Typical Housing in the Amish Society
When driving through Amish country it is not hard to pick out an Amish family's home. Most of the time Amish houses are large but simply constructed. They are not fancy in construction but instead quite basic. Most homes have white siding and many are equipped with porches or decks. There is typically a barn close to the home and it's quite common to see laundry hanging from the clothes lines. There are two reasons behind the size of the homes and neither has to do with trying to outdo the neighbors, as this would go against Amish beliefs. The first reason is that a larger house accommodates the larger families. The second reason is because of the church hosting duties that every family is required to do. Depending on the size of the church community this could be once or twice a year.
The interior of the Amish home is typically plain. The walls are painted with high gloss paint so that the smoke residue from the wood burner can be washed off. The floors are usually hardwood with some occasional throw rugs. Carpet is not usually found in Amish homes since it would require vacuuming. Windows are covered with white or green roll up shades that help keep the houses cool in the summer by keeping it darker and shaded. The windows in Amish homes are placed strategically to allow a cross breeze in the summer to assist in the cooling of the home.
Furniture is typically upholstered with plain patterns. Most homes are also adorned with fine hand crafted wood furniture. Appliances in the Amish home are usually natural gas or propane. However, in the more conservative sects they would require the cooking stove to be fueled by wood. More liberal communities would allow the use of gas powered refrigerators but the conservative ones would use iceboxes and order regular deliveries of ice in the summer.
Lighting in the Amish home can be done by a couple different methods. Coal lanterns are used in conservative sects and white gas lanterns are used in the more liberal ones. Some of the groups of Amish will even have the white gas pumped into their homes through copper tubing that run to fixtures in the ceiling.
Most Amish have well water that is pumped to the homes with the assistance of windmill power. Other groups have tanks placed high on a hill and the water flows with gravity. Still other Amish that live in or close to town may have city water. Although there are a few Amish groups that utilize outhouses most communities require some form of septic system for waste water treatment.
This page was created by Ken Highman on November 22, 2011.
This page was modified on December 4, 2011.
For comments or questions you can submit an email to:ken.highman@rasmussen.edu