Inside A West Virginia Amish Home (20 Photos)
West Virginia has become one of the “rapid growth” Amish states. It’s gone from three to 14 communities in just eight years.
So it’s no surprise to see an Amish home from the state up for sale online (I believe this is the first I’ve come across from the Mountain State).
As you can see it is an interesting style – low-profiled, and very long with a broad porch area. Lot of covered space for hanging clothing to dry.
This is in Hampshire County – home to three separate, though quite small, Amish settlements. From the description:
Enjoy the beauty of WV and live off of your own land! This Property was Amish Built in 2021. Features approximately 1.5 Miles of new Woven wire fence, Detached 28X52 Garage, 50X120 Barn, and the Home has a 10 ft X 85 Porch.
If you are looking to live and run your own farm in the country, This is one for you to check out! Approximately 40 Acres of open land and 11 Acres of woods with mature timber.
The aerial view shows the building layout and some of the property’s 50+ acres. This looks like a cozy corner they’ve got here:
Let’s have a look inside the home. Starting with the kitchen.
Propane lights and stove, along with the general look of the counter and kitchen, suggest this is not the most traditional of Amish homes.
Kitchen table and views into the adjoining sitting room and hall:
Looking in a bit closer at the corner curio cabinet and standing hanger:
Here’s the side room you see above; interestingly it has a countertop space and resembles an additional kitchen area.
Reverse view of the kitchen:
This is a large and spacious living area typical of Amish homes. Less typical would be the sheet covers for the upholstered furniture. Though I notice some Amish families do this. I’m not exactly sure why. It might be to protect the upholstery from dirty clothes of family members in for a rest from work.
One of the home’s bedrooms. It’s listed as having five of them.
Bathroom. It’s listed as having just the one.
Utility room. Leave your muddy boots here. The wash also gets done here.
Dipping into the basement, we see there’s quite a bit of space down here. Potatoes, and what look like yams, freshly pulled from the garden lie on the floor. Notice the couch-beds for snoozing in the cooler air down here.
This family has been doing their canning.
A view of the sizeable garden area, from which at least some of the above jars’ contents originated.
This community looks like it is Lancaster County-related. There are two clues in this barn photo. Do you see them?
One would be the buggy, with the boxy, curved-top style common to Lancaster County. We can’t tell the color too well, though it appears Lancaster gray. The other clue is the scooter wheel visible at left.
The general appearance of the home, including the flooring, furniture, and pull-down green shades, would also fit with Lancaster County styles.
One more view from above – taking in more of the spacious property and the surrounding hills. So what is the price?
This home is currently on the market for $700,000, listed by Andrew Yoder of Kaufman Realty and Auctions.
Perhaps the listing agent means that it will be auctioned at some point, if not sold on the open market. In any case, a beautiful place in the eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.
Our Neighbor
Eric,
This property is one of our neighbors! They moved here from Mill Hall, PA, east of State College, PA. But you’re right, they were originally from the Lancaster area. The last aerial photo really shows the woods and fields nature of our area here near Three Churches, WV. The neighboring farm to this property, in the upper left of the last photo, is a dairy operated by a Mennonite family. I just wanted to mention that the original sales price started out at $850k I believe. I just spoke to the owner today, Stephen, and today the price was reduced to $675k. Some bare land parcels in our area are now going for $10k per acre. The house, carriage house, and large barn were all newly built around 2021. It was quite an experience for me to participate in projects, or their term “frolics”, like the barn build. This family had a good sized sheep flock on rotational grazing. It was beautiful to see them in the fields, esp. in the Spring. Anyway, quite a surprise to open todays Amish America article and see this property! Sincerely, Steven Martin
How cool is that Steven! Thanks for checking in and giving more details. It’s really a beautiful area and Stephen has a really nice place. Do you have any idea if the community is growing or shrinking or staying about the same?
Erik, I’d say about the same. A few families have left, a few more may be planning to leave. More will very likely be coming though. Local property prices have fallen somewhat which will likely lead to a lot of interest in the Spring. WV properties are probably still 30-40% less expensive than in PA. One familiy has purchased a school building which had been closed by the County which is planned to be an Amish market building. Hopes are that it will be a sort of community commerce hub. Stephen had a farm stand at the end of his lane stocked with farm products, ex eggs, butter, jarred products, etc which was very convenient and popular. You’ll have to visit Hampshire County, WV one day! Sincerely, Steven Martin
That sounds great Steven. Love the idea of the Amish market in an old school building. It seems like a Lancaster ties community that could be primed to grow like Farmville, VA.
At some point I’ll need to do a proper WV tour, especially with so many communities having popped up. I’ve only visited Summers County. I see Hampshire Co. has three separate settlements which I assume are unrelated.