Buyers: Understanding Long Island's Most Common Home Styles

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Take a drive through Long Island's North Shore neighborhoods, and you'll likely spot cape, hi-ranch, split-level, and ranch homes along the way. Our real estate agents know that choosing a home style involves more than appearance. Each layout offers different advantages depending on your daily routine, household needs, and plans for the future. Understanding those differences can help you decide which style best fits your lifestyle.

Why Home Style Impacts Everyday Life

Long Island's development during the postwar years brought a variety of home styles to the North Shore. Builders relied on a limited number of floor plans that were relatively quick to construct and finance. Decades later, many of those same designs remain common throughout the area. Your home's style isn't just a matter of appearance. The layout can affect everything from the distance between the garage and kitchen to the location of the bedrooms and how much natural light reaches the living spaces.

The Cape

These compact homes feature a steeply pitched roof and two upstairs rooms, one of which may be "dormered," or tucked beneath the roof. Many early capes built in the '40s and '50s were relatively small, with additions adding square footage to reach today's average of over 1,500 square feet. Buyers can expect to pay less for a cape than for a similar colonial-style home on the same street, due to the reduced value of the finished square footage on the upper level.

Consider:

  • The legality of any finished rooms upstairs (with permits).

  • The height of any dormered rooms.

  • Insulation in the attic and the age of the roof.

The Hi-Ranch

The easiest way to think of a hi-ranch is as a raised ranch with two levels. The main level features a landing at the front door, with stairs leading up to the main living level and down to a lower level that can be finished as a den, home office, or in-law apartment.

The lower level provides separation from the main living areas for a home office or aging relatives seeking greater independence, but can lead to decreased natural lighting on that level. Landscaping challenges may also cause moisture infiltration in the lower level, depending on the lot grade.

The Split-Level

Most split-level homes have three or four staircases that allow movement between the home's two or three levels. Bedrooms are typically located on a level just above the family room or garage, which sits on a level just below the main living area. Split-level homes are common in the area and tend to have larger lots than their cape-style counterparts

Split-level homes provide separation between public and private spaces without building a full second story, appealing to those wanting a certain amount of separation without the expense of finishing a basement.

Consider:

  • How many levels the home actually has, since a four-level split can be much different than a three-level split.

  • Whether the family room on the lowest level has egress windows for a bedroom, if one is desired.

  • The heating and air conditioning zones, since some split-level homes can have the lower level and garage on one zone, and the main living area and bedrooms on another.

The Ranch

All on one level, ranch-style homes are a favorite with empty nesters, active seniors, and those with knee issues seeking to avoid stairs. The downside of a single-level home is that it typically has a larger footprint than a split-level or cape built on the same lot, and older ranches can feel cramped compared to modern one-level builds.

What This Means To You

None of the styles are inherently better than the others. They simply provide differing lifestyle options, with widely varying renovation costs for future projects.

Consider:

  • What alterations have been made to the home, and what renovations were completed with permits.

  • The grade of the lot, particularly on split-level and hi-ranch homes where the lower level may be below the level of the street.

  • Visualizing the furniture in the home, since square footage may not reflect the reality of room sizes in older cape-style homes.

What Buyers Ask About Home Styles

Is a hi-ranch the same thing as a raised ranch?

While they are similar in concept, a hi-ranch typically refers to the split-entry style with a finished lower level and separate entrance, while a raised ranch typically has a basement with select rooms finished.

Do cape-style homes typically appraise for less value because of the dormered square footage?

Yes, if the square footage was not part of the original certificate of occupancy, some appraisers will place a lesser value on the finished square footage due to the lack of permits and potential for future issues.

Are split-level homes more challenging to heat and cool?

It can depend on the age of the home and the number of zones, but homes with separate heating and cooling zones for the lower and main levels can be warmed and cooled effectively.

Find the Right Home Style for Your Lifestyle

If you're weighing these home styles against specific neighborhoods, browse what's currently listed in Port Washington homes for sale and talk through which layout fits your household. When you're ready to start touring, contact us.