How to Design a Farmhouse
Country living looks effortless.
Designing it takes real craft.
Discover how to design rural retreats that belong to their land, homes where slowness, warmth, and the surrounding landscape shape every single decision.
Rural sites will bring out your most grounded work.
- Root buildings in landscape — so they feel grown from the soil rather than placed upon it
- Design for slow living — and for the gentle daily rituals that define rural life
- Use honest materials — that age gracefully and weather beautifully over the coming decades
- Marry tradition and comfort — without slipping into pastiche, nostalgia, or empty rustic pretence
- Attract escape-seeking clients — in a fast-growing niche full of city dwellers dreaming of escape
- Frame views like paintings — and let the surrounding nature do most of the decorating
Built by one of the most-read architecture platforms in the world.
RTF | Rethinking The Future has spent over a decade publishing the ideas, projects and voices shaping architecture — and now brings that depth to learning. Every course is researched, written and produced by the RTF team.
The countryside is calling clients. Meet them there.
A clear path. Five steps.
Everything unlocks instantly with membership · learn at your own pace
If you see yourself here, start today.
A few hours from now, you could already see differently.
I romanticised farmhouse design and ignored everything that makes rural buildings work. Learning about orientation, outbuildings, climate response and the working life of agricultural sites grounded my ideas. My farmhouse project now belongs to its landscape instead of posing in it.
Simple by design.
Watch
Short, focused video lessons — each one a single idea, clearly explained.
Apply
End every lesson with a small task that pushes your real project forward.
Transform
Watch your work develop a point of view that is unmistakably yours.
Answered simply.
How does farmhouse design differ from an ordinary house?
The land leads: orientation, climate, water, outbuildings and the working or leisure life of the property shape everything. The course teaches you to read the site first.
Is this relevant for weekend homes and retreats, not just working farms?
Yes. Rural retreats follow the same logic, and the course addresses both working and leisure briefs.
Do I need any prior experience?
No. Every course starts from where you are and builds up step by step, in plain language.
Is this software training?
No — software changes yearly. The thinking you learn here lasts a career.
How does it work?
Short video lessons with a small practice task after each. Any device, your pace.
What does membership include?
One membership unlocks every course on RTF Academy — all 450+, nothing sold separately. And you stay in control: cancel anytime in one click, and you will never be charged again.
Ready to see your work change?
Your next project could be the one that feels truly yours.
- 5 Sections
- 25 Lessons
- 4 Hours
- 1. Understanding the Type5
- 2. Brief, Programme and Areas5
- 3. Planning and Circulation5
- 4. Codes, Comfort and Systems5
- 5. Getting It Built and Judged5
Reviews
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I romanticised farmhouse design and ignored everything that makes rural buildings work. Learning about orientation, outbuildings, climate response and the working life of agricultural sites grounded my ideas. My farmhouse project now belongs to its landscape instead of posing in it.
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