Douglas Pratt and his wife, MaryAnn, for example, set out to add a fireplace and bathroom to their one-story ranch in Bayside, Queens, and ended up with a two-story center-hall colonial.

They tend to be one-story ranches, on about a half acre.

For example, Ms. Martin said, on 221st Street, a one-story ranch on a 40-by-135-foot lot sold for about $450,000 four years ago.

A one-story ranch with two bedrooms and a large deck, on 2.5 acres, with a garden and mountain views, came on the market for $465,000 but sold in four days to an all-cash offer of $525,000 (Agnes Donohoe Preusser, 845-265-3095).

"If you have a one-story ranch, oftentimes we'll recommend going with three-inch panels because it makes the house look taller," Mr. Horan said, adding that such panels on a two- or three-story colonial, on the other hand, could make the house look too busy.

A decade ago the town appraised the house, a one-story ranch with a mansard roof and some Victorian trim, at $386,670.

I was standing in a bedroom of a very nice one-story ranch.

The Curtises' house, a white stucco one-story Italian-Spanish ranch, stands on a half acre of precious, water-deprived land.

The Gatlings have taken a traditional one-story ranch and given it a soaring two-story atrium with a waterfall.

It was a one-story ranch.