LIVING SPACES
A Farmhouse that Leads with Style and Function
This new Rogers home has ample room for four daughters, one dog, two kittens, a flock of chickens and a host of family and friends to gather
By Nancy Peevy
Photos by Beth Hall
Styling by Marie Jeffery
Farmhouses reflect back to a simpler time when houses were built for large families and gatherings of friends, housing a slew of pets and an active lifestyle.
Lana and David Dinan’s approximately 5,400-square-foot home in Rogers is a farmhouse in style with its barn doors, kitchen featuring shaker cabinets and apron sink, and shiplap and beadboard on the walls. To modernize the style, designer Marie Jeffrey suggested pops of blue throughout the new house, including a blue kitchen island and blue tile behind the cooktop, blue accent bricks in the fireplace, navy blue dining room walls, and light blue walls in the master bath.
Also a farmhouse in function, the home’s large, open rooms, with front and back porches set on a little over a half acre, allow for welcoming friends and family inside and out. An abundance of windows let in light, and fresh air streams in through large sliding doors leading to the screened porch.
There’s plenty of space for the Dinans’ four daughters, Abby, Olivia, Bella and Ella, to thrive and explore their passions – which, naturally, includes pets. Teddy is top dog in the house with a pedigree that includes 30 percent Chihuahua and the rest “super mutt.” He regularly runs with Olivia and Abby and plays soccer with all the girls in the backyard. When he’s tired, he has his own bean bag on the patio, or he cuddles in Lana’s lap.
Lately Teddy has learned to share his space with two newborn kittens, Jazzy and Poppy, requested by Bella and adopted from Wilson Zoo Rescue in Garfield. Ella has been researching chickens online and is ordering her own flock for the backyard. “We’re looking for laid-back chickens that don’t get too upset or excited but produce a lot of eggs,” Lana laughs.
The four Dinan daughters happen to be two sets of identical twins. Abby and Olivia are 13 and Bella and Ella are 9. Twins don’t run in either David or Lana’s families, so the births were a surprise. “Both sets are identical, so it was completely spontaneous. The doctor said you can’t really predict when that will happen, so it was a blessing both times,” Lana says.
A picture on the refrigerator reminds the family of the older girls’ excitement when their sisters were born. “One of the big girls is holding the little ones and they have these huge smiles. I think it was Abby who said, ‘Can we keep them?’ And David said, ‘Oh, yeah!’
“They have been amazing big sisters. They fight like sisters do, but they love their little sisters and take care of them. Most of the time they get along great. That has been a huge blessing during this quarantine time.”
The Dinans lived in the Lexington neighborhood in Rogers for 13 years, bringing both sets of newborns home to that 2,350-square-foot house. Each set of twins shared a bedroom. David and Lana wanted each daughter to have what they felt was equitable space, even if it wasn’t identical, and where their individual personalities could shine. That meant a house with five true bedrooms.
“We wanted them to have their own spaces because they share everything – down to their birthday. We looked at homes before we built and several houses that claimed they had five bedrooms, but usually it was four bedrooms and then either a bonus room or a glorified closet they called a bedroom,” Lana says.
Their choices were narrowed because they wanted to stay in the Rogers High School district. While visiting friends whose home backs up to their current street, David and Lana saw a for sale sign on a lot and ended up buying it. They found the farmhouse plan on architecturaldesigns.com and worked with local architect Steve Vater. He helped the Dinans make the floorplan their own, which included making a fifth bedroom out of an exercise room. The couple also changed a guest bathroom to be a large walk-in pantry, added a butler’s pantry and added sliding glass doors along the back of the home leading to the screened porch.
Moving day was mid-March, the weekend the pandemic shut everything down. “The day we moved in, the governor said no crowds over 50. Both of us were sent to work from home (both work for J.B. Hunt), and the kids schooled at home. It’s been a surreal, interesting experience,” Lana says. “Moving in here during the crisis, it forced us to slow down. I think I really got a chance to know my kids a lot better.”
One of four daughters herself, Lana doesn’t think of her girls as twins, just as four daughters with unique personalities and passions. “I honestly don’t know that I could quantify twins. They are just four daughters. Four children. The fact that they’re twins to me doesn’t make that big of a difference.”
There are advantages to twins, though. “One of the nice things is, you know your child’s never alone. When they go to daycare, they’re not alone. When they go to overnights, they’re not alone. They have a sister with them.”
Leaving their last house was emotional for Lana because that’s where she and David brought their babies home. This home will be the one the girls leave from – going off to college or maybe getting married, she says. But, in between, there will be lots of moments of home to savor – sleepovers, movie nights, soccer in the backyard, cookouts, birthday parties, Easter egg hunts, dinners with family and friends – and lots of dogs, kittens and, of course, some chickens.
HOME PROS USED
Designer: Marie Jeffery Design
Builder/Architect: Bespoke Builders
Interior Decorator: Marie Jeffery Design
Flooring: Flooring America, Lowell
Décor/Furnishings: Howse, Selah Design Center, Marie Jeffery Design
Countertops: Verona
Tile: Flooring America
Lighting: Lighting Emporium
Plumbing Fixtures: Anderson’s
