On a recent road trip from Iowa to Wisconsin, I marveled at the acres

upon acres of rolling farmland and prairies that encapsulate America’s heartland. As an immigrant, I have always been fascinated by the vastness of the American Midwest. I can only imagine the courage and fortitude of those early pioneers who made the great trek west with the goal of planting roots deep enough to last generations. These are my husband’s ancestors, and I am grateful they decided to call this area home.

Although today’s farmhouses—both on my road-trip route and across the country—differ considerably from those early cabins and homesteads, the influence of the past still holds strong. Handcrafted details, natural materials, and vintage accessories mingle with more contemporary elements, such as black metal-frame windows, clean-lined furnishings, and industrial-style lighting. The thoughtful combination of old and new elements is what sets these modern farmhouses apart from their neighbors.

But architecture and decor are only part of the modern farmhouse equation. Equally important is the feeling each of these homes, and the beautifully designed spaces within them, evokes. One of our featured homeowners, Lorey Wetmiller, said it best, when asked why she and her husband, Brian, named their new Senoia, Georgia, home Foxhole Farmhouse (“Small-town Sanctuary,” page 80). “The name came from a book I was reading when we were building the house,” she said. “It’s the idea that we live in a crazy world, but we want our house to be a haven and place of safety—a foxhole—for people during the storms of life.” What a marvelous goal.