A Modern Farmhouse Recalls Old-Time Americana

When Hannah and Paul Catlett first pulled up to a three-acre chunk of rolling hillside outside Springfield, Missouri, things didn’t look promising. A crumbling old ranch-style house stood caving in on itself, and the land didn’t seem like anything special, either. But when the Catletts saw the sweeping view of the Ozarks from the back door, everything changed. "We walked out and we had a euphoric feeling," Paul remembers. "It was like: ‘Oh, my God. This is it.’" They closed on the property a week later, and in short order had the ranch house razed and its lumber sent off to an Amish community for chicken coops.