Farmhouses evoke nostalgic memories -- real or imagined -- of a simpler life and a deep, nourishing connection to the seasons and the land. While most of us dont live that way anymore, we all share a longing for the values that this classic American house form represents.

So what makes a true American farmhouse? A farmhouse is intimately connected to the land and all its seasons, dominates a community of buildings, and is built to last using natural, indigenous materials. These are the core qualities of the farmhouse style, whether old or new.

This remarkable collection of 20 new and remodeled farmhouses celebrates the best American farmhouses built in the past five years. Over 300 photographs beautifully illustrate these homes, and the accompanying site and floor plans, historical sidebars, and up-close details add depth to this rich collection.

With this book, Americas quintessential house style is reinvented for the 21st-century family.

"Jean Rehkamp Larson has written a book that explains the appeal of todays American farmhouse, providing inspiration for a new kind of home steeped in our nations rural roots that fulfills a longing for a return to simpler times."

-- Sarah Susanka, author of The Not So Big House, Creating the Not So Big House, Not So Big Solutions for Your Home, and Home by Design

About the author
Jean Rehkamp Larson, AIA is a principal and co-founder of Rehkamp Larson Architects in Minneapolis. She designs new houses as well as additions for people who appreciate good design. Jeans work has been featured in various books, magazines, and television shows, including Creating the Not So Big House, A House for My Mother, Inspired House magazine, Residential Architect magazine, and HGTVs Before and After and Homes Across America.

Introduction

An American Icon

An Unsentimental Farmhouse

A Bicentennial Renovation

Little Red Barn House

Instant Evolution

Old Farm, New Farmhouse

In the Image of a Barn

A Three-in-One Farmhouse

Farmhouse with an Edge

New Plot, Old Story

Blue Ridge Contrast

A String of Barns

A Farmhouse Takes Wing

Barn with a Past and Future

A Farm Full of Projects

Pavilions in the Pasture

Farmhouse as Fun House

The Ranch House Revisited

Farmhouse Gumbo

Barn Red and Edgy

Shades of Shaker

Architects and Designers

When The Taunton Press contacted me about writing a book on farmhouses, I sat down to consider just what makes the style so appealing to me. I recalled that as a young architect some years ago, Id had my first opportunity to draw on this rural inspiration when Susan and Dave Marek walked in the door. They wanted to build on 11 acres of old farmland, and our ideas quickly took the form of a Midwestern farmhouse reconfigured for the way that people live today.

As we worked together, I realized that farmhouses interest the urban dweller and small town girl in me, not just the architect. I attribute this to several dualities inherent in the style. A farmhouse is elegant yet simple. It is casual and welcoming but has the formality of symmetry and a confident stature. A farmhouse represents an idyllic agrarian life, yet it serves as the home base for a hardworking, notoriously gritty way of life. It serves as a link between the cultivated countryside and the city. These are qualities that I aspire to achieve in architecture and in life, and the farmhouse embodies a balance of each.

In practical terms, the simple, hearty form of the style is highly adaptable. A farmhouse can easily be expanded because the basic shapes make it easy to add porches, sheds, and wings. These houses can also be dressed up or dressed down, depending on what you expect from a home; the gable ends, soffits, and porch columns can be left austere or filled with texture, trim, and detail.

This book provided the opportunity for me to survey the ways in which other architects are interpreting the style. I was curious -- what does the next generation of farmhouses look like? Is the form in danger of evolving beyond recognition? As photographs and floor plans came in from around the country, I was impressed that these were not anachronistic attempts to capture a way of life that no longer exists. The houses represent the sophisticated development of this classic house type, with designs and materials as varied as the climates and cultures of our broad nation.

I hope this book will inspire you to take Sunday drives along rural roads in search of your own place in the country. Roll down the windows, listen to the crickets, and take in the long views as you envision your own unique version of the great American farmhouse.