Take a moment and conjure "Georgia architecture" in your head. What comes to mind? The row houses of General Oglethorpe's Savannah? Perhaps the fictional Tara from 'Gone with the Wind?" Well you'd better make room for the lowly ranch house, popularized in the building boom of the mid-20th century primarily because it was cheap to build. Now Georgia's Historic Preservation Division believes the ranch deserves the same protection as the antebellum plantations and Victorian masterworks that most people associate with Jawja. Taste in architecture is as subjective as it comes, but as one comment on the WSJ piece notes, at least some of the older folks appreciate single level living.
· Plain, Common...And Historic? Fans Seek to Preserve Ranch Houses [Wall Street Journal]
· Ranch Houses in Georgia: A Guide to Architectural Styles [Georgia Historic Preservation Division]
· The Ranch House in Georgia: Guidelines for Evaluation [New South Associates]
· Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Historic Preservation Division