Acres of Autumn

Let an Indiana couple inspire you as they turn a fixer-upper into a feelgood family home by tweaking structures, enlivening spaces with paint, and reinterpreting the past with heirlooms and secondhand bargains.

Written by CHERYL HACKETT

Dana and Amy put down fresh roots in northeastern Indiana so their daughter, Sophia, now 9 years old, could grow up in the country and appreciate life’s simple pleasures. They have planted an apple orchard and cut trails through the woods. “This property grabbed our hearts,” Amy relates.

Amy Haenner was anxiously awaiting an answer that would change her life. She and her husband, Dana, had made an offer on a 19th-century home in northeastern Indiana. Amy could picture her family as stewards of the red farmhouse on the hill, working together to update the home and make it their own. She envisioned their infant daughter, Sophia, growing up in the country idyll of the 27-acre property.

However, the Haenners’ hopes were dashed when the seller rejected their offer. Amy, who worked as a mortgage broker, knew they’d resume their search, but whatever they settled on would probably rank second in their minds to the hillside haven. Weeks passed. The couple found another house, but just minutes before they were to sign a purchase agreement, they received wonderful news. Their original offer on the red farmhouse was accepted, and it would become their forever home.

Like many old residences, the farmhouse’s living spaces lacked cohesiveness. The kitchen and Sophia’s bedroom were built in 1890. The living room, alcove and master bedroom were added in the 1940s. And the mudroom, second bathroom and laundry room were constructed in the 1970s. New flooring and fresh coats of paint succeeded in unifying the floor plan. “My dear friend picked out the colors,” Amy recalls. “She chose a barn red for the trim, and I was scared to go that bold. Other friends reassured me that if I didn’t like the color, I could always paint over it. I am so glad they put it that way. It convinced me to do it, and I have never regretted that choice.”

Amy has always enjoyed decorating and experimenting with Shabby Chic and modern decor, but the farmhouse changed her aesthetic. “Something happened when I went to a garage sale and bought a prim garland for a quarter. I started looking around and ended up with a van full of prims,” she says. “I also was given some family heirlooms, one being a trunk that belonged to my four-times-great-grandfather. His name is engraved on the front. It carried his possessions when the family migrated from Bavaria. It’s my most cherished item. The other is the jelly cupboard my great-grandfather built for my grandma. Once these pieces and the garage-sale loot made it inside, I was smitten and the house sighed in contentment, so to speak, I knew this style was perfect for the house and our family,” Amy remarks.

On a crisp fall day, you’ll find Amy making good on her plans to usher in a new era as caretaker for that house on the hill. She is again imagining the future, but this time, drafting a list of fun projects that she, Dana and Sophia will tackle on their beloved farm, now aptly named Faith’s Acres.

Amy knows how to work with quirky, odd-shaped spaces. In the living room, she angles the sofa to make room for her grandmother’s ironing board, which serves as a sofa table. For fall, she graces it with baskets, artificial trees, textiles, pumpkins and gourds. “When I touch my grandma’s ironing board, I can imagine her pressing her Sunday clothes,” Amy reminisces.

SWEET & SIMPLE Offset the folds when displaying coverlets to show the colors of both sides. After removing tobacco-stained carpet, installing rustic flooring, and painting walls, ceiling and trim, Amy appointed the living room with gingham upholstered furniture and color-coordinated textiles. Some accent pieces carry deep sentimental value. The chest was gifted from Dana’s stepfather, and the slatted egg crate that acts as an end table belonged to Amy’s great-grandfather. Amy spied the bowl rack while visiting Michigan, passed on the purchase, tossed and turned through the night, and drove back the next day to buy it.

When Amy’s four-times-great-grandfather emigrated from Bavaria to Ohio, he brought his belongings with him in the painted trunk that now presides in the living room. The graduated stack of firkins represents only a portion of Amy’s sizable collection—she once purchased 29 at a single garage sale!