{"id":9909,"date":"2021-09-26T13:39:53","date_gmt":"2021-09-26T13:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/?p=9909"},"modified":"2021-09-27T12:35:33","modified_gmt":"2021-09-27T12:35:33","slug":"farmhouse-build-from-free-house-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/farmhouse-build-from-free-house-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Build a Farmhouse From Free House Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jay Osborne discovered an abandoned 1900s era farmhouse in Virginia. He turned it into complete, usable plans for you to build your own farmhouse with.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Abandoned 1900s era Farmhouse in Virginia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The house Jay found was falling down. He even scared off a buzzard living inside. (They do that. It was on Nature News a few months ago.)<\/p>\n

\"\"
Abandoned 1900s era Farmhouse in Virginia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The house was empty, so Jay looked inside.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Initial Sketch and Measurements<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was such an iconic form, he explored the little house and took measurements and notes.<\/p>\n

\"1st
1st Floor Plans: Virginia Farmhouse Plans 16′ x 32″ Two Story House Plans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He decided to make a set of modern, accurate house plans based on this simple house.<\/p>\n

\"2nd
2nd Floor Plans: Virginia Farmhouse Plans 16′ x 32″ Two Story House Plans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The plans would be easy for even an inexperienced person to build for himself. Even if someone never intends to build, it is interesting to understand architectural drawings.<\/p>\n

What needs to be drawn in order for a simple house to be built? Without an exemplary set of drawings, it is hard to understand the scope of what architects should do. How would a student know how to elaborate on their designs? And how would a client understand if their architect is doing work of sufficient detail and competence?<\/p>\n

Introducing the Farmhouse – February 14, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jay decided to use this farmhouse as a functional example of basic house plans. He created a set of architectural drawings that could be printed on standard 11×17 (legal size) paper using any home printer. He put all of his work online free.<\/p>\n

I found his plans looking for something completely different on Wikimedia Commons and shared it here; Two Story 16\u2032 x 32\u2032 Virginia Farmhouse House Plans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More recently, Jay contacted me through Pinterest to tell me about his Kickstarter. He has added to the plans and is having them published in book form; Updated Virginia Farmhouse House Plans<\/a><\/p>\n

American Farmhouse: Your Architectural Plans<\/strong><\/p>\n

A book with blueprints for a simple house. Learn how to build your dreams with these detailed house plans and illustrations.<\/p>\n

www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/jayosborne\/american-farmhouse-your-architectural-plans\/community<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"
Newly Built Farmhouse in Virginia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Someone used his free house plans to build this house in Powhatan County, just west of Richmond.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Abandoned 1900s era Farmhouse in Virginia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It looks like the abandoned Virginia farmhouse has come to life again. Above is the old house, below is the newly built house.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Newly Built Farmhouse in Virginia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Would you like to live in this house?<\/p>\n

\"\"
Newly Built Farmhouse in Virginia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jay Osborne discovered an abandoned 1900s era farmhouse in Virginia. He turned it into complete, usable plans for you to build your own farmhouse with. The house Jay found was falling down. He even scared off a buzzard living inside. (They do that. It was …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9902,"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":[30,21,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-house-plans","category-inspiration","category-small-house-history"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/featured-virginia_farmhouse-b.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":9909,"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":526,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/two-story-16-x-32-virginia-farmhouse-house-plans\/","url_meta":{"origin":9909,"position":1},"title":"Two Story 16′ x 32′ Virginia Farmhouse House Plans","author":"Carla","date":"March 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"These very complete plans for a small farm house are distributed under the Creative Commons License. The plans include everything; Site Plan, Foundation Plan, Roof Plan, Interior and Exterior Details, Doors and Windows, Electrical and all the schedules. The author,\u00a0Jay Osborne, based the design on an abandoned farmhouse he found\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "House Plans"","block_context":{"text":"House Plans","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/house-plans\/"},"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\/2017\/03\/featured_image-virginia_farmhouse.jpg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/featured_image-virginia_farmhouse.jpg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/featured_image-virginia_farmhouse.jpg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/featured_image-virginia_farmhouse.jpg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/featured_image-virginia_farmhouse.jpg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15793,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/kickstarter-to-support-free-starter-farmhouse-plans\/","url_meta":{"origin":9909,"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":11038,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2022\/11\/build-a-southern-farmhouse-with-free-plans\/","url_meta":{"origin":9909,"position":3},"title":"Build a Southern Farmhouse with Free Plans","author":"Carla","date":"November 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"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 traditional small farmhouse. His new\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "House Plans"","block_context":{"text":"House Plans","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/house-plans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/featured-southern_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\/2022\/11\/featured-southern_farmhouse.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/featured-southern_farmhouse.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/featured-southern_farmhouse.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":9909,"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":11646,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/free-2-story-house-plans-for-16x32-backyard-farmhouse\/","url_meta":{"origin":9909,"position":5},"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":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9909","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=9909"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9917,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9909\/revisions\/9917"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}