Down a peaceful country lane just this side of the Henry County line stands the Bednarski family’s 50-acre mini-farm. The setting is idyllic — lush, rolling fields where horses and cattle gambol, verdant woods beyond the pastures where flocks of wild turkeys roost, and a shake and stone house with an old-fashioned wraparound porch perched on a hill above a pond.
Jon and Sylvia Bednarski bought their first 35 acres on the site five years ago and built the pond, barn and house, moving to the property in 2002. Last year they bought the mini-farm next door, adding another 15 acres to their landholdings and providing a home for Sylvia’s parents. The original impetus for trading subdivision life in LaGrange for farm living on Oldham County’s outermost edge was their teenage daughter’s obsession with horses, recalls Sylvia. "Kristin was in Pony Club and had put her name into a drawing to win a saddle. After she won it, we had to buy her a horse to put under it and then a farm so we could board the horse at home."
Unlike socialite Lisa Douglas’ farewell to city life in the old TV sit-com Green Acres, the Bednarskis’ move has been a plus for every family member. Today, their herd of horses includes two Thoroughbreds, a Thoroughbred-quarter horse mix and an Appaloosa. Kristin, now a high school senior, participates in three-day riding events that include dressage, cross-country and stadium jumping. And their 14-year-old son has developed a hobby of his own — raising Belted Galloway cattle, the "Oreo Cookie" cows. "Kyle’s taking some agricultural classes in school and attended a University of Tennessee camp last summer to learn how to show them," Sylvia says. "We call his cattle ‘The Dirty Dozen,’ but one is pregnant, so we’ll have to come up with another name soon."
The view up from the Bednarskis’ two-story great room.
For Sylvia, farm living has meant a return to her roots — a born and bred Kentuckian, she lived on a small 12-acre farm while growing up — and the opportunity to pursue her love of gardening and hiking. "About three-quarters of the property is wooded and I like to hike on the deer trails," she says.
For Jon, the farm has been an excellent investment, both financially — "lots of tax write-offs," he notes — and for his own joie de vivre. The Vermont native puts in about 30 hours a week as a consultant for the homebuilding-kit distributorship Classic Post & Beam and almost as many hours on his acres. Building the family’s 4,000-square-foot post-and-beam home gave him the opportunity to double his pleasures.
Adapted from building methods and styles common in England during the Renaissance, post-and-beam construction has been used in America since Colonial days for homes, barns, churches and commercial buildings. It allowed early settlers to take advantage of the New World’s plentiful wood supply. For the past two decades the style has enjoyed a revival in the U.S. "People are attracted to the beauty of the exposed beams, the warmth of the interior wood and the soaring, light-filled spaces," says Jon. "They like it for the style." 
The home’s 360-degree wraparound porch, says Sylvia Bednarski, shown below with husband Jon and kids Kristin and Kyle, "is what I love the most about this house."
While Colonists used hand-hewn green oak to frame their buildings, today’s post-and-beam construction is machine-cut to keep it affordable, he says. "One difference is that we don’t use true mortise-and-tenon joinery throughout. Instead, we use lag screws and conceal them behind oak pegs, although the ceiling trusses are still handcrafted. It still takes a little longer to build than modern stick-built construction, because it requires 50 to 60 percent more wood than a traditional home, and it’s about 10 to 20 percent more expensive."
Sylvia’s biggest fear of building a post-and-beam home wasn’t the extra time or expense. She was afraid there wouldn’t be enough wood to suit her! "We lived in a log home in LaGrange, and I like a lot of wood," she says. "I love the way the house came out, though. It’s like a resort we stayed in once while we were whitewater rafting in North Carolina."
The home features an open floor plan with a two-story great room. Track lighting plays up the rustic beauty of the hammer-beam truss across the great room’s ceiling, while a window wall offers a stunning view of the pond and gently sloping fields. Amish-made hickory cabinets line one wall. The header-beam ledge around the room’s perimeter displays Jon’s toy car collection. "I started collecting True Scale toys as a child and have since gotten interested in reproduction pedal cars."
Setting the color scheme for the decor is the navy enameled gas-burning Vermont Castings fireplace built into the cabinetry. "We saw it and fell in love with the unusual bay front design," Jon recalls. The deep blue is picked up in the comfortable leather couches and wallcoverings. "We were going to have the house faux-finished, but the price tag was too high, so we used faux-looking wallpaper instead," he says. "We tried faux painting our daughter’s room ourselves, but by the /files/storyimages/of the week/files/storyimages/we weren’t speaking to each other!"
Throughout the home, wooden walls and ceilings received two coats of clear urethane. The kitchen features exposed beams and a tongue-in-groove ceiling (the upstairs floorboards showing through), hickory cabinets and a huge island with an acrylic solid-surface top. Farm chores, plus the comings and goings of two teenagers, keeps them busy all the time, so they often eat at the island, Jon says. "We try to sit at the table a few days a week."
The great room (above) features a window wall, built-in hickory cabinets and a hammer-beam truss overhead; (below) a Mission-style light fixture and more hickory in the kitchen.
The first-floor master bedroom opens to the porch, which is where Jon often finds Sylvia sitting on the swing and enjoying the view. "The wraparound porch is what I love the most about this house," she admits.
On the walkout lower level are Jon’s office and a recreation room complete with a maple Steepleton billiard table and built-in bar. One side of the bar pays tribute to the University of Louisville and the other to the University of Kentucky. "My wife and son are UK fans, but my daughter and I root for the Cards," he says.
Both of the upstairs children’s rooms feature built-in platform beds for catnaps and sleepovers beneath the rear windows. A ladder in the hall between the rooms leads to a crow’s nest retreat with a bird’s-eye view of the pond and pastures. And a custom-made stained-glass window on Kristin’s side of the second-floor bath pays tribute to Simon, the horse that started it all.
The dining room’s beamed ceiling and the Cardinal/Wildcat rec room.
A bathroom stained-glass window and a collectible pedal car.
