Field of Dreams has long been one of our most popular homes, and was designed by Jean Larson with Steve Mooney and Greg Graton. This new home is specifically intended to look like it belongs to the land in its agrarian past. Its form revives the simplicity and good proportions of classic North American farmhouses. Featured in the highly acclaimed book Creating The Not So Big House by Sarah Susanka, in the introduction to The Farmhouse by Jean Larson, and recently in a feature article in Inspired House magazine, the home has become an icon. Its detached garage is an important healthy design feature, of course, but it is also an important architectural one as well. Farmhouses traditionally would be surrounded by a number of outbuildings. Simply detaching the helps evoke the feeling of a working farm.

True to the frugal nature of traditional farming families, and thus to the farmhouse style, Field of Dreams is designed to be a simple and efficient shape. In this case it is not a perfect cube, but rather a more interesting but still classic T-shape. Also true to the form, the steep cross-gabled lines of the main roof make for a very proud and upright look, yet it is still friendly and inviting. Lower pitched roofs over the screen porch, covered front porch and parts of the mudroom and kitchen areas add dimension, authenticity and offset the otherwise straight lines.

Formal entry into the home is via the large covered front porch. A key element of the style, this porch provides a large protected area to sit, relax, and watch the world go by. Inside, oversized double hung windows flood the interior with healthy natural sunlight. Ganged windows in the kitchen are also double hung in order to evoke the classic farmhouse look, but are placed all the way into the corner in order to give a bright, modern and sunny feel. This arrangement also makes the room feel larger than it really is by opening the view in two different outdoor directions. The kitchen is directly open to the dining room, with only low walls to give visual separation. There are wide walk-thru areas from both the dining room and kitchen directly into the living room. This is a nice compromise between the traditionally closed off rooms of older farmhouses, and the completely wide-open feel of modern homes.

The 9' ceilings on the main level are broken up with areas of lowered ceiling soffits only in areas where a more intimate feel was desired. Simple painted surfaces throughout the interior are meant to give a clean and elegant look, while wood plank ceilings give rustic feel to covered outdoor porches and the screen porch. Built-in bookshelves wrap three sides of the fireplace, providing space for story telling, kid's artwork and family photos. Areas are provided in the living room for a TV/media cabinet, as well as in the dining room for a built in buffet if desired.

Upstairs are the home's 3 bedrooms. The couple's realm has abundant windows, and is placed to take advantage of views in two main directions. It has a large walk-in closet and dressing area adjacent to the master bath. The other two bedrooms are characteristically square and efficient farmhouse shapes, and they share a bath. A laundry chute located near the top of the stairs makes it easy and convenient getting clothing down to the laundry in the basement.

The basement level is left unfinished and wide open. Nearly anything is possible in term of future layout if you choose to build a finished basement.

Field of Dreams 2 is very similar to this original Field of Dreams home, but has an attached garage for situations where the detached garage is not possible. Click here to learn more about Field of Dreams 2.