*Acreage

Not living there yet, but... in our new build we included....

A large "mudroom" with direct access to laundry, closets for shoes, coats, etc. Tile floor. There is an island in the middle for kids to do homework without junking up the dining table. Direct entrance to it from both the garage and also from the side yard.

Lots of exterior hose bibs.

In floor heat run in the garage with floor drains. 3rd bay to the garage so that I can pull in machinery and work on it in relative comfort.

Lots of windows to take in the views of said acreage.

Those are the ones I can think of right now.

@mama goose_gw zn6OH *sniff* we had that initially, but had to cut that out d/t budget :/

1) Mudroom/Laundry room with plenty of storage

2) Large pantry with enough space for extra fridge and freezers

3) Covered porch and/or screened porch

4) Lots of water spigots

5) Water line run to a garden area for a hose spigot

6) Dedicated place to store dirty/muddy boots outside

7) Garage and/or carport - we did a large carport on our main level that doubles as a covered porch and two garage bays in our basement.

8) Dedicated washer and dryer for farm clothes. DH is getting his own stacked W/D in his closet to launder his daily farm attire (he owns/operates a large cattle farm so his clothes tend to have grease, diesel, and all kinds of other smells....lol)

9) If you plan to can/freeze garden produce or process any of your own meat, I suggest a prep sink and a large island. I also suggest two dishwashers (I'm so excited for this in our new build going on right now :) )

10) Orient house to maximize light and have lots of windows. The rear of our house faces S/SE and it has an amazing view of our farm. It's also very bright because of all the windows/doors in our kitchen and living room.

**Personally, I wouldn't want farm equipment in my house garage. I'd definitely plan space for a pole barn/shed structure to keep all the farm stuff, water hoses, wheel barrows, ATV's, etc. in.

We are building a farm house now! Most of what we are doing has been covered but I second these things:

-large mudroom with second laundry set

-preplan for garden spot

-large pantry for canned goods

-lots of prep space in kitchen for processing garden stuff

-”drive down” ramp into basement for 4 wheeler/Polaris storage and/or separate storage for these things plus tractors etc, we just like having the 4 wheeler right there for easy access

-screened in porch

-make sure you have plenty of common space for large gatherings- when you live on a farm, people tend to gather at your house (think holidays etc

Thanks so much @doc5md. So many good points. The garage with drains is smart, so you can just hose down the mud in the garage. And I also like the idea of connecting the mushroom and laundry.

Haha mama goose 😆 my oldest just started grade one this week and it was bitter sweet and a little emotional for me lol. Mad eine think of how soon the next 12 years might fly by and then they’re off to college. Gives me enough time to mentally prepare I guess lol. And maybe we’ll just make sure that there is enough parking Imke you said ...just in case lol.

@shead that sounds like an amazing farm set up. Two dishwashers would be amazing and the dedicated washer and dryer is a great idea too! I also like #6 a dedicated space for muddy boots outside - often they just end up sitting right beside the main entrance being an eye sore. So good do think of and create a “dedicated” space.

Hey @MR hmmmm you’re seconding the screened porch and it’s really making me think about it. I never like the “meshy” look of a screened porch but we sure get mosquitoes the size of dragonflies up here in northern Canada. So I’m really starting to consider a screened porch. Our summers are short ...too short to eat inside because of bugs lol

@MR best of luck with the remainder of your build ☺️

By far the best thing we did when we built in 2016 was the large mud hall/laundry room combo. It connects to our master bath which is great for when hubby comes in nasty from farm chores. There is room for a large upright freezer, and a place for boots, coats, bags, etc. We also have a large closet connected to this room for the gun safe and overflow coveralls and outdoor gear as well as shelving for bulk pantry items.

We're currently building on acreage. Our property is flag-shaped and heavily wooded with lots of springs; so, it tends to be quite wet with A LOT of debris (we're in the Piedmont mountain area).

When we were designing our property (i.e., house and landscape), we felt very strongly about having outdoor living spaces that would allow us to take advantage of the three-points of interest that our lot has. So, "southern porches" became a must-have. Our front porch, which is covered and faces west, is one story but covers 3 quarters of the front facade. Our side-porch, which is also covered, faces south and overlooks a space which is like a natural preserve (i.e., heavily treed with lots of springs and wildlife). This porch is two story and includes a dry patio beneath. And, off the rear of the house (east facing), we decided to forgo a porch and, instead, create a small courtyard attached to a patio. Here, we plan to create a garden with small-to-medium-size trees. Our thinking was that this would allow us to a have bit of "intimacy" with nature without necessarily having to go out and "hike" our property or get too close and personal with natural areas that we want to use as protection for wildlife (my son's hobby). We've included an outdoor shower in this space for rinsing off after intense summer activity (i.e., pool, gardening, adventuring, etc).

Due to 3 kiddos (and SO) being magnets for dirt on both their bodies and clothing, a mudroom attached to our laundry room was mandatory. In the laundry room, we have plumbed an in-floor drain. Our plan is to make both the mudroom and laundry wet rooms. . .this means that floors will be water-proof and constructed similarly to a shower base; I can hose down the floors and squeegee water down the drain . We also have a second powder room attached to our laundry and mudroom in order to more efficiently minimize my dirt monsters tracking dirt through the rest of the house. I decided to avoid carpet throughout the house due to the amount of dirt that sometimes get brought in despite my best efforts (I'm a bit OCD sometimes and like to see that my floors are clean).

ETA: Due to the length of our driveway, we made sure to add a hose and electrical at the entry of the property in order to better facilitate maintenance. We also did the same, with the electrical, near the rear yard and have spigots on every side of the house.

Finished, insulated and heated 3 bay garage with floor drains and metal wainscoting. Waterproof when hosing down vehicles.

Huge mudroom/laundry off of garage entrance with commercial size washer and dryer. Great for larger families and washing King size comforters!

Room for an extra freezer or two for fresh beef.

Walk in pantry to hold small appliances, canning supplies, etc.

Hose bibs on every side of the house for rinsing pets/kids, watering plants and cleaning house/sidewalks

Lots of big windows

Large, open kitchen sink basin for washing and processing garden produce

Lower cabinets with deep drawers for large stock pots

Huge porch for sipping sweet tea :)

Clothesline near the laundry room

Designated space for his hunting gear

Boot bench in mudroom. I might also place an overflow boot bench in the garage for his work boots. The guy has a lot of boots!

We have a farm (more than just a hobby lol) in Alberta and finished building a new house a couple of years ago.

We have a large three-bay heated garage as well, and attached to that through a walk-in door is our workshop. The garage and workshop have large windows (the garage doors also have windows) for lots of light which is nice when we're working in the garage (washing eggs, cleaning vehicles), and the walls are panelled floor to ceiling with white metal, which is so easy to keep clean.

Like some others above, our mudroom in the garage as well. We have lots of hooks on both sides of the walk-in door, boot mats, shoe shelving, and also an electric boot dryer. We also have more hooks on the landing outside the garage entrance to the kitchen, but no shoes are allowed up there except my slippers which I use when I go from the house to the garage.

The garage has a full bathroom with a shower which is handy when we're dirty from chores or gardening or messy mechanic jobs. It keeps us from bringing the dirt into the house. The workshop has a bathroom with a toilet and sink, and that's where the washing machine for chore clothes is. I like having the washing machine away from the mudroom.

We have an old fridge and three large deep freezes in the garage, as well as a large stainless steel restaurant sink we purchased secondhand. Very useful for washing eggs and rinsing off vegetables from the garden.

We have another full bathroom with shower in the house as you walk into the house from the garage. So there's really no excuse for bringing any dirt further into the house by the time you make it a few steps in : ) .

Opposite the bathroom is a walk-in pantry -- on one side we have an all-fridge and all-free freezer and floor-to-ceiling metal shelving, and on the other side, upper and lower cabinets with butcherblock countertops. We added outlets, which I use for the slow cooker and microwave.

We have two large farmhouse-style sinks in the kitchen, both from Ikea purchased about 10 years ago; one is in the island and very useful during canning season.

We opted for vinyl plank flooring throughout the house -- very easy to clean and maintain. All paint (Benjamin Moore) is washable. Backsplash behind the range is a sheet of stainless steel.

We have hot and cold water at the hose bibs.

Our main floor is quasi-open plan. The kitchen is open to the dining room and the living room but the dining room juts out (and is surrounded by windows on three sides) and the living room is around a corner. This gives some privacy to people and noise reduction when there are people in different areas. There's also lots of space for several extra tables for holiday meals with extended meals. And I have a 48" Bluestar range with one large and one small oven, and a separate electric wall oven -- these also come in especially handy not just for farm meals but for extended family gatherings when there's a large turkey in one oven, dessert and vegetables in another, and then the wall oven to heat up the potluck dishes others bring.

We built the house ourselves (my husband is a carpenter) and made good use of passive solar principles to help keep the house cool in the summer and warm in the winter. We also insulated heavily, which in Alberta has been helpful : ) .

We have a ceiling fan on our back porch which is helpful on the hottest days and also helps to keep the bugs away.

I highly recommend the Kitchen Forum when it comes time to plan the kitchen, especially this post with lots of valuable information,

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5972404/new-to-kitchens-read-me-first-2020-interim#n=6

I live in suburbia now, but grew up pretty rural (in muddy Oregon, back when it used to rain). So, to represent the kids' perspective:

-A central staircase so that you can chase each other in circles around it all day long.

-A huge back deck for views and throwing water balloons on the unsuspecting people below.

- A large unfinished basement to rollerskate in when it rains and in which to build epic multi-week lego projects.

- Pets.

My husband and I are currently planning the house for our farm. Loving all the ideas above!

We've included:

- Concrete floors throughout with drains so we can hose and squeegee the lot.

- Big mudroom, attached to a covered entry where we can leave the really terrible boots/coats/pants. This also ensures everyone walks over about four feet of mat before they even get inside which reduces the amount of dust and dirt dragged in enormously. (you'll see this applied in loads of commercial spaces because it reduces the cost of cleaning so dramatically.)

- Big functional kitchen, big pantry. Extra storage space for canned stuff and freezers in the basement and/or an outbuilding.

- Lots and lots and lots of light. Pay attention to your orientation!

- Farm homes are forever homes. Pay attention to aging in place. We've planned wide doorways/hallways, zero entry showers, and a space for a future elevator.

Farm homes are forever homes. Pay attention to aging in place. We've planned wide doorways/hallways, zero entry showers, and a space for a future elevator.

I would add to this wide stairways, as well.

No matter what the use for your country place, it's important to have a well thought out site plan, with good relationship between the house and the garden and outbuilding(s). The outbuildings are where you keep everything that uses fuel, not the basement. I'd love it if our barn had its own mud room, so some of the nastiest stuff never got near the house. Maybe even hot water (I'm dreaming now). There's a certain satisfaction in leaving the house to take care of things in an outbuilding.

Plan the yard around the house. A fence makes a great boundary between what you keep nice and what can slide. Make sure you plan gates to let people and equipment in. Decide on a garden area and have expansion area, cause you never know what you'll want to grow!

Decide on a garden area and have expansion area, cause you never know what you'll want to grow!

When we planned our new house, we also planned the location of the nearby vegetable garden and greenhouse, and trenched for gas and electricity from the house for the greenhouse (for the heater and fan, and I like that I can also have a radio going in there while I work), and also a pipe for water from the dugout at our corrals.