Age of the Modern Farmhouse

Ronda Kaysen shares lots of details about modern farmhouse residential design, labelling it the replacement for McMansions in the psyches of many American residents.

As Kaysen shares (“The Modern Farmhouse is Today’s McMansion. And It’s Here to Stay,” 2023, New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/07/realestate/modern-farmhouse-suburbs.html): “Drive through any American suburb and odds are you’ll spot a modern farmhouse in its natural habitat.  The style is hard to miss: white board and batten vertical siding, large black frame windows, and gables.  A covered porch, with a swing or maybe Adirondack chairs.  A tin roof. And of course, house numbers in a sans serif font. Love it or hate it, the modern farmhouse is the millennial answer to the baby boomer McMansion.”

The rise of the modern farmhouse makes perfect sense – Americans are uncertain and just a little bit (well, some are a lot) concerned about what’s next for their country, so thinking back to, and linking back to, an “easier” time, via the exterior look of their homes is comforting—because, in the end, for all of their vertical siding and black frame windows, etc., modern farmhouses look just like, you guessed it, farmhouses.