Visit a Modern Country Home on an Almond and Sweet Potato Farm

Cindy Souza didn’t feel like her home reflected herself anymore. She and her husband, David, built the house on 20 acres in Atwater, California, in the 1990s. The architecture leaned somewhat contemporary, but over the years the couple, who farm 500 acres of almonds and 700 acres of sweet potatoes, tried to make the home a little more country. That resulted in layers of outdated colors and an overall heavy style that Cindy grew tired of. “It wasn’t me anymore,” she says. “I didn’t want to bring friends over. It wasn’t comfortable.”

She wanted to freshen up the style, add more square footage and create a more welcoming home overall that could handle the tough and dirty days of farm life. For help, Cindy searched Houzz for an interior designer in her area and found Wendy Glaister in nearby Modesto. “We hit it off and she saw my vision,” says Cindy, who used Houzz ideabooks to communicate her style preferences to Glaister.

The pair worked together on renovating the kitchen, updating all the interior paint and furniture and designing an 800-square-foot addition that includes a new laundry room and master bathroom. They selected durable materials that hold up to tracked-in soil and, when possible, chose furnishings made by people who, like Cindy and David, have a family-owned backstory.