The Milton Farmhouse

6,400

Square Feet

2023

Year Completed

Modern Farmhouse

Style

$3.5M

Build Cost

The Challenge

Milton, Georgia, occupies a unique position in Metro Atlanta — equestrian trails, rolling pastures, and a rural overlay district that shapes everything from setbacks to fence heights. The clients — a family of five relocating from a smaller home in nearby Alpharetta — wanted a home that felt rooted in Milton's agrarian heritage, but without sacrificing the open, light-filled interiors and premium amenities they had admired in more contemporary designs.

The 2.5-acre lot featured a gentle slope toward the rear, a mature stand of hardwoods along the eastern boundary, and a seasonal creek at the northwest corner. The challenge was positioning the home to maximize the pastoral views, preserve the existing trees, and accommodate a future pool and detached garage — all while navigating Milton's specific building and environmental requirements.

The Design Approach

The design draws from the agrarian building tradition — a primary gabled volume flanked by lower wings — but reinterprets it with modern proportions, oversized windows, and a material palette that bridges rustic and refined. The result reads unmistakably as a farmhouse from the road, but reveals its contemporary soul as you approach.

The central gable houses the great room, a soaring 22-foot vaulted space with exposed steel-and-wood trusses and a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace. The kitchen and dining wing extends to the east, opening through a wall of folding glass doors to a 600-square-foot covered porch with an outdoor fireplace and views of the rear meadow. The west wing contains the primary suite, positioned for privacy and morning sunlight, with direct access to a private garden and future pool terrace.

The upper level, tucked beneath steeply pitched gables, holds three bedrooms, a shared bath, a homework lounge that opens to a balcony overlooking the great room, and a dedicated playroom. A walkout lower level — made possible by the site's natural slope — provides a flex space, home gym, and mechanical room with direct exterior access.

The wraparound porch — 1,200 square feet of it — was a non-negotiable for the clients. We designed it as a series of connected outdoor rooms: a screened dining porch, an open sitting area, and a side entry with mudroom access that functions as the family's actual front door.

The Builder's Eye in Action

Modern farmhouse design carries specific construction challenges that are easy to underestimate. The farmhouse aesthetic looks simple — clean gables, board-and-batten siding, standing-seam metal roof — but the details behind those clean lines require careful coordination.

Roof Complexity: Multiple intersecting gables with both standing-seam metal and architectural shingle create complex flashing conditions. We detailed every roof intersection — valley flashings, step flashings at wall-to-roof junctions, and cricket details behind chimneys — as full-scale construction details. The roofer commented it was the most complete roof drawing set he had received on a residential project.

Truss Engineering: The 22-foot great room with exposed steel-and-wood trusses required early coordination with both the structural engineer and steel fabricator. We specified truss geometry, connection details, and finish expectations during Design Development, allowing the fabricator to produce shop drawings in parallel with permitting — saving four weeks on the construction schedule.

Board-and-Batten Detailing: Board-and-batten siding requires precise planning at inside corners, outside corners, window heads, sills, and transitions to other materials. We developed a comprehensive exterior cladding detail set — 14 unique conditions — ensuring consistent reveals and shadow lines across all facades. This level of detail allowed the siding crew to install without improvising joinery in the field.

Walkout Lower Level: The site's slope made a walkout lower level possible but demanded careful management of drainage, waterproofing, and retaining conditions. We coordinated grading, foundation drainage, and window well design during Design Development, and specified positive drainage paths that kept water away from the foundation slab.

Design Details

Key Features

Vaulted Great Room

A 22-foot vaulted ceiling with exposed steel-and-wood trusses, floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace, and clerestory windows flooding the space with light.

Wraparound Porch

1,200 SF of covered porch wrapping three sides of the home — including a screened dining porch, open sitting area, and functional family entry.

Folding Glass Wall

A 20-foot NanaWall system connecting the kitchen and dining area to the covered porch, creating one continuous entertaining space in warm months.

Board-and-Batten Exterior

Vertical board-and-batten siding in a custom charcoal tone, paired with natural stone veneer and standing-seam metal roof in aged bronze.

Future-Ready Site Plan

Site designed with pre-planned locations for a pool, detached three-car garage with guest suite above, and kitchen garden — eliminating future re-grading.