Having a 2 story ceiling is dramatic and generally desireable. Doing stone half way up will cut up the height and look funny. I'd do just the fireplace surround. If needed,,make a new surround that's larger and do that in stacked stone to the ceiling. But don't cut your wall in half. It will look funny.

Too much stone!!!!!!! And I hate two story entrances in general. Waste of space and unwelcoming and dehumanizing.

There is absolutely ZERO “farmhouse” about either a silly heat at the ceiling two story entry OR stone under the nipple line look. Or stone anywhere. Unless it’s a round PA stone barn.

Skip all of those builder cliches. Unless you’re making it a modified chicken coop.

You probably need to revise your idea of a farmhouse. And jettison all of the McMansioney details.

We have been looking at new homes and there is one builder here that tries to make dramatic entries with all sorts of details - different wood, stone, mirrors, busy wall paper, etc. What happens is that the interior balance of the entire house is thrown off. The entry grabs all the attention from everywhere in the house. And it often fights the rest of the decorating.

Someone here posted - decorate where the people are. Spend the money on a nice floor, a beautiful rug, wainscot or some other architectural details.

Perhaps I can be a little more gentle in my comments than others: a two-story room with a soaring fireplace is not a farm house feature. Instead, are you building a log-cabin-type home with a partial loft? I can picture a soaring fireplace fitting there.

All that said, personally I would never build a two-story room. Too cold, echo-y and a big waste of space I would have to pay for and never use. Are you located where you never have to use a furnace?

I'd skip the stone in the foyer simply because it will make designing a home significantly harder for the rest of your time in that house. Save yourself a million future headaches (and the money) and just do the fireplace.

We love the 2 story great room which is why we built it that way! We are not concerned about the heating bill and didn't design our dream home around it! The house is a mix of farmhouse details with rustic lodge details of large timbers and stone.......also the look we like. We are out in the country on a large parcel of land so the look will blend in nicely with the surroundings. Thanks for your comments regarding the rock wall.....I will think long and hard before making my decision.

"Would it be too much stone if I do half the wall from floor to about 8ft up with the same stone?"

Yes.

Especially if you want the "2 story fireplace in the great room with the same stone" to be a focal point.

Agree with Yayagai. If the entry were separated from the room with the fireplace, then maybe, but if they're in the same space, double the stone would lessen the impact of each.

I agree--if in a different part of the home than the fireplace, it should be okay but should go allllll the way up, not halfway. If visible from fireplace, nope. Let the fireplace stone be IT.

As far as how appropriate anything is to a modern farmhouse, I didn't even know there was a particular style called modern farmhouse...

I probably would forego the stone also. Would shiplap work? Or reclaimed wood?

Visually, I think it would be too much stone. Also, as someone who doesn't enjoy dusting and vacuuming in general, the thought of having to vacuum dust bunnies out of an 18 foot tall stacked stone wall is more than I can bear ;)

I don't know that I would use shiplap or reclaimed wood either, because that would just make for an exceedingly visually busy interior.

Fori, I think "modern farmhouse" is a Pinterest construct, and I suspect Joanna Gaines had a hand in this too, sigh. I think what is really meant is "rustic elements". I actually do live on a farm, and two main hallmarks of farmhouses, traditional and modern, is a focus on simplicity/sense of restraint. So keep it simple.

My modern farmhouse means chicks hatching in the incubator in the kitchen, a second fridge in the basement for pickles (everyone in the family prefers them crisp, so no extra hot water bath), and lots of space by the front door/basement entrances for muddy boots. It also means I want a house I can clean as easily and quickly as possible -- eastautumn is right! -- because there are lots of other things to do, even if you don't live on a farm : ) .

becky hatching chicks stopped me in my tracks!

regarding your question-seems like you have enough interesting elements and a big focal point already, so I add my voice to the "restraint". your house sounds great. it's probably more a lodge, right?

I also suspect "Fixer Upper" invented some ..I need to look up the word..:)

Also, please do peruse some of the questions previosly posted here about how to decorate a soaring 2 story wall so that it feels finished and how to deal with 2nd story widows. What seems interesting and "architecturally interesting" on paper is sometimes frustrating and expensive in life.

I think the answer to that question really lies in the size of the whole foyer. If the space is tall and narrow, I'd say no. But if the foyer feels more like a hotel lobby, you might get away with it. Overall, the call for "less is more" is warranted. But sometimes if the space is too cavernous, it can feel cold which is the exact opposite of what you want when guests arrive. If that's the case, the stone could actually help warm it up. Just make sure that if you go this route, you get the appropriate decorative lighting to add warmth and to feature the texture.

@beckysharp, if you start with boiling brine and water bath can for three minutes it's sufficient to make pickles shelf stable and keep them crisp! You can cut off the blossom end too which helps, if you didn't already know that trick :-)

OP, good advice above. I too say nay to the stone in foyer. It will distract, not compliment.

Just to churn the butter here. I've seen some awesome two story stone walls behind entry stairways that bring the outside in and really create a seamless feel. Having said that, I wouldn't put the outdoor stone on the indoor fireplace. Maybe soapstone on the fireplace. Something smoother but rustic.

Okay I know these aren't farmhouse, although the blue elevator shaft looks like a silo. But they are pretty cool with the stone.

Call me crazy, but if a house has a foyer that "feels more like a hotel lobby", you have other, much bigger problems -- like creating a warm and welcoming home.

lindsey, I do know about cutting off the blossom end : ). As for shorter canning times, I was born a city girl and have always been nervous with recipes from family and friends with canning times considerably shorter than what district home economists, Ball Blue Book etc. recommend, which is usually 15-20 minutes for quart jars and no less than 10 minutes; my mother in law has been trying to convince me for 25 years that it's safe to chicken in a boiling water bath in a regular canner rather than a pressure canner, and I'm just not willing to risk it, esp when it comes to my husband and kids. We're also probably pickier about taste than some people -- for example, I used to process in the canner 1- and 2-quart jars of the apple cider we press every fall, but we realized we don't care for the "cooked" taste, so we freeze the cider now instead. Some people have wine fridges and we have a pickle fridge lol. And several chest freezers for cider, our own beef, chickens, turkeys, venison, fruit and vegetables!

april, the chicks stay in the incubator in the house just until they're dry and then out they go. We don't always have helpful broody hens to do the setting for us so the incubator is a huge help.

"april, the chicks stay in the incubator in the house just until they're dry and then out they go"-well, at least that much I can figure out:) still, exciting!

(I'm a big city girl as well but my family always made pickles, cheese, canned whatever, jams..you name it. not that I remember the processes very well but that was part of urban living where we lived.

chickens though..nah..these you tried to buy..))

I think the two stone area will compete with each other as I envision what you are saying, so I would do one or the other. That being said, if it floats your boat do both and love it.