From suburban home to farm house

Home and Garden

From suburban home to farm house

Suburban home converted to farm house

Jane and Scott Vandewiele hang out in front of their rustic Marietta home. For years, Jane dreamed of living in an older home in the country, but convincing Scott wasn't easy.

"Scott and I have been married 31 years and it took me 28 of them to convince him to look at some of the older houses with a little piece of land I continually seemed to find," Jane said. "The compromise was this place in Marietta."

The house sits on about seven acres that can be seen from the road. There is also a full soccer field further out on the property and miles of woods and trails that follow Rubes Creek.

"I had to get creative and make the home look like it had been around a while," Jane said.

Jane and Scott Vandewiele's rustic Marietta home.

"I had two old Corbels, so I decided to spruce up the foyer entry opening with them," Jane said. "I then took 6x6 landscape timbers and pieces of old wood. I took a hatchet to them, painted them red and distressed them further with a dark stain."

Ceiling in living room: "We removed part of the third floor, making an open ceiling in our den," Jane said. "That enabled us to take the previous small brick fireplace all the way to the ceiling and add more rock and mortar just like I did on the brick arches."

"The bell was a Christmas gift from my sister and the archway lanterns were purchased to add a rustic feel to the space," Jane said.

"The bell was a Christmas gift from my sister and the archway lanterns were purchased to add a rustic feel to the space," Jane said.

Bird house: "I had the tall column and needed something to set on top of it," Jane said. "I saw the white bird house at Lakewood Antiques Market and knew that was it. The flag was an old one of ours that needed to be burned and I just couldn't part with it. This was back around 9-11, so felt it was OK to keep and somehow display it in my house."

"The staircase is the original," Jane said. "I just changed the spindles and made up a new post out of tomato stakes. I had a collection of old white frames, a few with actual mirrors in them...what a simple way to fill a large boring stairwell wall."

"My master bedroom may be my favorite room so far," Jane said. "It is the only part of my house that is almost completed. It is a place to sleep, a place for my husband to sit and watch TV and a space for me to play on the computer."

"We removed part of the third floor, making an open ceiling in our den. That enabled us to take the previous small brick fireplace all the way to the ceiling and add more rock and mortar just like I did on the brick arches," Jane said.

"I love anything red, so these two "Eat More Economy Pretzels" tins from Allentown, Pa. caught my eye and...brighten up the small foyer into the master bedroom," Jane said.

"Contractor Earl Eley made the large storage cabinet to fit around the tall pine door I already owned," Jane said. "The Habersham dining room hutch was the very first piece of furniture I bought almost 30 years ago. I ended up painting it white way before shabby chic became popular."

The kitchen: "I had always loved the red distressed bathroom stall doors in a neighborhood restaurant, so when I found the guy who built them...I knew he would be the guy to build my kitchen cabinets," Jane said.

"The previous owner had built the brick arches," Jane said. "I personally do not like brick, but I knew if I added some concrete and plaster and some stone I could give them an old world look."

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Jane and Scott Vandewiele hang out in front of their rustic Marietta home. For years, Jane dreamed of living in an older home in the country, but convincing Scott wasn't easy.

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