Press Stories

I believe there are now more abandoned farmhouses than occupied ones in Iowa," says Contributing Editor Randy Florke. Eight years ago, Randy, who now lives and works in New York, paid $16,000 for an 1890s farmhouse near his childhood home in northwest Iowa so he would have a place to stay when visiting his parents. Repairs, modern amenities, and unfussy decorations consisting of local flea-market finds and a few choice items shipped from back East brought the property's total cost to $40,000. "It's incredibly affordable - and incredibly important," says Randy, who feels this sort of preservation benefits everyone: Instead of sinking into the earth, these third- and fourth-generation farms could one day become third and fourth-generation vacation homes, filled with new life and new memories.

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*All photographs and text from the January 2001 issue of Country Living © 2001. Reprinted with permission of the Hearst corporation.