Fit for Farmland

A new build puts down traditional farmhouse roots in the horse country of central New Jersey.

- Victoria Van Vlear

When you buy three acres of land in the middle of rural farm country in New Jersey, of course you must build a farmhouse. Interior designers Jenna Reading and Amanda Downs, co-founders of South Main Design, came on to design the interior of this 4.000 square foot farmhouse by builder Sebastiano Nini. "It's a small town with horse farms, crop farms and generally a rural countryside," Jenna says. "So it really is very fitting for the space." The homeowners wanted a mix of rustic and modern farmhouse elements, so that's what Jenna and Amanda provided for them with stunning results.

RUSTIC + MODERN

When it came to deciding on an overall design vision for the home, there were conflicting opinions in the mix. "The homeowners both wanted it to have a casual farmhouse feel," Amanda says. "But the husband was in the more rustic camp, while the wife had her eye on modern touches. We tried to make it a marriage of their two styles, which was a modern farmhouse."

This included elements like adding exposed beams to the ceiling in the primary bedroom for the rustic look but painting them white to keep them modern. The pair chose traditional farmhouse lighting like the hanging lantern on the front porch but made sure that much of the lighting had black metal elements for a modern touch. They also mimicked the stone on the outside façade to the stone on the fireplace inside.

"We were marrying the tastes of the wife who wanted clean, simple lines and the husband who wanted rustic," Jenna says. "We wanted the farmhouse touches to feel elevated."

FUNCTIONALITY