Building a legacy on a budget: How one family built their “fantasy farmhouse” with $350K

It was spring 2020 and Carrie Valentine and Travis Stearns were quickly outgrowing their St. Paul, Minnesota condo. With the addition of their first child and the restrictions put in place by the burgeoning pandemic, the couple was ready to make a change. The problem? Everything in their price range was downright depressing. When their frustration came up in conversation with Travis’ father, Ted Stearns, he had a solution: I could build you a house, he told them, half in jest. But Valentine, who is an interior designer, had seen enough of Zillow to know that if the “beautiful, romantic” home she had in mind was to become a reality, they’d have to make it for themselves.

This is the story of how two generations came together to build a “fantasy farmhouse” they hope will someday be passed down to a third generation.

Valentine and Stearns started their home-building process by searching for land. They knew they wanted to be close to water, and they knew they wanted enough acreage to raise animals. It was a big change going from a St. Paul brownstone to a rural setting, especially for two “city kids,” as Valentine describes herself and her husband. But the arrival of their first child had caused them to reconsider their lifestyle. “When I thought about how I wanted to raise my kids, it was set to the tune of the country,” Valentine said. And so, the couple spent every weekend for months road tripping around the countryside surrounding the Twin Cities metropolitan area. When they found five acres of land bordering the Snake River with a magical mix of woodland and sunny pasture, they knew it was home.

Although she had plenty of experience designing within existing homes, this was Valentine’s first time creating a whole house completely from scratch. A challenge to be sure, but one she embraced. “When we decided to build, the first thing I thought of was tall, elegant windows. They were a must, along with flat ceilings,” Valentine said. Coming from a home she lovingly described as “a bit of a cave,” she knew natural light would be key. A clear understanding of her priorities and an inclination toward simplicity helped her not only develop a clear vision, it also helped her stick to a budget of $350K. While looking through a book, she came upon a historic Georgian-style home. The symmetry and proportions of the design spoke to her, and the historic plan became the inspiration for her home’s blueprint.

With a modest budget, Valentine and Stearns soon found themselves facing tough choices. The sky-high cost of materials forced them to shrink their square footage from the originally planned 2,400 to 1,800. They said goodbye to a breezeway/mudroom. Valentine did most of the interior painting herself. Her brothers-in-law spent Saturdays “unloading crates, hanging a very heavy limestone fireplace, and nailing down hardwood floors.”

Still, the house was coming together. High ceilings on the first floor were able to accommodate the tall windows she’d imagined, creating a feeling of spaciousness. The deleted 600 square feet weren’t noticeable, but the gracious proportions of her vision were coming to life. A historic Belgian limestone fireplace was definitely a splurge, but it became an anchor for the room. Similarly, a rustic hearth-style range hood is a central feature of the kitchen, but Valentine constructed it herself to save money.

The limitations of her budget, along with her inclination to seek inspiration from the past rather than from current trends, helped her stick to her priorities. “You’ve got to learn to say ‘no’ to yourself when designing,” she said.

After spending months searching for the perfect piece of land and thinking deeply about every design decision, the last thing the couple wanted to compromise on was the quality of their windows. This was their dream home after all, and they wanted to protect it. On the advice from her builder/father-in-law, Valentine chose Andersen 100 Series Single-Hung Windows with black frames and colonial grilles applied to both the interior and exterior.

Her selections were informed by both functionality and aesthetics. Valentine views windows as “architectural elements.” On the exterior of her home, there are no dormers or porch — t’s just windows. Arranged in a “five-over-four" pattern, or five windows on the second floor above four windows plus a door on the first floor, they create a classic Georgian façade, which makes her home stand out. On the interior, the windows serve much the same aesthetic function, i.e., harmonizing with the furnishings in the room to create a composition on a smaller scale.

“Form or function is often a debate, but I find magic when they come together,” she said. Part of the magic of Valentine’s windows certainly has to do with their black color, which was “100% necessary.” On the outside, they match her siding, creating a striking look. While on the inside, they have a framing effect. Popping against the white trim, they put the emphasis on the landscape, which is why Valentine considers windows the “art in our home.”