{"id":11038,"date":"2022-11-07T13:01:06","date_gmt":"2022-11-07T13:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/?p=11038"},"modified":"2026-04-02T19:31:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T19:31:50","slug":"build-a-southern-farmhouse-with-free-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2022\/11\/build-a-southern-farmhouse-with-free-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Build a Southern Farmhouse with Free Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Jay Osborne\u2019s Southern Farmhouse \u2014 a design for anyone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Download free open-source house plans, architectural drawings and design files to build your own home. The open-source plan is intended to be easy to build, even without a lot of previous construction experience.<\/p>\n

In 2015, Jay Osborne created a set of house plans for a traditional small farmhouse. His new set of plans is for a larger traditional southern home.<\/p>\n

Do you remember the house in the movie Forrest Gump? Jay was inspired by this house and others like it to design a traditional 2-story home with wide porches and wonderful airflow. The plan looks like a traditional southern home, with practical design elements using current materials.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Southern Farmhouse Downstairs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1st Floor<\/strong>
\nIndoor 1190 square feet
\nPorch 960 square feet
\nOrganized around daylighting and cross breezes, windows and doors are strategically placed, making the design well-lit and airy, with many framed views.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"
Southern Farmhouse Upstairs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2nd Floor<\/strong>
\nIndoor 1140 square feet
\nPorch 410 square feet
\nPrivacy and versatility. Unlike open plans, this design lets you separate functions with degrees of privacy. It can be easily adapted using many pocket doors.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"
Choose which side of the Southern Farmhouse will be the front.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The central hall runs the whole house, so there are two options for the house front.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Choose which side of the Southern Farmhouse will be the front.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Have the porch on the front or back.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Southern Farmhouse book explains how one wing can have a garage, and the other can have a bedroom suite.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The house is easy to build onto. The plans include optional wings and additions, attached and detached garage options and a bedroom suite.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Southern Farmhouse with Deep Wraparound Porches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The plans give porch options. The standard plan has a deep wraparound porch and a porch upstairs.<\/p>\n

You can build it with just the wraparound porch downstairs.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Southern Farmhouse with Porches on the first and second floor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Or have upstairs and downstairs porches on just one side.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Southern Farmhouse with Porch on the first floor only<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Have just a downstairs porch on one side.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Southern Farmhouse with Covered Landing to front door<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Or have just a covered landing by the front door.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Southern Farmhouse Plan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is the basic plan, with three bedrooms upstairs.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jay Osborne\u2019s Southern Farmhouse Plans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This smaller variation has an additional bedroom downstairs. This smaller version will cost less to build.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Southern Farmhouse detailed plans include metric and imperial dimensions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Get the Files<\/h2>\n

The open-source house plans are free. You can download the PDF plans on www.freefarmhouse.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can download the design files and use SketchUp and Layout to customize the plans.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Southern Farmhouse Book
50 pages of technical drawings and 3D renderings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Southern Farmhouse Book<\/h2>\n

There is a Kickstarter for a printed book about the Southern Farmhouse.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Southern Farmhouse Book
Architectural Drawings
Detail Plans
Kitchen Design<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The book has 50 pages of technical drawings and 3D renderings.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Southern Farmhouse
West Perspective<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even if you never intend to build, the book is interesting to read.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Southern Farmhouse
Detail Plans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It gives detailed information to help you understand architectural drawings.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Southern Farmhouse
Kitchen Plans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I have the first book, the American Farmhouse.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Detailed explanations of every element of the design<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I learned a lot studying the drawings and reading the notes.<\/p>\n

Footnotes describing the intentions behind the details, and how you can make alterations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"
Jay Osborne\u2019s Southern Farmhouse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jay Osborne is an architectural designer. He designs open-source house plans that anybody can use to build their own home.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jay Osborne\u2019s Southern Farmhouse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Build a Farmhouse From Free House Plans<\/a>
\nUpdated Virginia Farmhouse House Plans<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Download free open-source house plans, architectural drawings and design files to build your own home. The open-source plan is intended to be easy to build, even without a lot of previous construction experience. In 2015, Jay Osborne created a set of house plans for a …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-house-plans"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/featured-southern_farmhouse.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9842,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/updated-virginia-farmhouse-house-plans\/","url_meta":{"origin":11038,"position":0},"title":"Updated Virginia Farmhouse House Plans","author":"Carla","date":"September 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"A few years ago I shared plans for a small farmhouse that Jay Osborne made available free. Yesterday he contacted me through Pinterest to tell me what is new with the plans and to tell me about his Kickstarter for a book about the floor plans and illustrations. Jay Osborne\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/featured\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Virginia Farmhouse Plans 16' x 32\" Two Story House Plans","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/featured-virginia_farmhouse.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/featured-virginia_farmhouse.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/featured-virginia_farmhouse.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/featured-virginia_farmhouse.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11646,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/free-2-story-house-plans-for-16x32-backyard-farmhouse\/","url_meta":{"origin":11038,"position":1},"title":"Free 2-Story House Plans for 16×32 Backyard Farmhouse","author":"Carla","date":"April 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the largest of the free open source Backyard Farmhouse plans Jay Osborne, www.freefarmhouse.com, designed. It is still small, 857 square feet. It is 16 feet deep, like the other variations. Compare the plans to see how much difference the additional width can make. The roof line is low.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ADUs"","block_context":{"text":"ADUs","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/adus\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Backyard Farmhouse 16x32 with 857 square feet","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/featured-backyard_farmhouse-largest.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/featured-backyard_farmhouse-largest.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/featured-backyard_farmhouse-largest.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/featured-backyard_farmhouse-largest.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15793,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/kickstarter-to-support-free-starter-farmhouse-plans\/","url_meta":{"origin":11038,"position":2},"title":"Kickstarter to Support Free Starter Farmhouse Plans","author":"Carla","date":"April 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve been sharing Jay Osborne\u2019s Free Farmhouse plans since 2017 when I found his Two Story 16\u2032 x 32\u2032 Virginia Farmhouse House Plans. There are four more Starter Farmhouse plans.\u00a0 They are designed to be easy to modify. Each can be as small as 750 square feet or can be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "House Plans"","block_context":{"text":"House Plans","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/house-plans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Printed Booklets for 4 New Starter Farmhouse Plans Jay Osborne\u2019s Free Farmhouse","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/featured-free_farmhouses.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/featured-free_farmhouses.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/featured-free_farmhouses.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/featured-free_farmhouses.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11620,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/the-backyard-farmhouse-free-open-source-adu-plans-in-three-sizes\/","url_meta":{"origin":11038,"position":3},"title":"The Backyard Farmhouse \u2013 Free Open Source ADU Plans in Three Sizes","author":"Carla","date":"April 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Jay Osborne, www.freefarmhouse.com, has designed an ADU Small Farmhouse with three sizes and dozens of variations. The three sizes start at 16x24 with 646 square feet, a little larger 16x28 with 749 square feet, and the largest 16x32 with 857 square feet, all with potential for rear or side additions.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ADUs"","block_context":{"text":"ADUs","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/adus\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Backyard Farmhouse \u2013 Free Open Source ADU Plans in Three Sizes","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/featured-backyard_farmhouses.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/featured-backyard_farmhouses.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/featured-backyard_farmhouses.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/featured-backyard_farmhouses.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11145,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2022\/12\/free-plans-for-farmhouse-addition-and-garage\/","url_meta":{"origin":11038,"position":4},"title":"Free Plans for Farmhouse Addition and Garage","author":"Carla","date":"December 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2017, I found a complete set of house plans for a farmhouse being given away free. The author,\u00a0Jay Osborne, based the design on an abandoned farmhouse he found in a Virginia forest. He created it as an open-source art project house design. Originally called the Virginia Farmhouse, he changed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "House Plans"","block_context":{"text":"House Plans","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/house-plans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Farmhouse Extended Plans","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/featured-Extended_American_Farmhouse-b.jpg?fit=413%2C220&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11629,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/free-16x24-open-source-backyard-farmhouse-adu-plans\/","url_meta":{"origin":11038,"position":5},"title":"Free 16\u00d724 Open Source Backyard Farmhouse ADU Plans","author":"Carla","date":"April 15, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Free Open Source Backyard Farmhouse ADU Plans designed by Jay Osborne, www.freefarmhouse.com, are available in three sizes and dozens of variations. The smallest is 16\u00d724 with 646 square feet. It is designed to work within most local zoning restrictions for ADUs or Accessory Dwelling Units. Working with Zoning Rules Many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ADUs"","block_context":{"text":"ADUs","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/adus\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Backyard Farmhouse 16x24 with 646 square feet","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/featured-backyard_farmhouse-smallest.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/featured-backyard_farmhouse-smallest.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/featured-backyard_farmhouse-smallest.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/featured-backyard_farmhouse-smallest.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11038"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16831,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11038\/revisions\/16831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}