Farmhouse Style Homes

Farmhouse style home exteriors are so hot right now, thanks to Joanna and Chip Gaines, and their wildly popular show. They have made all things shiplap, white, farmhouse, and chippy desirable. I am personally so happy to see love of the humble farmhouse being revived, because I have had a crush on these white beauties for a very long time.

In fact, my husband and I have recently bought piece of land only about a mile from our current home, and we are in the process of drawing up plans to build our own version of the humble farmhouse! We are so excited to be starting on this journey, and would love to have you follow along here and on my Instagram page.

How we got to this place

We thought we would never move again, having built our current home just three years ago. We love our town and neighborhood and were definitely not looking to move. But about 6 months ago, I was invited to do some consulting work on a home under construction in a neighborhood just up the road about a mile from our home. I stepped into the home of my client, and was greeted with this view out every window. It just about took my breath away! On the way home, I passed a lot with a for sale sign, and the wheels started turning. I took my husband up to see the lot and the view the very next day, and the rest, as they say, is history!

So we will be listing our home within the next two weeks, and will begin construction on our new home soon after.

Our goal with this new house is to go as small as we can and still have a comfortable, livable space. Although it will not be a large house (our goal is to keep the square footage of the main level right around 2,000 sf) I hope to fill it with the architectural details I really love, like black windows, rustic beams in some of the ceilings, some shiplap, painted brick, soft whites, wood floors, etc. The more I thought about the details that were important to me to include in our home, the more it seemed that a farmhouse style home would fit the bill nicely.

So, we are currently working with an architect on the plans for a (slightly) modern farmhouse.

Farmhouse Elements

In the meantime, I thought it might be fun to share with you all what I’m learning as I research the different elements that will make this home a farmhouse.

I spent much of my youth in South Dakota, where there are lots and lots of farmhouses. Most of them are pretty straightforward in their design. Often, they’re a conglomeration of a simple two-story home that has been added onto over the years. Not always the prettiest homes out there!

This one is currently for sale near Sioux Falls, SD. It is a good example of the farmhouses I often visited or saw on the South Dakota farms as a youth. Simple, functional, and unpretentious.

I think that’s one of the keys to a really great farmhouse – the simplicity of it’s design. Let’s face it – farmers were probably more worried about whether their wheat crops were going to survive the drought than they were about cute corbels and fancy porches. At least the ones in the Dakotas are!

However, I’m hoping for something simple, straightforward, and pretty.

After my husband and I were married, we moved around quite a bit, but we spent about 15 years in the Hudson River valley of New York, where I fell in love with another type of farmhouse. This one is outside of Millbrook, NY on a windy country road. I’ve probably driven past this house a hundred times.

As you can tell from the photo, many of the farmhouses in this area are quite a bit more refined than many of the ones I was used to seeing on the South Dakota plains.

The New York version of a farmhouse was quite graceful – beautiful front porches, supported by lovely pillars, black shutters against a pristine white clapboard, and pretty fascia boards and trim. I grew to really love the eyebrow windows found in the second story of many of these charming farm homes.

While many of these home were built as functional farmhomes, they have a definite colonial flair.

Here’s another beautiful old farm house in upstate New York. I think seeing these homes every day really made me grow to love the symmetry of a graceful old home. The dormers in this one are so charming as well.

Again, this home boasts that wide, welcoming front porch we often associate with farm houses.

More modern versions of the farmhouse

Now let’s get to the more modern versions. My goal is not to build a replica of an old farmhouse, although I do adore them. I do, however, want to incorporate many of a farm home’s friendly, straight-forward features into our new home, while still maintaining some of that graceful, easy beauty of the upstate NY farmhouse.

We’re planning to include lots of wide porches from which to enjoy that incredible view, some standing seam metals roofs as you see in the home above, and some dormers to add detail to the roofline.

One Story Farmhouse

Because our goal is to downsize a bit, we won’t be building a two-story farmhouse. In some ways, I wish we could because I love the stateliness of a beautiful two story farmhouse. Instead, in order to keep the size down, we need to find ways to incorporate that look into a one-story home.

Here’s an example of a one-story farmhouse. Still has the wide front porch, along with some interesting details in the porch railing.

I also love this one-story home. It boasts a beautiful front porch, standing seam metal roof, and white siding which evokes the farmhouse spirit.

Do you recognize this home from Fixer Upper? I couldn’t find which season it was in, but I really like how the Gaines’ made it feel farm-y, homey, and incredible inviting with the front porch, double doors in a warm wood stain, and pretty brick porch.

And last but not least, here’s an even more modern version of the farmhouse. It still incorporates the farmhouse feel with the board and batten siding, standing seam metal roof, friendly wide porches, and simple lines.

These next two examples are from the same architect. They have a similar feel, but the details are different.

I love that this one above is a one-story. It gives me lots of ideas and hope that I can achieve the look I’m shooting for in a one-story farmhouse! What do you think of the “silo” room?

I’ll be using lots of inspiration photos such as these I’ve shared today as we pull together our new home plans. I’ll also be exploring here on the blog lots of the architectural and design details that I plan on incorporating into our home, and sharing what I learn.

Hope you’ll come along on the journey! It’ll be a fun learning experience for me, and I hope some of what I learn will be useful to you as you work to make your own home meet your dreams.

What’s your favorite home style – what would you build if you were starting over?

Thanks for stopping by today, friends! Hope you make it a great day!