Inside A “Modern Country” Amish Home (14 Photos)
I’m calling this “modern country” because it is a more progressive Amish home – with a lot of the notes and decor you’ll see in non-Amish rural homes. This is the type of home that some people will take a glance at and say “that’s not Amish” – but in fact it is. In other words, quite different from the last Amish home we looked at here.
The community is one of my favorite-named of all places where you’ll find Amish: Crab Orchard, Kentucky (funny enough, there are Crab Orchards in several other states, including Tennessee and Illinois). Amish people have lived here since first settling the area three decades ago, in 1994.
Since then the community has grown to five churches in size and over 500 Amish residents. Even in a community of that size, though, it can make sense to put your home up for sale online and open the market up to English buyers.
I think that makes even more sense when your home is of the less-plain Amish variety, like you’ll see is the case with this one. The description:
**Rural Retreat on 25 Acres more or less – Ideal for Farming, Recreation, and Country Living** Amish built home** Escape to the tranquility of this picturesque 25-acre +/- property, where rolling hills and open pastures create an idyllic setting for a variety of pursuits. Whether you envision a serene country retreat, a working farm for horses and cattle, or a recreational paradise, this versatile property offers the perfect canvas for your dreams.
**Property Features:*** **Berm House**: Embraced by the earth, the charming berm house offers a unique blend of energy efficiency and rustic appeal. With 2 bedrooms, a bath, and room for expansion in the framed attic, the residence provides a comfortable and customizable living space.
**Workshop**: An excellent-sized workshop provides the ideal space for tinkering, crafting, or pursuing hobbies, offering ample room for creative endeavors or practical projects.*
**Land**: The expansive 25-acre property provides ample space for farming, pasturing horses and cattle, or creating recreational amenities. With fertile soil and open fields, the land offers endless possibilities for cultivation, grazing, and outdoors.
This room for example, doesn’t look immediately Amish. To take maybe the most obvious thing, look at the recessed ceiling lights. That’s getting pretty modern. They are probably powered by a battery system charged by the solar panel we saw on the roof (see an example of what that looks like in this Lancaster County Amish home).
Though, the rolling light stand on left, with the battery light, is a nod to the more classic propane tank light like this one. Also we see the common Amish custom of sticking greeting cards up in various places.
There was a time when I’d say that the rural chic-style wall and other decor was not common among the Amish. Nowadays, it is much more so, in certain communities. Look at all the decor items in this corner of the home.
Little rocker for a little person to sit in and maybe keep mom or dad company as they do the bills or other paperwork.
Again, looks more English country-style than Amish. But, this living area caught my eye for one reason in particular, not related to decor. Something on the bookshelf.
These are the Bible story sets I used to sell in Amish communities (which I did over several years, starting in 2004). It’s called Family Bible Library. These green-cover books are the updated versions. I sold those, as well as the original brown-and-tan covered ones (that is, until I sold out the company’s last remaining sets from that “classic” edition). I didn’t sell this particular set to this family though 🙂
Now the kitchen, which maintains the modernish style of the home. The one thing that stands out here to me, and which suggests “Amish”, are the appliances. They have more of the look of a refrigerator and stove from 20-30 years ago. That is typical of the propane-powered appliances used in Amish homes.
Here’s the bathroom, with a battery LED light on the wall.
In one of the bedrooms, a very nice chest set at the foot of the bed here.
You can see a hook for hanging a light here, and a member of the family in the other room. Now, I can “get” why people look at a home like this and think “that’s not Amish.” Though, the ones that get upset or angry about it, I still don’t quite understand – unless it’s just about not handling well their preconceptions being challenged… 🙂 .
Let’s have a look in the garage and see the buggy for another confirmation that this is an Amish home. On that note, I would say that 5-10% of my job online is to dispel people’s ideas of what an Amish home, or “Amish behavior” is. Now here we see some more classic Amish notes, besides the buggy there is the wringer washer and clothespin hanger.
People that comment on this site are generally much more up to speed on the many different ways of being Amish – on the ideas that some Amish use more tech than others, or even allow photos, and so on.
But on social networks like Facebook and YouTube, you come across many more expressions of disbelief – sometimes with people very confidently saying that a person or home is “not Amish” 🙂 . That’s one reason I do posts like this one, or try to showcase the different types of Amish homes, from the very plain no-bathroom abodes – to the much more English-like residences like this one. So, all that said, let’s finish up our look at this home and get to the price.
Having a look outside, we see another curious structure. I am guessing this is the workshop mentioned above. It has that Wild West saloon look to it. Fun.
So this property is not huge – 1, 850 square feet, but it is on a pretty nice chunk of land – about 25 acres. What’s the price for this home?
It’s currently up for sale with a price tag of $365,000 (represented by Ken Snyder of Ken Snyder Realty). What do you think?
And still, no rugs or carpet
I agree that this is from a more liberal community, but it still does not use floor coverings such as rugs or carpeting, even in bedrooms. This is curious to me. Very nice hardwood (or “engineered wood”), though.
Recessed lighting?
Erik, those could be light tubes. My father, who lived in Florida, had one interior room that was quite dark, as well as one bathroom. He installed light tubes which brought in light, but not heat, during the day. They looked a LOT like these “lights.” I would have to see a photo from the rear of the house to see if the exterior fixtures for the tubes are visible. The weirdest thing at my father’s place was when there was a lot of moonlight, as the tubes brought that in, too. Gee, how do you turn these lights off? Which is another thing that leads me to believe they may be light tubes. Where’s the switch?
I considered that, and you do see them in some Amish places, in particular stores, though usually significantly larger. But I don’t think so. I could be off, but I explained what led me to that conclusion in the reply to Ray on this thread. (Unless I am not seeing the tubes? but the attic photos seem to show a lot if not all the area, and these lights seem to be more or less right in the center of the home). And as far as switches it’s not unheard of for more progressive Amish to build places for outlets and wire the home in case of a future sale to non-Amish.
In any case if you have a minute maybe have a look at the attic photos at the Zillow link and let me know what you think -maybe I’m not seeing tubes but there’s nothing visible to my eye 🙂
Erik, are you sure those recessed “lights” are not skylights in the roof?
I don't think so
I considered that, and you do see them in some Amish places, but I don’t think so, for a couple reasons. One is the apparent intensity of the light. Another is that there are no visible outlets at least on the side of the roof we see. And maybe most of all, there are no visible tubes that I can in the four separate photos showing the attic space. Maybe I’m off, but based on all that, I went with the more “modern” interpretation here 🙂
Amish home
Hello. I just love the two matching chests, so beautiful. Maybe a wedding gift made by the husband for his wife? I also noticed in the same room there are two necklaces on the doily that’s hanging over the mirror. And then there’s the mirror itself. I had learned a long time ago that most Amish couldn’t have mirrors and the one that did had to cover them up when not in use. So now I’m curious about jewelry wearing and mirror use among the different Amish groups.
Crab Orchard
I don’t see what’s funny about the name. Crabapples were very commonly eaten once upon a time and you can occasionally find jars of spiced crabapples in the store. If you keep an eye out you can see old orchards.
I understand about the “that’s not Amish” problem. People have preconceived notions that will not budge. These same people will have notions about other things too I guess.
"Modern Country" Amish home
Hi All . . .
I also love the two wooden chests. Such elaborately carved details. Gorgeous!!
I’m curious about the white, pink & burgundy colored quilt on the bed. I’ve never
seen that pattern before. Does anyone know what it’s called ? Wish I could think
of how to track down the answer. Thanks for the post Erik. Have a great day every-
body.
"Not 'my Amish'" lol
This does, indeed, have tell-tale Amish things in it. The Troyer Amish community in which my friends live, would not contain many of those things, i.e., “We don’t use that….” They have navy blue tab curtains, held back by a nail in the woodwork during the daytime; all blue woodwork and doors; only kerosene lamps, along with the headlight and little penlight always in the pocket for evenings. They have steel wheels on their buggies and kerosene lamps in the light boxes on each side of the buggy. They will add the slow-moving vehicle triangle. Their kitchen cupboards are free-standing and/or hung on the wall with removable hardware; only cold running water in the house; use of dry sink for washing dishes; toilet in the attached woodshed…only in a few communities are they even allowed to have a septic tank into which the gray water is directed through a stainless steel box under the wood toillet seats. There are definitely all kinds of differences among and between the Amish communities. Some of the commonalities include an emphasis on trusting God in all situations; being very astute business people; valuing hard work; working together to solve problems and to accomplish big tasks; taking care of and honoring old people; being skilled in more than one craft/business so as times change, so can they. They’re very adaptable. Thank you for your posts.