Farmhouse house plans combine country-inspired exteriors with layouts that range from compact single-story homes to larger houses with upstairs bedrooms. Gabled roofs and welcoming porches are familiar features; modern versions often add open kitchens, larger windows, and simpler detailing. The label covers many different floor plans, so appearance alone will not tell you whether a design suits your household.
Start with three filters: the space available on your lot, the rooms you need, and the level on which you want everyday living to happen. Then compare the kitchen, bedroom arrangement, outdoor areas, and construction package. This guide helps you narrow the options before buying drawings.
Compare Farmhouse Plans by How You Want to Live
A useful shortlist begins with the household rather than the exterior finish. Decide which of these arrangements deserves a closer look.
| Plan arrangement | Consider it when | Check before choosing |
| Small two-bedroom farmhouse | You need fewer dedicated rooms and want to limit interior area | Guest accommodation, storage, and where a home office would go |
| One-story, three-bedroom layout | You want sleeping and living spaces on one level | Overall width, bedroom privacy, and the distance between rooms |
| Split-bedroom farmhouse | You prefer the primary suite separated from other bedrooms | Whether that separation works for young children or caregiving |
| Two-story, four-bedroom layout | You need more rooms while retaining outdoor space | Stair location, laundry routes, and ground-floor flexibility |
| Primary suite on the main floor | You want upstairs rooms for guests or other household members | Whether all essential daily activities can happen downstairs |
| Farmhouse with a wraparound porch | Outdoor sitting and sheltered circulation are priorities | Furnishable depth, door locations, sun exposure, and total footprint |
These are overlapping choices. A one-story house can also have split bedrooms and a wraparound porch. Use the table to identify priorities instead of searching for one perfect category.
Small Farmhouse Plans: Protect The Rooms You Use Every Day
In a smaller house, assigning the same room several jobs can be useful, but those jobs must be compatible. A guest room that doubles as an occasional office may work. A full-time office that regularly becomes a guest bedroom may create frustration.
Compare usable wall space as well as room area. A living room interrupted by several doors may be harder to furnish than a slightly smaller room with one clear circulation route.
One Story Or Two Stories: Decide Where Daily Life Belongs
For an equivalent amount of interior space, stacking rooms can reduce the area occupied on the ground. That makes a two-story option worth investigating when outdoor space or lot width is limited.
A single-story arrangement avoids stairs between its main rooms, but it does not automatically provide accessible living. Review the entry, bathroom layout, thresholds, and routes around furniture with the needs of your household in mind.
If you prefer a main-floor primary suite, check more than the bedroom. Ask whether the kitchen, laundry, bathroom, and an appropriate entrance are also usable without going upstairs.
Real Farmhouse House Plans to Start Your Comparison
These published listings illustrate different sizes and room counts. They are starting points for reviewing drawings, not recommendations that any design will fit a particular site.
| Published plan | Listed living area | Bedrooms / bathrooms | A useful comparison question |
| Houseplans.com 1109-14 | 1,474 sq. ft. | 2 bedrooms / 3 bathrooms | Does this balance of sleeping space and bathrooms suit your needs? |
| Max Fulbright Designs Georgia Farmhouse | 2,155 heated sq. ft. | 3 bedrooms / 2½ bathrooms | Does the additional interior area go to spaces you would use regularly? |
| Max Fulbright Designs Madison Farmhouse | 2,930 heated sq. ft. | 4 bedrooms / 3½ bathrooms | Is the larger room count justified by your household and guest routines? |
Specifications are those displayed on the providers’ pages when researched; confirm the selected version before ordering. The 1109-14 listing also describes potential bedroom flexibility, so clarify the supplied configuration if a third bedroom matters.
Open each floor plan and compare actual room dimensions. Similar bedroom counts can conceal very different storage arrangements, furniture options, and distances between rooms.
Check the Lot Before Committing to a Design
The available building area matters more than the property’s total size. Ask the relevant local professionals to establish the buildable envelope: the portion of the site available after applicable setbacks, easements, and other restrictions are considered.
Place the full proposed footprint on that information. Include the garage and porches, and establish how the driveway reaches the house. A side-entry garage deserves particular attention because the approach and turning space sit outside the garage itself.
As a hypothetical screening example, a 70-foot-wide buildable envelope would leave only 2 feet beyond a 68-foot-wide design. That arithmetic does not confirm the design fits: you still need to establish what its published width includes and how projections and site requirements are treated.
Use the survey and a site review to resolve uncertainty before paying for substantial modifications.
Review The View And Sunlight Together
A living room facing a desirable view may also face strong afternoon sun. A deep porch can provide shade while reducing daylight in the room behind it. Window area, orientation, shading, and the local climate need to be considered together; the U.S. Department of Energy identifies these relationships as central to passive solar home design.
For a shortlisted plan, mark north, the main view, nearby buildings, and existing trees. Ask your designer to assess the actual site rather than assuming the orientation shown in a rendering will work.
Test the Floor Plan Against an Ordinary Day
A floor plan becomes easier to judge when you trace activities through it. Print the drawing and follow these routes with a pencil:
- Arriving with groceries and putting them away.
- Moving laundry between bedrooms, washing, and storage.
- Taking a visitor from the entrance to a bathroom.
- Carrying food from the kitchen to outdoor seating.
- Reaching a quiet room while someone else uses the main living area.
Mark places where activities compete. The goal is to find inconveniences while they are still lines on paper.
Give An Open Kitchen Clear Working Space
An open kitchen can connect cooking with family life, but the circulation route deserves close attention. If everyone reaches the backyard by walking between the island and the main counter, the cooking area becomes a passageway.
Check appliance door swings, pantry access, and the space occupied by seated diners. Ask for a dimensioned layout that reflects the appliances and furniture you intend to use.
Also decide where noisy and quiet activities will happen. If the main living space hosts television, cooking, and conversation, a separate room with a door may be more useful than an additional open loft.
Make The Everyday Entrance Work
A formal front entrance may receive visitors while the household mostly enters through the garage or side door. Put practical storage where people actually arrive.
Imagine wet shoes, shopping bags, a school bag, and a coat arriving together. Is there somewhere to put them without blocking the door? Can another person pass while someone uses the bench?
A small, well-positioned storage area can be more useful than a larger mudroom that sits away from the normal route.
Choose a Porch You Can Furnish
A farmhouse porch should be evaluated as an outdoor room. Draw the intended furniture onto the plan, including chairs pulled away from a table and the route to each door.
Pay attention to the clear space between the wall and columns or railings. A long porch may offer considerable total area yet have little usable depth for a dining arrangement.
For a wraparound porch, give each section a purpose. One side might serve the entrance, another a seating area, and another a connection to the garden. If a section has no likely use, consider whether a smaller front porch and a better-positioned rear outdoor space would suit you.
Check the relationship with interior windows as well. A porch that works beautifully outdoors should also support the rooms behind it.
Understand What the Square Footage Includes
Compare conditioned living area separately from garages, covered porches, patios, and unfinished rooms. Read each listing’s definitions rather than assuming every provider totals space the same way.
For example, plan 1109-14 lists 1,474 square feet of main-floor area and separately lists porch and patio areas. Its headline interior figure does not describe every part of the project.
Create a separate record of enclosed living space, garage space, covered outdoor areas, and any proposed future rooms. This makes conversations with builders more specific and helps prevent a generous porch or garage from disappearing from the early budget discussion.
For a bonus room, establish whether it is finished in the selected package. Ask what completing it would involve instead of treating an outline on a drawing as ready-to-use living space.
What to Confirm Before Buying a Plan Package?
A stock plan is a starting point for a building project. The exact drawings and services included vary.
Architectural Designs, for example, says its plan sets vary by designer and that its stock plans do not include jurisdiction-specific code compliance or a licensed engineer’s stamp. Its guidance also identifies some sheets, including electrical plans and building sections, as dependent on the particular package.
Before ordering, get answers to these questions:
- Which drawings are supplied? Request the sheet list for the exact plan.
- Which foundation version is included? Confirm its suitability with the local project team.
- What local design or engineering work remains? Establish requirements with the relevant authority and qualified professionals.
- How will changes be handled? Obtain a written scope, fee, and delivery expectation.
- Which file format does your designer need? Confirm whether the purchased package supports the intended revision process.
- What do the license terms allow? Check construction and modification permissions.
- Do the pictures match the drawings? Ask about upgraded finishes or customer changes visible in photographs.
If a shortlist requires moving stairs, changing the foundation, relocating several rooms, and reshaping the roof, ask for an overall design review. Compare the complete modification proposal with other plans before committing.
Compare Construction Scope Before Comparing Prices
There is no single reliable building price for a farmhouse based only on its style. Request local estimates for the actual design, site, and finish specification.
For early conversations, ask the builder to identify the cost implications of the roof shape, footprint, large openings, porch construction, garage, and foundation. That lets you discuss specific choices instead of relying on a broad price per square foot.
Compare estimates on the same basis. Record whether site preparation, utility connections, design revisions, local engineering, permits, and finishes are included or excluded.
If the estimate exceeds your budget, identify the rooms and features that matter most before requesting changes. You may prefer keeping a useful pantry and simplifying a decorative feature, or retaining a rear porch while reducing an underused front section. The right compromise depends on how you intend to live.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do farmhouse house plans have to include an open floor plan?
No. Modern farmhouse listings often feature open living areas, but the style does not require every shared room to connect. Include an enclosed study, separate sitting room, or more defined kitchen if that arrangement better supports your household.
Do you need rural land to build a farmhouse-style home?
The style itself does not require a working farm. Whether a particular design can be built on a particular property depends on its fit and the applicable local and community requirements. Check those conditions before buying a plan.
Can a farmhouse plan be reversed?
Some providers offer a readable reverse, which flips the layout while keeping dimensions and notes legible. Confirm availability for the selected plan, then reassess the entrances, driveway, views, and sunlight on your site.
Is a metal roof required for a modern farmhouse?
No. Farmhouse appearance does not depend on one roof material. Discuss suitable roofing options with your designer and builder, considering the proposed roof, local conditions, maintenance preferences, and budget.
Choose the Plan That Fits Your Life
Shortlist farmhouse house plans that fit the site and provide the rooms you genuinely need. Then test the everyday routes, furniture placement, and outdoor spaces before commissioning changes. The strongest choice is a design whose appeal remains convincing after you have looked closely at how it will work.
