Free Plans for Farmhouse Addition and Garage

In 2017, I found a complete set of house plans for a farmhouse being given away free.

The author, Jay 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 the name to the American Farmhouse. You can download free open-source house plans, complete plans, architectural drawings and design files with some additional ideas already included.

The American Farmhouse Book included some ideas for customizations and additions.

The Free Farmhouse FAQ page gave some ideas on how the original plans could be made larger.

Traditional design is all about proportions. Instead of inflating the house to squeeze in another room or two, build more rooms to the back. Rear additions are easy and encouraged.

Free Farmhouse Frequently Asked Questions

American Farmhouse Extended Design

Now  Jay Osborne has added a complete set of plans for the original farmhouse with a large addition and an attached garage.

The original Free Farmhouse Plans build a small 975 square foot two-story traditional farmhouse. The Extended Design is 1945 square feet. You can find all of the files on his site, www.freefarmhouse.com. The original farmhouse is 32′ x 16′.

The black is the original farmhouse. The red is the addition.

The extended plan leaves the front alone. The original living room, hallway and kitchen open into a large family room. The kitchen sink moves into the addition and a bay window gives more room in the dining area.

Upstairs the hallway open into a master bedroom suite with a large walk-in closet, private bath and large rocking chair porch.

The downstairs of the addition includes a family room or dining room, another bathroom and another bedroom or office.

Having a downstairs bedroom with bathroom is a real plus.

The upstairs bedroom has a fireplace. The bathroom has a shower and a soaking tub.

The original Free Farmhouse Plans build a small 975 square foot two-story traditional farmhouse. The Extended Design gives ideas for how you can build a bigger farmhouse or build onto the small farmhouse. The extended design is 1945 square feet.

You can build the design in stages. You can get a CO, turn on the power and live in the house while you complete the addition.

The American Farmhouse is roughly 975 square feet in size. It has two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small powder room with a toilet. The living room can be a temporary guest bedroom. It works well for 1-3 residents. But since it can grow over time, these numbers aren’t very important.

The Extended American Farmhouse has 1945 square feet and a garage. It includes a master bedroom suite with a private balcony on the upper floor, and below it has an office / guest bedroom suite (that could be converted to a first floor master bedroom.) On the lower level, it also includes a larger kitchen, a family room (that could be a formal dining room), and a wrap-around porch. Altogether, the extended design is about twice the size as the original American Farmhouse.

Free Farmhouse Frequently Asked Questions

Garage

The garage is another 576 square feet. Although it is attached, it does not open directly into the house, so you don’t have to worry about carbon monoxide in either of the two bedrooms on the other side of that wall.

The free plans include the foundation and a sloped reinforced concrete floor. The ceiling is 9-feet high. It calls for two ceiling lights and plenty of outlets. There is an outside lantern between the two garage doors. There are two pedestrian doors, one to the porch, the other to the yard.

American Farmhouse Extended Plans

Both open-source architectural drawing sets are available at FreeFarmhouse.com.

The plans include:

• Survey and Site Plan
• Foundation and Roof Plans
• Ceiling and Electrical Plans
• Elevations
• Detail Floor Plans
• Interior Elevations
• Details and Schedules

Survey and Site Plan

The plans include a site survey and landscape plan for a 1 acre lot. This is really helpful, especially the grading for the driveway, parking and around the garage doors.

Ceiling and Electrical Plans

The electrical plans are a great starting place. You might want to make a few changes. I am so glad that I did. I added more outlets. I knew where I eventually wanted to added cabinets and worktops to the laundry room and had outlets put at counter height.  I put two-way switches on the security lights and the floodlights outside. One switch is in the laundry room, by the door from the garage. The other is in the master bedroom. So when it is windy and the security lights keep flashing on and off, I can turn them off.  But I can still turn on the flood lights immediately.

The plans have a lot of ceiling fans.

Elevations

The elevations on the plans give you the best idea of what the house will look like. The front looks pretty much like the original farmhouse.

You can see how much is added on the side elevations.

That door would be the ideal entrance if you have a home business.

It opens into a small hallway with the office in front of you and a bathroom. Don’t underestimate how good it is to bring clients directly into the office without going through the house. And if they need the bathroom, it’s good to have one they don’t wander the house to get to.

This really does look like a good new front to the house.

SketchUp Model

You can also download SketchUp files from FreeFarmhouse.com.

SketchUp is 3D modeling Computer-Aided Design (CAD) programs for drawing and architectural, interior design and more. The Free version for personal use is web based. You can also download a SketchUp Free 30 Day Trial of the more robust SketchUp Go, Pro or Studio.

Using SketchUp, you can make design changes, test furniture arrangements, and simulate any level of construction detail.

All of the open-source CAD files are available to be downloaded.

Learn how to build.

An organized model contains layers that help you understand construction assemblies. It’s unique and perfect for anybody who wants to know how to build a house.

Free Farmhouse Designs

 

Jay created an elaborate digital model with and without the addition.

Learn how to build.

An organized model contains layers that help you understand construction assemblies. It’s unique and perfect for anybody who wants to know how to build a house.

You can make changes and see how they work. You can add furniture, too.

The 3-D rendering gives you a better idea of how well the flow works.

This is the second floor. I love the covered porch off the new master bedroom. I also like how the other side has no roof, so there is more sunlight coming in those windows.

This shows how the garage fits with the rest of the enlarged house.

Renderings

These drawings are created using SketchUp.

Extended Design SketchUp File

This digital model was used to create the renderings.

Organized into 100 layers based on construction processes, you can learn how to assemble a house with this model. The .skp file is compressed into a .zip file.

You can tilt the rendering to see the house from every angle.

This is really helpful if you make changes. You can see it from every angle inside and out to get an idea how it will work out.

Did you notice the covered porch on the back?