The standard ‘rancher’ and the standard bungalow are domesticated versions of two truly vernacular house types, which are rarely seen in books of house plans.
The genuine Ranch, developed on genuine western ranches, was one room DEEP for full cross-ventilation. A Ranch is designed for the wide-open spaces. Each room faces forward and each room has its own door to the long porch or gallery.
The shotgun house, named for its resemblance to a pump shotgun, was one room WIDE for full cross-ventilation. A shotgun is designed for a narrow city lot. The doors are on the front and rear.
As with the derived ‘rancher’ and bungalow, these houses are basically the same thing turned 90 degrees. Unlike the derived plans, there’s no topological difference between these two except for the door vs window openings.
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And who’s the crossventiest of all? The dogtrot.
Often found in Appalachia, this house has two rooms with windows on ALL sides of each room. An open gallery runs between the rooms, serving as hall and utility room. The dogtrot can also hold two separate families as a tenant cabin.
Again the dogtrot was domesticated into a more closed-in Southern style, which does occasionally appear in planbooks.
And again the domesticated version has living on front and kitchen on back. The description suggests that the separation is suitable for a couple on one side and a live-in maid on the other. Also note the ice door and the airing closet.
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The typical duplex or fourplex was a double-barreled shotgun. The British ‘two up two down’ flat was an over-under shotgun.
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Irrelevant graphics footnote: The dogtrot model, made back in 2007, was my most finely detailed graphics product. Every log, shingle and stone was a separate piece, laid in manually. Since then I’ve dropped back to using simple surfaces with displacement maps, which is vastly easier but lacks the character of the all-separate method.
Polistra's Mill 