Draw a Farmhouse Facade: Porch, Roof, and Siding Construction

Object Drawing Lessons

This lesson teaches a front-elevation drawing of a farmhouse facade. You will set a baseline, establish roof pitch with simple rise-over-run arithmetic, space porch posts evenly, place a door and windows, and draw siding lines that follow the wall edges. The convention is a flat, front-facing view with no perspective: all horizontal edges stay horizontal and all vertical edges stay vertical. Use a ruler and pencil. Numerical values given here are hypothetical examples; measure your own paper and tools before drawing.

Practice materials: Printable downloads are not available for this lesson yet. Use the instructions and four exercises below.

Set the baseline and overall wall rectangle

Begin with a horizontal baseline near the lower third of the page. This line represents the ground. Decide a wall width in your chosen unit, for example 120 mm, and a wall height of 70 mm. Mark the wall rectangle above the baseline, leaving room below for the porch.

Keep the wall rectangle centered on the baseline. Label the bottom corners A and B, and the top corners C and D, so later steps can refer to them. All measurements are checkable with a ruler.

1. Draw a horizontal baseline 150 mm long.
2. Mark wall width 120 mm centered on the baseline; label bottom corners A and B.
3. Measure 70 mm up from A and B; mark top corners C and D.
4. Connect A to C, C to D, and D to B to close the wall rectangle.

Construct the gable roof with a stated pitch

A gable roof has two sloping sides meeting at a ridge. State the pitch as rise over run. For this example, use a rise of 30 mm for a run of 60 mm on each side, giving a total roof span of 120 mm, matching the wall width. The ridge sits at the midpoint of the wall width.

Mark the midpoint M on line CD. Measure 30 mm above M and mark ridge point R. Draw straight lines from C to R and from D to R. These are the roof slopes. Add a horizontal ridge line only if you want a visible ridge cap; otherwise the two slopes meeting at R is sufficient.

1. Find midpoint M of top wall line CD.
2. Measure 30 mm vertically above M; mark ridge point R.
3. Draw straight line C to R and straight line D to R.
4. Check that both slopes have the same rise and run by measuring vertically and horizontally.

Place the door and windows on the facade

Place the door centered on the wall width. For a 120 mm wall, a door 20 mm wide and 40 mm tall is a hypothetical example. Center it so equal margins remain on both sides. Place two windows symmetrically, each 18 mm wide and 22 mm tall, with their bottom edges 25 mm above the baseline.

Check symmetry by measuring from each window edge to the nearest wall edge. The left and right margins should match within your ruler's smallest division.

1. Mark the wall midpoint on the baseline; center a 20 mm by 40 mm door there.
2. Mark window bottom edges 25 mm above the baseline on both sides of the door.
3. Draw each window 18 mm wide and 22 mm tall, keeping equal margins from wall edges.
4. Verify left and right margins are equal.

Space porch posts and draw siding lines

The porch runs across the front below the wall. Draw a porch floor line 15 mm below the wall baseline, extending 10 mm beyond each wall side. Place porch posts at equal intervals. For a 140 mm porch width, four posts create three equal gaps of about 46.7 mm; if you prefer whole numbers, use five posts with four gaps of 35 mm. State your chosen spacing before drawing.

Siding lines are horizontal lines across the wall rectangle, spaced evenly. Decide whether your count refers to intervals or to drawn lines, because they differ by one. For a 70 mm wall height with 10 mm spacing, there are 70 mm divided by 10 mm = 7 intervals, so you draw 8 lines if you include the top and bottom wall edges. If you draw only interior lines, you get 6 interior lines between the edges. State your convention before drawing. Stop siding lines at door and window edges so openings remain clear. Keep all siding lines parallel to the top and bottom wall edges.

1. Draw porch floor line 15 mm below baseline, extending 10 mm past each side.
2. Choose post count and compute equal gap: porch width divided by number of gaps.
3. Mark post positions and draw vertical posts from porch floor to wall baseline.
4. Draw horizontal siding lines at even spacing; count intervals first, then draw one more line than the interval count if including both wall edges, stopping at door and window edges.

Worked example

A wall is 100 mm wide and 60 mm tall. The roof rise is 25 mm above the wall midpoint, with a run of 50 mm per side. The porch is 120 mm wide with four posts. Compute the post gap and state where the ridge sits.

Four practice exercises

Common mistakes

• Making roof slopes unequal or placing the ridge off-center. Measure the wall midpoint first, then measure the same rise above it. Check both slopes with a ruler before adding details.
• Spacing porch posts by eye so gaps differ. Compute gap length as porch width divided by number of gaps, then mark each post position from one end.
• Drawing siding lines through the door and windows. Stop each siding line at the opening edges, or erase the segment inside the opening.
• Letting horizontal or vertical edges tilt. Use a ruler and compare each edge to the baseline. Re-draw any line that is not parallel or perpendicular.

Self-check rubric

• Baseline is horizontal and the wall rectangle has four straight edges meeting at right angles.
• Roof ridge is centered above the wall midpoint and both slopes have equal rise and run.
• Door is centered and windows are symmetric with equal side margins.
• Porch posts are evenly spaced using a computed gap, not by eye.
• Siding lines are horizontal, evenly spaced, and stop at door and window edges; the line count is stated as intervals plus one when both wall edges are included.
• All stated measurements use one consistent unit and are checkable with a ruler.

Questions and answers