The Ranch House was first constructed in the plastic village in 1951. Since then, it has been manufactured in many different colors. We’ve listed these below. Of the boxes that this house was issued in, the No. 1812 box is the hardest to find because it was only available for four years (1967-1971). It looks identical to the No. 1705 box that is shown above. Another version that is difficult to find is contained in a poly bag that was designed to hang from a dealers rack and was issued under the number 5603 in 1963.

Of all the different houses that Bachmann made, none is more challenging to collect than this one. There are 21 known color variations. We’ve illustrated a few of these above, they are left to right:

TURQUOISE walls with WHITE roof & trim
WHITE walls with LIGHT BLUE roof & trim
PINK walls with LIGHT GRAY roof & WHITE trim
MARBLED BROWN/BLACK/RED walls with RED roof & trim *
YELLOW walls with WHITE roof & trim

* Listed below as the DARK BROWN walled version. Collectors have made no differentiation for the degree of marbling on this piece.

All of the color variations are listed below with the most common ones listed first.

The Off-White or Tan Color Variation


Found in the first issue RH-1 display box, this house has the inscription on the inside of the rear wall "PLASTICVILLE, U.S.A. / REGISTERED". This indicates that this house was manufactured before Bachmann received their patent for their system of holding the walls together in 1952. At this time they had only registered the Plasticville name. This fact, and the additional confirming evidence of the box, indicates that this color of house was an initial manufacture test run that was done before actual production began in 1951. Reader comments are solicited.

To the above right is pictured a color comparison between a TAN wall and the more common WHITE color that was produced in 1951. Both of these pictures were taken with the same camera in a side by side comparison. The TAN color of this house is remarkably close to the TAN color of the Two-Story Colonial House LH-4. Send us an Email by using the contact link at the bottom of this page if you have any further information.

Additional Ranch House Color Variations

Additional color variations have been found that are not noted in the literature for this Plasticville house. Both of these color variations have been verified as being accurate due to the fact that they are still in the sealed original bag as issued by Bachmann.

Both of these variations originate in the No. 1852 box and were most likely issued sometime during the 1972-79 period. We’ve illustrated the LIGHT TURQUOISE wall of these variations to the right with the LIGHT BLUE and TURQUOISE walls shown as a reference, and we’ve listed the complete colors of these houses below.

The jury is still out on all of the various colors that this house was manufactured in, and this issue will probably not be settled for some years by collectors. If you find a color combination that is not listed here that can be verified as viable we would like to hear from you. Send us an Email by using the contact link at the bottom of this page.

Ranch House Chimney

The Ranch House chimney is unique to this house and is the part that is most often missing. The color of the chimney should always match the walls of this house. Almost all of the colors have been reproduced. See the Plasticville Available Parts List to find out which colors are available. We’ve illustrated five examples of this part below. We need all of the range of colors of this chimney.

Common Faults

The rear wall of this house is prone to warpage. This is simply because of the way the piece is constructed and the plastic that was used in the injection molding process. Do not try to straighten the wall by bending it, unless you know what you are doing. Many times we have come across this wall that has been broken into two pieces as a result of attempts to straighten it out. Even with this warpage the house will assemble and look fine if the connecting wall pins are not worn.

This house has always been a prime candidate for illumination. Many times Christmas lights were used to light up a "housing development" underneath the Christmas tree. Because these older and HOTTER Christmas lights were too close, or came in contact with the walls or roof of this house, they are often found warped and/or damaged. DO NOT USE THESE OLDER CHRISTMAS LIGHTS TO ILLUMINATE PLASTICVILLE STRUCTURES...EVER! To see how you can safely light up your Plasticville structures go to this page.