This Modern Farmhouse is Just Right

You might not be ready to move all the way out to the country, luckily the American Farmhouse house plan gives you just enough country to be satisfied closer to the city. Coming in just under 2,800 square feet, this four bedroom, three and a half bath house plan is a perfect forever home.

Residential designer Mitchell Ginn thoughtfully kept our best notions of rural living—an off-white clapboard exterior with rooms spilling out to large porches—but upgraded the layout for modern suburban life. His bright and airy floor plan revolves around three big open spaces arranged in an L shape: a spacious living room, a corner dining area, and a sizable kitchen opening onto the back screened porch. He fit three bedrooms upstairs and a master suite downstairs along with a utilitarian side hall off the garage that contains a coat closet, powder room, pantry, and laundry room. It's perfect for stowing sports and school gear now, but you can pretend it's holding fishing poles and straw hats for your days spent in the country.

The wraparound front porch, of course! Whether it looks out onto a sprawling pasture dotted with mooing cows or your neighbor's basketball goal, this is what gives the exterior its farmhouse persona. The porch opens up the home with two sets of steps leading from the inside out. Exit the double front door off the living room, or use the door from the master bedroom leading to the area on the far side of the home, which you could treat as a private retreat and outfit with a pair of rocking chairs (We recommend this cheerful light blue pair from Walmart.). Our one tweak to make to the plan? We would add another door in the dining area for even better access to the porch.