I came across something that got my attention while searching for Amish homes to share with you. Right now there are at least 7 Amish homes for sale in the community at Hillsboro, Kentucky (Fleming County).

#1

What’s going on here? It looks like a lot of people are moving out of the area for some reason. This settlement is a small one, but not that small – three church districts. It’s also fairly well-established – here since 1999 (hat-tip to Joe Donnermeyer).

#2

So it is not that this is a fledgling community whose residents soon came to the decision their choice of location didn’t suit them. With three churches, that would be in a likely range of 60 to 100 households in this settlement. So seven homes up for sale is not a huge chunk of the community (assuming there are no others listed elsewhere).

#3

Still there must be a reason these homes have gone on the market. Several are quite recent additions – listed within the last few months – and most of the rest went on the market in the last year or two, and are still up for sale.

#4

Amish migrate for different reasons. Perhaps the families here found better economic opportunities elsewhere.  Perhaps there were church-related or other troubles here. A major conflict over the SMV triangle on buggies took place in Kentucky – but that was years ago. I am not aware of any recent public conflict in the news here.

Perhaps this segment of families have decided to start a new community together elsewhere in a location they’ve found more attractive, for whatever reason. I passed this along to Joe Donnermeyer, who adds:

I decided to double check the status of the men, and one of those was a deacon and another was a bishop. This lends weight to the idea that these families started a new settlement somewhere.

#5

So as I wrote in the last post, the story behind an online Amish listing is always something of a mystery. In this case the mystery takes in at least seven Amish households.

#6

I don’t know which is the parent community, or the other affiliated communities of this settlement. However, Joe also mentions that there is a 2019 Kentucky Amish Directory, which includes this and 10 other settlements. Being in the same directory often suggests the communities are of the same affiliation or in fellowship with one another.

This is a group on the more traditional side, as evidenced by things like the furnishings in the homes, lighting, and their general plainer appearance. Another sign of a plain Amish place: the “interior details” section lists the number of bathrooms as “0”.

I’m not going to look inside all of these, but let’s take a look inside of this one today (via Zillow):

#7

From the description:

This beautiful Amish home is nestled against the rolling hills of KY! You can enjoy the beautiful view from the wrap around porch while enjoying the breeze. Master bedroom located on the main level and six bedrooms upstairs. The kitchen and main living area are very spacious. There is a little over 62 acres that is fenced and ready for your enjoyment. The property also offers a pond, city water has been connected to the home and electricity is available.

So this one has already been equipped with a city water connection, though if you want a proper bathroom, that will take some extra work. Though this family seems to have found a halfway solution, read on to find out what I mean…

A few more views from outside:

That is a nice long wraparound porch:

This family uses its porch space well. On this side you’ve got an outdoor canning stove, and freezer.

Over here, a washer.

Not to mention the ample seating options.

Looking inside, the kitchen and dining area:

Some closer shots. Very neatly organized place. I like the blue lamps. What other details do you notice?

Stove area.

A sink area. This appears to be a different part of the house.

The sitting room.

Here are a couple more views of the same room, taken with flash.

Mini-rocker for a smaller occupant:

Note the cane with the saw handle. There also looks to be a lighting source behind the blue upholstered chair.

Staircase:

Bedrooms. First a teenage boy’s room. Hunting and outdoor theme as well as Native American decor. These are all popular motifs with many Amish youth:

These next two rooms are quite gloomy in appearance, owing to the windows being covered.

Windows are also covered in this nook area. Looks like this family must enjoy Pictionary and probably other board games. Some call them bored games.

This appears to be an “indoor outhouse”:

The canning storage area has a cave-like feel. Is this part of the home or a different underground structure?

Here’s what looks like more of a traditional basement

Water source:

A circular wringer washer:

Back outside:

A large kettle and what looks to be a freezer.

Basketball hoop by a storage building.

Barn.

And finally a nice view of garden and hills.

This particular home and its 62-acre property is on the market for $189,000. There are 7 bedrooms, 0 bathrooms, and the home is 2,528 square feet in size.

It’s been listed for 599 days, so this is one of the longest-listed of the group. It’s probably not the easiest to sell a non-electric home without traditional plumbing, much less a half-dozen+ of them. But I wish the families the best.

I plan to return to this community here, with looks inside one or two of the other homes. If there is one from the remaining 6 photos above you are curious about seeing, let me know in the comments.

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