Building A New, Old Home

I’m sharing all about our plan to start building a new, old home on our property and why I feel so drawn to having a timeless design style for our new home.

A few weeks ago I shared a big update on the process of designing and building our new home. It’s been quite the adventure and while we ultimately changed our house plans from the ones I had been working on and designing with a local architect for nearly a year, we’re officially back on track with a new set of house plans.

Since my last update, I’ve been back to the drawing board on designing a different set of house plans. And this time it’s gone much quicker… a true testament to following God and listening to Him after the struggles we faced when designing the first set of house plans.

This time around, things seem to be falling into place. The challenges we were facing with our original floor plan aren’t causing issues this time around and Todd and I both agree that we feel lighter and even more excited about the direction we’re going.

Admittedly, that could change as we’ve just started sending the new floor plan out for contractors to bid on, but I am hopeful and it all feels different this time.

Building A New, Old Home

I’ve been somewhat hesitant to share too much about the house we’ll be building because nothing has really been set in stone and I know things can change so quickly, but our goal is to build a new, old home.

I know that somewhat contradicts itself, but as we spent time thinking about the home we wanted to build on our property, I kept coming back to a home that felt timeless. I loved the idea of having a house where you couldn’t tell when exactly is was built because it felt classic and somewhat historical.

There’s something special to me in the feeling it gives and in so many ways, I want the home we’re building to be a place that “should have always been there”.

Our property doesn’t currently have a house, although it has had one or two in the past. The original home was torn down many years ago and I really wish I could remember what it looked like. Even though the house has been gone for many years now, the trumpet vines in the backyard still shoot up out the ground every year, even producing several flowers. It’s proof of the life and time that was once spent here.

And while our new house won’t be going where the old one was, a huge part of me wants to pay homage to the house this property always should have had. It should have had an old farm house sitting off the road in the distance. It should have had a large yard, a garden area and it definitely should have had a barn.

Our plan is to build a new, old home. We’re not looking to build a “modern farmhouse” as you see being widely done (you know what I mean), but rather a home that nods to the past and acknowledges some of the historical farm style homes that capture your attention as you drive down the old country road. I want our home to be timeless.

We’re also not looking to build a home that doesn’t work for our family, so my main goal is to build a house that not only looks pretty, but one that functions well for our family and how we live daily life. Because of that, I’ve been intentional about taking all of that into consideration.

My main focus has been to get the bones of the house right and think through how we plan to layout the other spaces surrounding the house so that it all makes sense. We want our home to be able to grow and change with us throughout the years and I think we’ve nailed it.

It’s also worth mentioning that because of the way building is right now, and how expensive it is in general, we know this home will grow as we do. The house won’t be everything we want it to be from the start. It will be a process and I’m looking forward to adding character and custom details as we live in the house and really make it our home.

I’m excited to share some of the inspirations I’ve been using while designing our home. More on that soon!