I love my farmhouse because it's more accessible than a regular undermount - no strip of countertop to get wet and soak my belly as I lean there washing up. :-) Also, I prefer the positive sink edge reveal so that no invisible cruft gathers below that little overhanging ledge (like on my last undermount, ugh).

Shop around - you can get great deals on farmhouse sinks on line. I got my Franke 28" farmhouse sink from QUality Bath on EBay for less than $500.00.
Love it.

I do have an upmounted farmhouse sink.

Here is something to consider -- where I live, an air gap is required.

Farmhouse sinks do not generally come with holes for faucets and air gaps and such.

Ergo, the air gap and the faucets will be counter mounted.

If water comes out of the air gap or the other faucets in the event of a leak, it will not roll into the sink if it is an upmounted sink.

Water will find a place to go.

In my kitchen, some of that water made it to the cabinets flanking the sink. Not much water, but enough.

Cabinets and water do not mix well.

Heartbreaking to see new cabinets ruined in the first week they were in place by the air gap.

Maybe you will be lucky enough to live in a place where an air gap is not required.

Maybe undermounted sinks would work better by allowing plumbing leaks or air gap water to enter the sink.

Maybe you can position the air gap close enough to the sink to drain into the sink.

Don't know.

Maybe someone else has solved this puzzle.

Just for the record, I understand that air gaps are only required in California and Nevada, so they're something of an anomaly. Great point, though.

circuspeanut - two excellent points. thanks.
prill - good to know! thanks.
plumeriavine - pardon my ignorance...what's an air gap?

We also have an Arts & Crafts home of the same era....we have an undermount now and are sticking with that in the remodel (but switching from stainless to either cast iron or Silgranit to get more of a period look). We like the ability to be able to wipe the counter directly into the sink, which is trickier, though possible, with farmhouse sinks. We also have a wall-mount faucet and it just worked better in general to have the flexibility of controlling how and where to place the sink and backsplash from that perspective. (We also don't and won't have a garbage disposal, but it's been fine to just have a drain catch and empty it periodically.)

The other reason we steered clear of farmhouse sinks was just that they're very, very popular where we live right now, so you see them in every third house you go into (whatever the era). I love the look, but was a little afraid it would date the kitchen. And we're really happy with the functionality of the undermount sink and counter setup we have now (only changing it b/c the counters are too shallow for a dishwasher) and didn't want to mess with a good thing.

For what it's worth, I wouldn't worry too much about the look of either being more or less appropriate to your home---farmhouse sinks are beautiful (and have their own sets of pros and cons) but are not exactly what your house would have had originally either. (For that you have to go with a salvaged sink or replicas like the gorgeous sinks Sign of the Crab makes---but they're pricey and take up a LOT of counter real estate!) I'd go with whichever you like the looks and functionality of better, if there are not other factors swinging you one way or the other. They're just different.

Oh, and if you don't know what an air gap is you are probably fortunate enough not to need one! :) They are little devices intended to prevent the dishwasher and drain from creating a siphon/vacuum where water may be sucked out of or into the dishwasher from the drain when it's not supposed to be flowing that way. The air gap lets a tiny amount of air in to break the seal so that there is no siphon effect. Fortunately, contractors have found inventive ways to put air gaps in without going through the counter, and many modern dishwasher makers have figured out drainage configurations and design strategies that prevent the problem from occurring in the first place. Unfortunately, California and Nevada both codified air gaps on the counter as a requirement, and a dishwasher installed without one can fail inspection. *sigh*

Oh, and I forgot---the other factor for us was that we have a tiny kitchen and are using the space under the sink for garbage pullouts; most of the farmhouse sinks I looked at were too deep for that to work very well. The undermount sinks had similar bowl depths but left a little more space below, where every inch counted. Again, I suspect if you shop around you can find a sink of either type that might work with this, though.

An air gap is an anti-siphon device. They are required in most of California. They theoretically prevent dirty water from backflowing into your dishwasher in case of a blockage, and they theoretically prevent your sewage from contaminating municipal water supplies in the event of a water main break. At least, that is my non-plumber understanding.

This is how it works: the tubing from the dishwasher runs to the air gap and then another tubing connects the air gap to the garbage disposal and away the water flows down the pipes.

Many dishwashers come with a back-up prevention built in and do not require an air gap, but some states and municipalities still require air gaps because they are assumed to be better protection from contamination.

Some places allow a "high loop" of the tubing instead of an air gap.

Our city and state require an air gap. In our case, we called it the "water gap" instead of the "air gap" since it spit out so much water. (Yes the knockout was removed by the plumber).

Looks like this:

{{!gwi}}

Also with an farm sink, you cannot get the tipout cabinet. The tipout is attached to the false front cabinet piece in front of your undermount sink. The tipout is handy for sponges, dishtabs, scrubbers, etc