Eighty percent of existing housing was built before 1980. Most of those houses are ranch-style. You know -- the shoe-box house with the living and dining rooms on the front, the kitchen on the back and the bedrooms all together down the same hallway.

If you're a homebuyer or a Realtor, you either love ranch-style homes or they bore you. Either way, here are a few things you didn't know that will help you appreciate them more.

Housing is like the rings of a tree that show the age of a community. As you move further away from your town's center, you have neighborhoods of Victorian homes, then Tudor cottages, and then ranch-style homes.

All housing reflects the culture of the day. Designed for economy and functionality, ranch-style homes were mass-produced to serve post World War II families and they stayed popular while 78 million baby boomers matured into homebuyers. The 1950s through the '70s were also the age of the automobile. Ranch-style homes were built in sprawling communities, away from town centers, and mostly accessed by highways. Land was plentiful, so most of these single story or split-level homes are situated on fairly large lots.

But ranch-style homes have their downsides. They lack charm and they're so ubiquitous, they seem less than special.

But let's rethink that. These were homes designed as machines for living. They're modern, part of the design cycle of the jet age. The only thing these mid-century homes need is a little 21st century flair.

Ranch homes are easy to remodel or expand. Most load-bearing walls are on the perimeter, which makes knocking out or moving interior walls easy.

Take the kitchen, for example. In the family-centered '50s, the kitchen was the mother's magic kingdom. She would work her magic and emerge wearing her pearls and high-heels with dinner on a tray like there's nothing to it.

Fast forward 50 years, and you have frantic, two-income families. Time together is precious. Instead of being walled off, the kitchen has become part of the family room now.

When you preview a ranch-style home, don't think about what's out of date. Think about how this home can serve your needs today. These homes were built to last. Just replace those Jetson-era Formica countertops with polished concrete, hammered copper or honed granite. Install elegant French doors in place of the sliding glass patio doors. Raise the 8-foot ceilings to nine or ten feet.

Have fun decorating with the latest furniture. Open any furniture catalog and you'll see a trend toward retro low-slung modern designs, with an emphasis on machines (flat-panel TVs, computers), and family-gathering places like dens, just like the 1950s.

Retro is in because it works, and I think you'll find the ranch-style home can work for you.