The ‘fermette’, 'farm-style house' or sometimes also termed ‘faux farmhouse', is a well known and widespread phenomenon in Flanders, Belgium. That ‘imitation farmhouse’ is sharply criticised in discourses on architecture and urbanism because it has the look of a traditional farm, but it is not designed as such, neither inhabited by a farmer. It’s moreover a space consuming type of dwelling which supposedly invokes the spirit of the countryside, but in fact threatens the rural landscape because of the sprawl it gives rise to. Its rural image thus seems to cover up its real signification. The influential Catholic parties in government created a good political climate for the ‘fermette’. Also the Flemish Movement of the 1960s encouraged the attention for the Flemish rurality. Other various causes can elucidate the success of that type. One of them can be traced to the Farmers’ Association and its female socio-cultural branch the Association of Farming Women. This association was an important actor in the communication about modern domesticity and rural living. Other than its name suggests, the lion’s share of the members were not “women farmers”, but countrywomen.
As Catholic socio-cultural organisations, both the Farmers’ Association and the Association of Farming Women promoted the family in order to stem the tide of socialism and the anti-religious tendency of the city. Their efforts with regard to an education on home culture formed part of that family program. The women’s association was arguably the most influential association in the Flemish post-war debate on ‘good living’. We can deduce that not only from the regularity of its publications on ideal houses, or from the broad public it addressed, but especially from its well organised Home Culture Service. Beside model homes, the association raised what it called ‘exemplary dwellings’, a kind of ‘show houses’ built and inhabited by members, which were on certain days opened to a broad public. Although these intermediary organisations remained concerned about the rural character of the countryside, at the same time they seem to have been instrumental in promoting the ‘fermette’, thus contributing to its decay. It seems that they were blind towards this impact of their own dwelling policy. This paper aims at tracing the origins of this phenomenon, in analysing discourses and practices that were influential in its emergence. Based on strategically selected case-studies in which we visit and analyse specific dwellings, this paper shed new light on the emergence of the ‘fermette’.