Farmhouse

Key takeaways

Farmhouse belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Farmhouse to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Farmhouse from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A farmhouse is a building that serves as the primary quarters in a rural or agricultural setting. Historically, farmhouses were often combined with space for animals called a housebarn. Other farmhouses may be connected to one or more barns, built to form a courtyard, or with each farm building separate from each other.

Ranch house A rancho (from Spanish: rancho / Mexican Spanish) is a tract of land, including various structures, given over primarily to cattle ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It's a subtype of truss. These terms are most often applied to livestock operations in Mexico, the western United States and Western Canada, although there are ranches in other areas as well. A ranch (also known as an American ranch, California ranch, rambler or rancher) is an interior architectural style that originated in the United States. The ranch style home is known for its long, close to the ground profile and wide open floor plan. The style combined modernist ideas and styles with American West period notions of wide open spaces to create a very informal and casual lifestyle. First appearing as a residential style in the 1920s, the ranch was extremely popular with the burgeoning post-war middle class of the 1940s through the 1970s. The style is often associated with tract housing built during this time, especially in the southwestern United States, which experienced a population explosion during this period, with a corresponding demand for housing. Architect Cliff May is often credited with pioneering ranch house design in the 1930s, designing it as a comfortable and affordable living space tailored to the needs of the average American family. The style was soon exported to other countries and became popular worldwide. Its popularity waned in the late twentieth century as neo-eclectic house styles with historic and traditional decor became more popular. Preservation movements have begun in some ranch house neighborhoods, fueled by interest in the style from a younger generation that did not grow up in such homes. This revival has been compared to what other house styles, such as the bungalow and Queen Anne, experienced in the twentieth century. Options include California Ranch, Suburban Ranch, Multi-Level Ranch, Elevated Ranch, and Book Ranch.

Types of farmhouses

Europe Types of farmhouses in Europe include the following:

France A Bresse house (French: Ferme bressane) is a type of farmhouse found in the Bresse region and characterized by its long length, brick walls and wooden roof. A Mas is a traditional farmhouse unique to Provence and Southern France.

Germany

Historically there were three main types of German farmhouses, many of which survive today. The Low German house or Niedersachsenhaus (Lower Saxony house) is found mainly on the North German Plain, but also in large parts of the Netherlands. It is a large structure with a sweeping roof supported by two to four rows of internal posts. The large barn door at the gable end opens into a spacious hall, or Deele, with cattle stalls and barns on either side and living accommodation at the end. The Middle German house may also be a single unit, but access is from the side, and the roof is supported by the outside walls. Later this type of mitteldeutsches Haus was expanded to two or more buildings around a rectangular farmyard, often with a second story. The South German house is found in southern Germany and has two main variants, the Swabian or Black Forest house and the Bavarian farmstead.

Italy A Cascina a corte is a courtyard building whose arrangement is based on the Roman villa found in the Po Valley of northern Italy. A house called Casa colonica in Italy is a type of farmhouse where the residents work the land but do not own the farm.

Malta Ta' Tabibu Farmhouse and Ta' Xindi Farmhouse are two typical Maltese farmhouses built with the use of Limestone material. In Maltese a farmhouse is called Razzett. Other examples of Maltese farmhouses are the Ta' Cisju Farmhouse and The Devil's Farmhouse.

North America Types of farmhouses in North America include the following:

Canada

Canadian farmhouses were influenced by European settlers. In Quebec, the style varied from Gothic to Swiss, with the kitchen being the most important room in the house. In Ontario, the farmhouses of the late 19th century were of Victorian influence. Earlier ones used clapboard and later variations had brick. Many had front porches. In the west, dwellings varied from single-story wooden homesteads to straw huts. Wooden houses were built later as railroads brought wood from the Rockies (Alberta, British Columbia). By the early 1900s houses could be purchased as kits from several Canadian and American companies.

United States

American farmhouses had a straightforward construction designed to function amidst a working farm in a rural setting. They had a simple rectangular floor plan, usually built with local materials, and included a dominant centrally located fireplace for cooking and heating.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Farmhouse

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Farmhouse claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Farmhouse before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Farmhouse ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Farmhouse

In research: Farmhouse appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Farmhouse in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Farmhouse is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Agricultural buildings, Farmhouses, House styles, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Farmhouse outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Farmhouse in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Farmhouse means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Farmhouse out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Farmhouse in simple terms?

A farmhouse is a building that serves as the primary quarters in a rural or agricultural setting. Historically, farmhouses were often combined with space for animals called a housebarn.

Why does Farmhouse matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Farmhouse?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Farmhouse.