This Ultra-Functional Amish Home Looks Like a Metal Barn — Workshop Below, Home Above (29 Photos)

A lot of things are jumping out about this Amish home listing in Guernsey County, Ohio — starting with the fact that you might drive right past it thinking it’s a commercial building. More on that in a minute.

As to the locale, this home sits in one of the most Amish-dense counties in the United States (at least when it comes to number of communities).

Several years ago Joe Donnermeyer noted in his post on multi-settlement counties that Guernsey County is home to six separate Amish settlements. It appears they may have lost one in the meantime, but still have at least the five.

This home is in one of the smaller of the county’s Amish locations – at Cumberland, home to around 100 Amish people. Here’s how the listing describes it:

Nestled on over 20 scenic acres, this charming Amish-built home (2019) offers the perfect blend of simplicity, functionality, and rural beauty. Featuring two bedrooms, this well-crafted residence is ideal for those seeking a peaceful lifestyle with room to grow and make it their own.

The property is thoughtfully equipped for a variety of uses, including established fenced pastures and a livestock shed, making it a great fit for hobby farmers or anyone looking to raise animals. With ample water on-site and city water available at the road, you’ll have both convenience and flexibility for future expansion.

A lower-level garage/workshop provides plenty of space for projects, storage, or equipment, while the lovely rear patio creates a welcoming outdoor retreat—perfect for dining, relaxing, or enjoying quiet country evenings. With fertile land well-suited for gardens, homesteading, or recreation, this property offers endless potential. Whether you’re dreaming of a self-sustaining lifestyle or simply want wide-open space to call your own, this unique acreage is ready to bring your vision to life.

The home is not currently wired, but AEP electric service is available at the road. County approved septic, installed in 2020. Well pump is currently air driven by a compressor and tanks in lower building, city water is available if new owners would like to convert but the current well has never run dry on sellers. The home can easily be heated with a wood stove or converted to forced air with minimal ductwork.

The Exterior

A look at the home building: gray metal siding, white metal roof, a boxy two-story rectangle set into a hillside. This property feels quite geometric. It looks, from the road, like a pole barn someone cut windows into. Or, like what’s known as a “shop home”. And when we look at the ground floor we’ll get a closer look at the “shop” part.

This aerial shot shows the layout, and another larger building at the roadside. There aren’t a lot of details on that, but going by the property-line aerial shot below, it is included here. And as we look at some photos of its interior further down, we’ll get some clues as to what it’s used for.

A wider aerial with the property lines marked gives you a sense of the full acreage — hills, woodland, and the creek running along the bottom edge.

One of the neatest features of this home, in my opinion, is tucked around the back side – a simple raised wooden deck with a large gazebo canopy. A wood stove chimney pipe pokes through the roofline of the home.

Here’s the view from under the canopy, which appears to have extensions on either end. You could fit a good-sized family here for a cookout (and note the red egg-shaped grill above). Nice summertime spot.

Ground Floor Workshop

Here’s one of the most notable parts of this Amish home. The ground floor is dedicated to a workspace – but not only that. It seems they’ve got a truly multi-functional space going here.

In the first shot, if you look to the very back, you see a rack of hats. Looks like they may have a hat-making side business here. In the same photo, note the hefty safe at right. Common sight in many Amish homes.

If we flip to the other side of the room, we’ve got a board for measuring and cutting – fabric I assume. Also a cash register, which suggests that they do a bit of retail business, probably for the local Amish community primarily, out of this ground floor space.

On the other side of the room we can see boots lined up, next to some apparatus with multiple tubes (not exactly sure what that is). Laundry lines strung below the rafters provide room for hanging and drying during inclement weather. Like I said, a lot going on here.

In the above photo you can see a doorway into another separate area, which we see below. It looks like this serves as a utility room — with heavy duty-looking refrigerator, wringer washer and more.

And here’s another angle showing some of the aforementioned tubing. I should also mention this is likely where the Amish family holds their church service, when their turn comes up.

Level 2 – The Home

Let’s go upstairs – where we find a comfortable, well-finished living space. No surprise that there is a large open main space – a combination living and dining area with wood or wood-like flooring. We can also see a roll-able liquid propane light.

Another angle of the main living area looking toward the kitchen. A cozy gathering space with recliners and sofa indicating this is not one of the plainest of Amish communities. You can see the double mantles of the propane light at the end of the pole more clearly here. A pair of calendars side-by-side.

A closer look at the kitchen shows the wood cabinetry, with a double sink and a large window showing a big sky. Some toy vehicles are just visible perched atop the cabinets – a tractor and a Mobil gas truck. Fun.

The far end of the living area has a secretary desk with hutch, a china cabinet, and a hickory rocker.

Only two bedrooms in this place. Here’s a photo of one of them. Simple but cheery appearance with little in the way of decor. The one thing that does stand out to me is what’s on the dresser. It at least resembles the oil lanterns used by some plain Amish on their buggies. But this is a group, from what I can tell, that uses electric lighting on their buggies (we’ll see one of them in an upcoming photo).

And in another sign of modernity, this home does have a traditional bathroom.

Another room is set up as what looks like a craft and sewing room — long work table, yarn, and other supplies. A dented pressure lamp hangs from the ceiling in the foreground. This may be the second bedroom’s current use.

Back Outside

The barn and lean-to from the outside — metal roof and siding, firewood stacked in the lean-to, rolling green hillside behind.

The lean-to with firewood stacked inside, building supplies, and tools. Two fuel drums.

A look into the barn and we meet the family goats.

A small white metal shed sits further out on the property, with a covered wood-post porch along the front.

Within the property lines near the road sits a second large metal outbuilding. Inside, we see an Amish buggy parked alongside a wood stove with a large chimney, tools, and equipment. Also note the stack of wheels at the back left, and the metal frames. Looks like they make some buggies and/or other wheeled implements here.

Another angle inside the same outbuilding shows a workspace with one such project in progress.

Beehives, Chickens, and a Creek

The yard has several beehive boxes on a hillside. In keeping with the theme here of a little of everything.

Likewise, the chickens and their shelter.

This wider yard shot shows the beehives at the far left, the chicken house, and two other of the structures.

A creek runs through the lower portion of the property. Nice to have.

All in all, a very functional property with a lot going on – and a lot going for it in my view. Of course you’d need to upgrade to the “electric version” if you are a non-Amish buyer (assuming you don’t want to go the off-grid or alternative routes).

But there’s a lot of space that could be put to use in different ways – both in the buildings, and in the 20+ picturesque acres. So, what’s the price on this one?

It’s just recently gone up at a price of $274,900, and is represented by Carson West of WestCo Realty, LLC. Nice place!

And for a look at another home in a similar style, check out this Lancaster County “Modern Cozy” Amish Home (22 Photos).