes all levels of houses in this book because my home is a 3 bedroom and 2 baths which I consider a classic though modest ranch style house. One of her houses could be my house right down to the old red formica in the kitchen. In my kitchen it's green. In my development the houses look similar. This book shows a lot of good ideas for making a house look different which is what I want. There are some upscale houses that also give me few excellent ideas I never thought about before such as painting the ceiling of my porch's overhang and changing my kitchen faucet ,not just the cabinet knobs. I really enjoy seeing so many modest houses like mine and seeing what beautiful potential they end up having.
Rating:
Summary: This book helped sell my house
Review: I had this book on the coffee table in my ranch house. The new buyers noticed it, loved it, thumbed through it, and bought my house. After buying this book themselves, they immediately started some renovations to their liking, and most of the ideas I was told are going to come out of this book.
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Summary: WHO KNEW RANCH HOUSES COULD BE SO COOL?
Review: I just finished reading this book and I'm blown away! I loved looking at all the midcentury furniture and I can't wait to get some for my ranch house home. Lots of good ideas are presented and the writing is highly entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: A literate coffee table book
Review: I liked this because it shows that ranch houses don't have to all be decorated in "vintage 50's" style to be cool. There are some like that here, but there are others that are more old-fashioned elegant. This is a good source of realistic decorating ideas for anyone who lives in a ranch and wants to spruce things up.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Way To Live
Review: I was surprised to see a book on ranch houses becasue they're like the ugly stepsister in the home design world, and here is this gorgeous, stunning book on this subject. I love the Cliff May house in California and how the couple decorated. All the ideas for fixing up a house are useful and I agree that none of these people not even the ones on budgets had run of the mill vision. Very interesting stories show you can do it too. So my ranch is important.
Rating:
Summary: A Style Book With Style
Review: Katherine has masterfully captured the charm and grace of the Ranch House style as she pictorially and verbally guides the reader on a wonderful tour of various ranch houses throughout the country. The author shares a variety of information and ideas, depicting the elegance and ease, the tradition and diversity which can be present when you creatively design and decorate ranch houses. What I liked the best was the blending of visual delights and historic and practical information that Katherine shares. She is clearly both knowledgeable and passionate about ranch houses and has created a work which elevates the ranch house architecture to an art form. She articulates and demonstrates the flexibility of the style and champions a design which has previously gone unnoticed. This book is a must for designers and decorators, realtors, and anyone in love with Americana. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Not so good if you own a tract-house ranch
Review: Last September, my wife and I bought a ranch house that holds a special place in my heart. It used to belong to my grandparents. It's not an exceptional example of ranch-house style, but it's probably the best house on the street. We bought this book hoping to find some ideas to help decorate and renovate the house in such a way that we could put our unique touch on it while remaining faithful to its simple, 1950's origins. While interesting, this book was a letdown in that area. Many of the houses featured in this book are more extravagant than ours. While there is nothing wrong with that, we don't think that the ideas presented in this book will work well with our modest home. If your ranch house was custom-built or incorporates unique design elements, this book is for you. But if you have a more tract house-style ranch, you might want to look at some of the other books available on ranch house decor.
Rating:
Summary: More than a pretty face
Review: Many coffee table books are pretty to look at but few are more than a decorative addition to a room or a bookshelf. Ranch House Style is one of the few! Smart/informative writing, gorgeous photos, and a terrific layout make this a book you want to spend time with-especially if you live in, or are thinking about living in, a ranch house. And who among us hasn't at least spent some time in one?? Katherine Samon brings us up close and personal to this ubiquitous and quintessentially American housing style, allowing a look (at the very least) into some interesting spaces, and encouraging (at the most) the creative expression of new, and old, ranch house owners!
Rating:
Summary: Ranch House Smile
Review: Ranch houses rank right up there with mom and apple pie as being purely American -- and Katherine Samon does not preach about them. She sees them as a framework to define us and our diverse tastes. Under the guise of a design book she finds the homegrown charm in our everyday styles -- and sometimes over the top style too (as in "Elvis Meets Kuwait"). It's fun with good humor and nice photos which document "real people" approaches to this genre.
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