Farm Design

In search of a quieter, simpler life, style icon and longtime New Yorker Amanda Brooks moved with her family in 2012 from New York City to her husband's farm in England. Originally intended to be a yearlong creative sabbatical, Brooks's relocation became permanent as she discovered newfound personal and professional freedom, told here through a year's changing seasons. Creatively inspiring, warm and witty, and brimming with delicious recipes and entertaining how-tos, Farm from Home is a chronicle of the joys and challenges of a more focused way of living.

Amelia loves her life in Paris. But with the surprise inheritance of her childhood home, she has no choice but to return to the small village of Meadowbank to restore her great-aunt’s old farmhouse. However returning to Meadowbank means she has to confront her past, including old flame Adam—the one person she regrets leaving behind. When Amelia discovers a locket hidden in the farmhouse, containing the picture of a mysterious World War Two soldier, she starts to uncover the secrets of her great-aunt’s past.

The antebellum era and the close of the 19th century frame a period of great agricultural expansion. During this time, farmhouse plans designed by rural men and women regularly appeared in the flourishing Northern farm journals. This book analyzes these vital indicators of the work patterns, social interactions, and cultural values of the farm families of the time. Examining several hundred owner-designed plans, McMurry shows the ingenious ways in which "progressive" rural Americans designed farmhouses in keeping with their visions of a dynamic, reformed rural culture.