Audi Culver and Ivy Siosi had never built a house before, but as the founders of Siosi, a decade-old furniture company known for its use of domestic, sustainably sourced hardwood and simple, Scandinavian-influenced forms, they weren’t novices either.

The couple based their business in a range of rentals in Bloomington, Indiana, over the years—including a warehouse, an old church, and an industrial park—but they dreamed of settling into a countryside farmhouse where they could both live and work. “There were a lot of ranch homes and dilapidated barns, but nothing quite fit the bill,” Audi recalls. “The only way we could get what we were really looking for was to purchase bare land and do it ourselves.”

A large parcel a few miles from downtown caught their eye, and when the owner split it into four smaller lots, they snapped one up. After they built a workshop, Ivy drew up plans for a simple, 1,450-square-foot house, and the duo decided to act as general contractors, assisted by Loren Wood Builders but doing most of the labor themselves.

They closed on the property just before the pandemic—a matter of “scary timing that turned out to be ideal,” Audi says. They avoided escalating material costs by ordering everything early, and they began building in June 2020.

Ivy and Audi had a hand in nearly everything, including laying the foundation, although they didn’t work alone. “We hired pros for the HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and drywall,” Audi explains. Given their experience with furniture, woodworking became their focus as the build progressed. “We did everything from milling rough cedar for the siding to face-nailing our white oak floors, making the doors, and installing cedar shakes on our new front porch,” Audi recalls. “It was scary and daunting, but it was just so exciting. And it’s the only way we could afford to do it.”

The nearly two-year build wrapped last fall at a total cost of about $165,000—substantially less per square foot than a typical American home. The house is also designed to be inexpensive to operate, as it collects rainwater in a 5,500-gallon concrete underground cistern, and Audi and Ivy plan to add solar panels.

The abundant natural light is conducive to Audi’s passion for houseplants; at last count, she tends 36 orchids. Upstairs, in the loft bedroom, the couple love gazing through a large glass expanse they call their James Turrell window for the way it frames the treetops and the sky. “If I’m sitting in bed, to my right I can see the shop, and to my left I can see our fields,” Audi says. “I’m able to just kind of be the queen of my land and my domain: It’s all about the openness and the view.”

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Siosi / @siosidesign

Builder: Loren Wood Builders / @lorenwoodbuilders

Structural Engineering: Kevin Potter

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Budget Breakdown: An Indiana Couple Hand-Build the Farmhouse of Their Dreams for $166K