This Extra-Long Amish Home Has Solar Power, 2 Kitchens & A 3-Door Garage (24 Photos)

The first thing you’ll notice about this Amish home is that it just keeps going.

It’s one of the longest homes we’ve featured in this series. A low, stretched-out ranch style that’s half-home, and half-three-door garage. More on that garage in a minute – it’s doing more than just buggy storage.

This one is in Madison County, Iowa, just outside Winterset. It’s a small Amish settlement, only a single church district, but maybe not as small as that makes it sound.

The Young Center numbers put it at around 165 people, which is actually on the large side for one congregation (in fact it may be due to divide into two soon – space constraints in structures on Amish properties, where church is held, are one reason for that practice).

On the way in, a nice touch greets you: a hand-lettered “Welcome” sign hung between a pair of birch logs.

Here’s how the Zillow listing describes the property:

Rare opportunity to own a beautifully improved 24+/- acre pasture and timber farm less than 9 miles from Winterset on pavement. Built in 2023, the ranch home offers 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, an additional non-conforming bedroom, 2,800 finished square feet, and an unfinished 2,800-square-foot basement ready for your finishing touches.

The attached 2,685-square-foot, 3-door insulated garage features in-floor heat, floor drains, and overhead storage, with a heated mudroom/laundry room connecting it to the home. Solar panels power the boiler system and electricity on the property.

Equestrians and hobby farmers will appreciate the 120′ x 36′ insulated steel building with office and tack room, a 32′ x 16′ insulated chicken coop, and fully fenced pasture ready for horses or livestock. Two large established gardens, quality ICF home construction, a new septic system, and excellent hunting with abundant wildlife make this an exceptional country property.

“Non-conforming” bedroom is an interesting way to describe it; looking at the property layout, there are 4 bedrooms on the main floor and two in the basement area.

The Exterior

This is technically tagged a “barndominium,” and on the one hand I can see why, with the roof and basic materials used. The design is longer and lower than others we’ve seen with that label, though.

You can also see the solar array on the lower wing’s roof, the big steel shop off to the right, and wind turbines scattered about on the horizon.

There’s a truck and trailers visible in the above shot as well; this look like the home of an entrepreneurial Amish person who does something in the building industry (more on that below). In such cases the Amish business owner either owns or leases his vehicle, and has a non-Amish employee who also drives.

Around back, you get a closer look at the solar panels, and “spider’s web”-style clotheslines behind the gardens.

And another closer view of the gardens. Are those potatoes?

More rows. Like many Amish families, they grow a lot of their own food, and, as we’ll see in the basement, can a lot of it too.

Inside: The “Big Room”

Step inside and we see the main living area is one big open great room – kitchen, dining, and sitting area all flowing together in one space. Dewalt battery lights hang from hooks in this room and in others. The reference in the description to solar powering the electricity in this home likely means providing charging for these lights’ batteries.

A closer look at the kitchen. That’s a solid-sized island, no doubt useful for prepping and cooking large batches of food. This home has a gas range, and some simple but beautiful cabinetry. This is a comfortable, functional kitchen.

The living room bit of this big room also tells you something about where this church lands on the conservative-to-progressive line. You’ve got the overstuffed leather recliners and sofa you’d see in a more progressive Amish home. But also a hickory rocker, wall clock and other classic Amish notes.

Bedrooms & Bath

The bedrooms we see in the listing are simple and cheery, with plenty of natural light. This one’s got two beds, and a set of antlers up on the wall. The listing does mention “excellent hunting with abundant wildlife.” Likely a boys’ room.

Another bedroom, with a dresser and mirror with the name “Linda”, and a bright bedspread leave little doubt that this is a girl’s room. We only have the two bedroom shots in the listing unfortunately; I’d have liked to have seen the “non-conforming” one as well.

And a very pleasant bathroom, one of the three in this home. Amish bathrooms in middle-of-the-road to more-progressive communities often don’t look all that different from non-Amish ones.

The Garage and the Second Kitchen

Now to the garage, one of the more interesting spaces in this home. It’s a big, clean, space which serves a particular set of functions, beyond storing the buggy you see at right.

Along one wall, you’ll notice it’s set up with cabinets, a refrigerator, a sink, and prep tables. This in all likelihood is where this family holds church service, when their turn comes around (likely about once a year). It also has in-floor heating, which would serve to keep this place warm during frigid Iowa winters for the typically 3-hour service and then fellowship meal.

Amish church rotates from home to home, and it’s typically held in a basement, a shop, or a space just like this one. Benches get hauled in by the church wagon and set up across the open floor.

That’s also where the second kitchen comes in handy – food prep and management during the fellowship meal.  A handy staging area to put out the bread, peanut-butter spread, pickles, pie, coffee, and so on.

It should be noted that a second kitchen out in a garage or outbuilding is a common thing in Amish homes – known as a summer kitchen or a canning kitchen. The idea is to keep the heat, the mess, and the big canning and butchering jobs out of the main house. This family just has theirs in a very covenient spot for church Sundays, which I’m sure was no accident when they were building this place.

The Basement

The spacious basement is an unfinished 2,800 square feet, “ready for your finishing touches.” At the far wall we do see some shelves lined with jars of home-canned goods and boxes of some sort.

Horse Barn & More

Inside the horse barn we see multiple stalls – looks like at least a half-dozen. One resident horse visible inside.

The tack space with bridles and other necessities.

And out under the trees, the rest of the barn’s occupants.

The chicken coop with two wire-fenced runs.

And the coop has its own solar array up on the roof. I can’t say for sure but it may well be that the right-hand door is “power room” where light and other batteries are charged.

Finally, the large 120-foot shop. Parked on the side we see a trailer marked “Spray Foam.” I can’t say for certain, but that’s a decent clue that the owner runs a spray-foam insulation business. He or other members of the family may run an additional business or businesses to supplement that, typically called “sidelines”.

So, What’s It Going For?

So this place sits on a big chunk of land as well – 24 acres of pasture and timber. That of course factors into the price tag. It’s unconventional in some ways compared to your typical non-Amish home, but could make a highly functional property with its sheer space and buildings, and from what I can tell, a peaceful and pleasant place to live. So what’s it selling for?

It’s currently on the market at $699,000, and is represented by Aaron Creger of Midwest Land Group LLC. Quite a place!

And for another Amish home that taps into what Donald Kraybill has called “God’s grid“, check out the solar-powered barndominium in Millersburg, Indiana.