Inside An Amish Home With One Eyebrow-Raising Detail (17 Photos)
Today’s Amish home is a “sister” to one we looked at back in November, in the same community in Lucas County, Iowa (Chariton). That one was described as a “Charming Farmstead” in the listing.
This is a similarly-charming home. But there is one detail that would make someone scanning through these photos (but not reading the text) raise an eyebrow 🙂 More on that below (and I don’t mean the trampoline you see here).
Let’s take a look at the home description then dive into the photos:
This 3.77 acres +/- Lucas County, Iowa is a nice little hobby farm w/older Farmhouse, 2 car attached garage, 1 barn and 1 metal building, is all set up for livestock and is located in a quiet and serene country setting with crops and nature all around, but just over 1.5 miles from the paved Derby Hwy. from Hwy. 14 to Hwy. 65.
The original farmhouse has 1,240 sq ft. of total living space, 1 BR/2 BA (two ¾ baths, one with shower and one with tub), plus an addition built in 2003 that has an additional approximately 340 square feet of living space and a spacious 2 car attached garage.
There is an older 44×50 barn still in very good shape, and a newer 40×48 metal building with concrete floor and 10 ft. concrete porch & overhang + big barrel wood stove for winter heat.
The property is owned by an Amish family, but the house *is* wired for electric, it’s just not connected to power currently. There is not currently central air conditioning or propane furnace, but there is ductwork all through the farmhouse and a furnace can be installed. Home is currently heated by a large wood cookstove.
There is a 500 gallon leased propane tank, propane hot water heater and rural water. Farmhouse is being offered “As-Is”. This is a nice little farmstead out in the country but only 7 miles from Chariton!
Looking inside, the potentially eyebrow-raising detail that I was referring to above can be seen in this next photo:
How often have you seen an Amish home with ceiling fans?
Well, as noted in the description, this place – like quite a few homes owned, or even built by, the Amish – is wired for electricity…it’s just not turned on.
That happens in one of two situations:
- an Amish family buys a previously English-owned home, which of course is going to have electrical wiring, light switches, sockets and the like, or
- the Amish build a new home, but wire it for electric, knowing that if they want to sell one day, it’s going to be easier to do so having the home already wired from day one.
What we have here appears to be category 1). The home was built in 1930, according to the listing, and the Amish only settled this area in 1992.
So that should explain why we’re seeing ceiling fans – they were there when the property was purchased by this Amish family, and they left them in.
For example, you can see design elements here that you’re not likely to see in a modern Amish-built home – for instance the curved doorways here:
And right next to it you see what looks like a kerosene stove:
Here’s a better look at that kitchen space. Note here the fan light is not on – but hanging over the sink you see a Dewalt battery light, a common lighting solution in Amish homes.
Still it’s a bit jarring to see the modern fans in rooms that otherwise strike many typical notes of classic “Amish aesthetics”:
This is a small home, listed as just having one bedroom, and I wish I could show you that, but there’s no photo provided of it.
Instead, here’s a look at a common space in just about every home – the utility room or mud room. A place for doing laundry, heating water, canning, and sometimes stashing muddy boots. This one looks to be in a garage space:
Back outside we see the folks who live here look to be raising calves:
And the horses are ready for their shot too:
A peek inside one of the outbuildings shows us a buggy garage – and parking for another sort of vehicle. Amish commonly own boats, and some even own motorboats, as this one appears to be.
So how much is this attractive property, on close to 4 acres in southern Iowa farm country?
This place is currently available at a price of $237,500, listed by Joshua T. Flournoy of Mid North Realty. Could make a nice place to live for someone looking for a mini-farm experience. And unlike a lot of Amish homes, it’s ready to go from an electricity perspective.
Iowa Amish Home For Sale
I wonder if he repairs lawn mowers as a sort of “side hustle”?? It’s a cute little place, but sadly, I don’t know a living sole in that part of the state. Very attractive price!
False
I LIVED amongst the Amish they buy a house the first thing they do is rip all the electric out they don’t have bath tubs in their homes . It is against their religions to have any of those things
Not against their religion to run puppy mills!
Are you aware many Amish are running puppy mills? Of course we won’t see a building crammed full of defenseless dogs and puppies
Puppy mills ?
That is not good, I would never buy a puppy from them unless I met the breeder.
Puppy’s are known after birth up to 5 weeks to come down with parvovirus and with that they die, they could also get it later. If so, then do they give your money back?
Charlene.shepperd@gmail.com
Yes horrible puppy mills. They should all be closed at once. Also they work there horses to death. When they can no longer work they ship them off to the slaughter pipe line to make a few dollars off the poor terrified animals. It’s disgusting
Hi Cindy, there are many different groups of horse-and-buggy Amish, some more progressive others more conservative.
One of my goals with this site is to draw attention to this point and provide examples of the different ways of being Amish.
This home shows one example of how some Amish families live. Though, I am not surprised if the Amish in the community you lived in swiftly remove electric, etc. That sounds like it would be a more conservative group.
Iowa Amish Home For Sale
Um, forgive me here. But when did this post become “Let’s rip on the Amish” day?? Erik, thanks for your comments and for this post. As for some of the rest of you, if you’re going to be angry, could you please refrain from posting such negative comments at this particular site?? True, some Amish do mistreat animals, but most (I dare say the vast majority) do not. It would be completely counter- productive to do so. Let’s try to be less hateful, okay?? Thanks everybody.
Agreed, K.D.
K.D.,
I’m in full agreement with you.
Less hate, and less figurative beating on the Amish.
Thank you.
Thanks
The Amish lead a beautiful life no gangs no crime no nothing just peace of mind Beautiful People and homes