Jenny Camper grew up meandering back and forth between her parents’ farm and the adjacent farm owned by her aunt and uncle. Spending much of her childhood between these two homesteads has left her with indelible memories of playing in the barn, exploring the nearby fields and splashing in the creek.
Today, Jenny and her husband Steve are living in the farmhouse once owned by her aunt and uncle, having transformed it to reflect a modern house with classic farmhouse details. Let their approach inspire you.
Deep roots
The sixth-generation farm in Canal Winchester was, as Jenny puts it, two-sided, with her father owning one half and her uncle owning the other. The house she grew up in is approaching its 100th birthday (she and her siblings still own it). Her uncle’s house was most likely built in the 1830s or 40s with brick that was made on the property as they built the house. When the opportunity arose to purchase her uncle’s farm, Jenny took it, despite the fact that there was only one bathroom (upstairs, no less), a small galley kitchen, and a limited footprint.
“We didn’t want to radically change it too much but knew we wanted a downstairs bathroom and an updated kitchen,” she shares. “Still, we tried to preserve the original house as much as we could.”
Enter designer Anne Rogers of Anne Rogers Interiors, whom the Campers engaged for the project. Anne partnered with Tom Cua of Cua Builders and Jim Wright of Residential Design Solutions, who helped maintain the integrity of the home. Their collaboration allowed the Campers to, as Anne puts it, “maintain the historic value of the home while bringing it up to a more modern aesthetic.”
Opening up
The kitchen experienced the most dramatic makeover. They removed the wall between the kitchen and dining room, as well as a back porch, which opened the space to allow for a sizeable bump-out, as well as a mudroom and downstairs bathroom. Jenny recalls seeing lots of bold corals as she flipped through design magazines, but she opted for something lighter and more soothing in her new kitchen. The cool blue undertones create a calming, relaxed vibe that doesn’t compete with the rest of the room. Rather, the unexpected depth of the hue pairs nicely with the crisp white of the quartzite countertops and backsplash.
Fairfield Woodworks Custom Cabinetry, a local cabinet maker in Lancaster, built the new cabinetry. Anne explains that there were seven different types of cabinetry in the room previously, as Jenny’s uncle was a carpenter. They used old oak fencing from the property’s barn to craft the expansive dining table, built-in China cabinet, beautiful banquette and the new fireplace mantel. “They took one of the old and very rough pieces of wood and were able to clean it up and make it beautiful,” explains Jenny.
Starting with the sign
The “Boyers Farm Market” sign occupies pride of place in the kitchen. “For many years at the other farm, my parents ran a farm market,” explains Jenny, whose maiden name is Boyer. “Yet I didn’t know that sign existed.” She discovered it in the rafters in one of the outbuildings on the property. After cleaning it up, she told the design team that she would like everything designed around the sign.
A farmhouse sink with a luxe gold faucet, and creative cabinet knobs, including red porcelain and dark brass ones, add a touch of elegance to the room. “My husband found the bronze range hood that goes with the faucet and all the kitchen hardware,” says Jenny. The tasteful pendant lights add ambiance, and a series of high-end appliances—to include dish drawers, an induction cooktop, French door refrigerator, combo wall oven, and U-Line beverage refrigerator—ensure the room is not only aesthetically pleasing but functional as well.
Memorable touches
Other nostalgic details have found their way into the updated home. The walls of the mudroom and kitchen extension contain repurposed wood from a knee wall that was in the attic, lending a warm touch to the space.The windows in the front half of the house are the originals. Jenny’s husband Steve removed and restored them, painstakingly, to showcase their wavy glass. The old wood columns on the home’s front porch were also taken down and restored, while the porch floor, facia and porch roof were replaced.
The porch boasts three swings, including one that belonged to Jenny’s great-grandmother. It wasn’t a difficult decision to keep the swing, but it was difficult to settle on an exterior paint color. Formally what Jenny calls a “shocking turquoise” and later an aqua green and then a bright blue, the exterior now features a soothing wash of navy that juxtaposes nicely with the stately white columns. The family spent a week painting different navy hues on the side of the house and examining them in different lights before settling.
The inner walls of the home are brick, including along the stairs, as the Campers removed the plaster from the wall to expose the original, historic brick. The newel posts are the originals, and a large open space at the top of the stairs was reconfigured to become part of the transformed master suite that includes a spacious walk-in closet with built-ins and an upgraded bathroom. “We especially enjoy having a double sink—we never had that before,” says Jenny. Point of fact: The home now has three bathrooms, including one with a freestanding soaking tub.
A wide upstairs hallway leads to two guest rooms, each with its own doorway (something that wasn’t true with the original layout). As part of the renovation, the family adjusted the HVAC system, leaving them with all the home’s original radiators. They left one as a decorative adornment in one of the guest rooms, alongside Jenny’s great-grandmother’s bedroom set and a dainty washstand dating back to 1891 – just more examples of honoring the past while embracing the future, farmhouse-style.
“We didn’t want to change a lot but wanted to give them a place to call home while keeping all the wonderful things that were part of the home’s history,” Anne concludes.
RESOURCES Building design Jim Wright, Residential Design Solutions Builder Tom Cua, Cua Builders Engineering DRI Engineering Interior design Anne Rogers, Anne Rogers Interiors Lighting Northern Lighting Painting Sherwin-Williams Passive & Snowbound Window treatments Custom design by Anne Rogers made by Suzi Thivener Fireplace Blackburns Chimney Services
KITCHEN Cabinetry Fairfield Woodworks Custom Cabinetry in Sherwin-Williams Indigo Batik Countertops and backsplash White Macubas quartzite, Solazzo Marble & Granite Sink 30” Farmer Sink and Brizo Rook Luxe Gold faucet, Carr Supply Appliances Fisher & Paykel dish drawers; KitchenAid induction cooktop, French door refrigerator, combo wall oven, and U-Line beverage refrigerator, all from Jack’s Appliances BATHROOM Cabinetry Fairfield Woodworks Custom Cabinetry Countertop Statuario Roma quartz, Marble & Granite Faucets Delta Dorval, Carr Supply Tub Freestanding Fleurco Alto Soaking Tub, Carr Supply Shower tile Jeffrey Court Specialty Brick Grego with Pebble Stone Lombok Sliced Flat Oval on floor, Florida Tile
Article by Lee Rhodes | Photos by Kortney Miller
Article originally appeared in July 2025