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Veranda’s report on Follin Smith’s 1850 stone farmhouse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, describes a home shaped over 20 years with designer Richard Keith Langham, Smith’s childhood friend. The article details their long-held plans, distinctive rooms and reuse of furnishings and decorative elements; it does not provide a new renovation announcement or a current project update.
Follin Smith and interior designer Richard Keith Langham spent 20 years shaping an 1850 stone farmhouse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, according to a Veranda house tour. The report describes how the childhood friends transformed a cramped, altered house into a home organized around Smith’s long-developed plans, from a dark dining room to a dressing room with concealed storage.
Smith and Langham’s relationship began when they were children: Langham decorated Smith’s doghouse, and she later continued to rely on him as her designer. Veranda describes the farmhouse as their most ambitious collaboration. When Smith bought it, the house had many small rooms, no dining room, too many doors and a mismatched addition. She lived with those conditions for 20 years after the purchase while developing her ideas for what the rooms should become.
Her plan included a dining room that would feel “dark and sexy at night,” a “girly-girl” dressing room, a working kitchen paired with a much larger pantry, and a small bedroom sized for her grandmother’s bed and a chaise. Langham recalled that the pair had already imagined the house as a setting for dinner parties. He joked that they were 40 when work began and 60 by the time it was done; the article does not give calendar years for the renovation’s start or completion.
The design incorporates pieces Smith had saved or used elsewhere. The living room includes crewelwork panels she had kept in storage for 15 years, while its paneling is made from limed Mississippi cypress. Veranda says Smith and a friend developed a specific liming technique for the wood. In the kitchen and breakfast room, a large pantry exceeds the size of the cooking area; Langham praised the deep raisin-colored cabinetry and the mix of differently colored limestone in the floor.
A Long-Planned Home Takes Shape
The report’s central point is the unusually long gap between Smith’s purchase and the finished design. Rather than renovate immediately, she lived with the farmhouse as it was while forming a detailed picture of its eventual use. That approach shaped the result: the rooms were planned around particular routines and personal objects, rather than presented as a quick cosmetic update.
The project also shows how a long friendship informed a major design commission. Veranda portrays Langham and Smith as closely attuned collaborators, with years of shared history and repeated use of decorative elements they both valued. That description is the magazine’s account of their working relationship, not an independent assessment of the design process.
For readers interested in older homes, the tour offers a specific example of adapting an existing structure while preserving and reusing furnishings. It documents a finished interior, but provides no renovation budget, construction schedule, account of structural work or measure of the project’s effect on the property’s value.
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From Childhood Designs to Farmhouse
The Veranda article traces the relationship between Smith and Langham back to childhood, when he decorated her doghouse. It says he remained both her go-to designer and close friend over the years. The farmhouse became the pair’s most extensive shared design project.
The house dates to 1850 and is in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Before the work described in the tour, it had a cramped layout and additions that Smith and Langham sought to rethink. Veranda credits Timothy L. Clites with the architecture and identifies Francesco Lagnese as photographer. The report appeared in the magazine’s November/December 2018 issue and was written by Carol Prisant.
““We were 40 when we started, and when we finished, we were 60.””
— Richard Keith Langham, as quoted by Veranda
Project Dates and Costs Not Given
The supplied report does not state when Smith bought the farmhouse, the calendar years when construction began and ended, or how much the renovation cost. It also does not identify the contractors or explain which changes required architectural or structural work. Langham’s recollection that the friends were 40 at the start and 60 at the finish is given as a joke, not a dated project timeline.
The story appeared in a 2018 magazine issue, but the supplied material does not establish whether the home has since changed, whether Smith still lives there, or whether further work is planned. Its descriptions and design details should be read as a report on the home as shown in that issue, not as a current status update.
No New Renovation Update Reported
The supplied material reports a completed design and does not announce new construction, a sale or another milestone. It gives no upcoming project dates or plans. Any current developments involving the farmhouse or its owners would need to be confirmed through a newer report or direct statements from them.
Key Questions
Where is the farmhouse?
It is an 1850 stone farmhouse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, according to Veranda.
Who designed the home?
Veranda identifies Richard Keith Langham as the interior designer and Timothy L. Clites as the architect.
How long did the project take?
The report describes a 20-year process. Langham joked that he and Smith were 40 when they started and 60 when they finished, but no calendar dates are supplied.
What was Smith’s vision for the house?
Her plans included a dark dining room, a dedicated dressing room, a compact working kitchen with a larger pantry, and a small bedroom that could fit her grandmother’s bed and a chaise.
Is the farmhouse being renovated now?
The supplied Veranda report does not describe current work or announce a new renovation. It was featured in the magazine’s November/December 2018 issue.
Source: veranda.com
