Modern Farmhouse Style Early Spring 2022

On a recent road trip from Iowa to Wisconsin, I marveled at the acres upon acres of rolling farmland and prairies that encapsulate America’s heartland. As an immigrant, I have always been fascinated by the vastness of the American Midwest. I can only imagine the courage and fortitude of those early pioneers who made the great trek west with the goal of planting roots deep enough to last generations. These are my husband’s ancestors, and I am grateful they decided to call this area home. Although today’s farmhouses—both on my road-trip route and across the country—differ considerably from those early cabins and homesteads, the influence of the past still holds strong. Handcrafted details, natural materials, and vintage accessories mingle with more contemporary elements, such as black metal-frame windows, clean-lined furnishings, and…

Cabin Chic This little cabin in the woods gets a stylish new look with a rustic, black exterior. The Tennessee rental (owner Rachel Van Kluyve is on Instagram @crateandcottage) is built with black-painted white pine logs, gray stacked stone at the foundation, and custom white window frames. Black-and-white pillows, throws, and classic Adirondack chairs outfit the front porch with cozy accents—perfect for enjoying the serene setting. Modern Balance This Vermont home gives the word contemporary some warmth with its take on the classic farmhouse. The cable porch railing and metal roof stick to the hallmarks of modern design while natural materials, like wood beams, echo the landscape of the surrounding hills. Concrete patio accents give the farmhouse a refined look while outdoor furnishings retain the home’s lived-in feel. “We wanted a house that was…

Planning a forever home usually comes with along wish list. For Sherry and Vince Whittles, that list included a little bit of land with a barn, a pool, and a water view. In their minds, 25 acres, give or take, would be just right. They expressed their wishes to their sons, who were equally invested in the search, and the family began their quest. The hunt yielded a 350-acre piece of farmland in St. Mary’s County on Maryland’s western shore. “At first we thought that it was way too much land for us to manage,” Sherry says. “We didn’t want a lot of maintenance, and we wanted to travel.” But with encouragement from their children and excitement for a new adventure, they purchased it. “We signed the papers seven years ago,…

Author Thomas Wolfe famously wrote that you can’t go home again, and that is (mostly) true, but Krissy Edginton got pretty close. She and her husband, Kyle, recently built a new house on a couple of acres in Pennsylvania that had long been in her family. She grew up here, in fact, in a home that burned down when she was in high school. Their new place is situated in the same spot as the old one. The driveway remains as it was, and Krissy was careful to create the same ambience that her mom did way back when. “She was always very, very good at making the house nice but also extremely comfortable for us five kids,” Krissy says. “Everyone wanted to come there and hang out, so I tried…

“About six years ago, we all went to a friend’s farm for Sunday lunch. Late in the afternoon, we were sitting at a table under the trees, our host had just brought a pitcher of lemonade for us to drink, and the kids were riding horses while the sun was setting. It couldn’t have been more picture perfect. I leaned over to Angela and said, ‘This is what life is about.’ That was the moment for us,” Justin Gomes says. From that moment of rural bliss, he and his wife, Angela, began developing the vision for a productive life on land in South Africa, close enough to schools for their children but a place that offered an opportunity to lean into the life they wanted. That vision has yielded Jardim, their…

The architect’s plans were complete, the contracts drawn, the crew hired. But Sloane Klevin hesitated to give the green light to renovations to her weekend home when she realized the cottage-style renovation suited the area’s vernacular but not her taste. “I didn’t want to off end the neighbors,” she says of the predominantly 19th-century architecture in Gallatin, New York. “But that style isn’t me—I like modern design.” Sloane wanted to scrap the plans and start over. “I wanted something contemporary,” she says. “Something different from—yet respectful to—the historic vibe of this area.” Architect Doug Larson responded with a cool “no problem.” But there was more than just professionalism behind his conviction: Two years prior, Larson had made over his own Dutchess County farmhouse that cleverly combined contemporary and cottage elements. Larson’s…