Holmes Homes

One of the many truisms I've absorbed over the years when it comes to the Amish is that there is no such thing as a "typical Amish home."  There are homes that the general public thinks of as typical, i.e. a white, weathered, two-story farmhouse with some outbuildings and maybe a windmill.  And, in fact, what I just described is a typical Amish home in some communities.  This photo is a sprawling Amish farmstead from the Berne, Indiana community. And homes like this are fairly typical among the Amish there.  But elsewhere, Amish homes may be brick, ranch, have aluminum siding, shingled roofs, metal roofs, and in some settlements houses will starkly sit with no siding at all.

Parts of the Holmes County, Ohio Amish community features well-kept homes that appear to be pretty prosperous.  Holmes County is awash in higher land prices, entrepreneurial Amish and tourism dollars, all which contribute having very nice homes. There's also a bit more pride in appearance here than in other places.  Take a look at some of these gorgeous abodes from the Mill Creek Township area that straddles the Coshocton and Holmes County line.   The "double decker" porch in one of the photos is actually a feature I saw several places and am still sort of scratching my head over it.  I wouldn't want to walk outside of the upper porch to get the newspaper when I was groggy, that is for sure...be quite a drop!

Below is an Amish home that I saw closer to Sugarcreek and it really could be "Anywhere, Suburbia", right down to the American flag welcome mat drying on the laundry line.  So when you think of a "typical Amish home", you might now have some different visions running through your head!