After we completed an architecture webinar last week, we thought it would be helpful to cover a common misunderstanding in the MLs data entry – the difference between a split level and raised ranch style of homes.  Here are two pictures with a summary that should help you see and note the differences.

Raised Ranch (enter, chose up or down)

Split Level Ranch (staggered levels)

Raised Ranch:  Think 2 levels, up and down: A style of home with 2 floors. From the main entrance, a flight of stairs leads to the main living areas on the upper level – and a flight of stairs leads down to the lower story at ground level or partially submerged below grade.

Split-Level:  Think staggered levels:  A style where floor levels are staggered, with either three or four levels.  Typically, enter to a living space (level 1), with short flights of stairs from the main living area to the bedrooms (level 2) and down to a den, basement and (sometimes) the garage (levels 3/4). Home is many times divided at the midsection of the house into a double-height zone with the garage below and the bedrooms above, and a slightly lowered section containing the front entrance, living room, dining room and kitchen. The main living level typically is built over a sunken basement.

Raised Ranch style houses have many of these features: partially submerged basement with finished rooms and windows; low-pitched gable roof; asymmetrical; large windows: double-hung, sliding, and picture; sliding glass doors leading to a back yard patio, and little decorative detailing, aside from decorative shutters and porch-roof supports. While some use the term split-level to describe a raised ranch style, the true raised ranch style has only two levels, while a split-level home has three stories or more.