Older farmhouses in various states of repair, disrepair, renovation and splendor frame the Nebraska countryside.

Their numbers are fewer than they once were, and the presence — or demise — of a farmhouse can create strong emotions in the people who lived in them, particularly if it is part of the homeplace that has been in the family for generations.

People who grow up in towns or cities don’t love their family homes any less. The difference perhaps is that, for the most part, urban homes are less likely to become weathered ghosts of the homes they once were. And for some people, white farmhouses and red barns have come to symbolize the kind of rural life that is no more.

While they can’t bring back the early days of farming, some people have a strong need to preserve the buildings.

Mel and Nancy Luetchens are among those preserving a family farmhouse.

The two-story brick house east of Murdock, which has been in Mel’s family for 80 years, had been rented out since his mother’s death in 1994. The Luetchens married in 2002 and began renovating the house the year before. Nancy was the one who originally suggested they work on the house and make it their home. She focused on lighting, paint colors and furnishings while Mel turned his attention to the many other aspects of renovation.

Like many old-house renovators, the Luetchenses have strived for a balance between modernization and restoration.

The house was built in 1892 by East European immigrants whose last name was Glaubitz, and Mel Luetchens’ grandparents bought the farm for his father from the original owners in 1926.

There are five brick farmhouses within five miles of each other — Luetchens’ is the simplest.

“It’s plain but it’s majestic,” he said.

The home is constructed of three layers of brick on the first floor and two layers on the second with no wood framing support. The 1,800 square-foot home originally had four rooms on the main floor and four upstairs. Every room has a chimney. High ceilings and 28 tall, narrow windows give the house an open, airy feeling, something his mother loved.

His parents, who were of German descent, were proud of their home and tried to maintain it, but they were more interested in practicality than aesthetics. They used the living room as their bedroom, and some rooms were blocked off to decrease heating costs. One of the upstairs rooms used to be a storage room in which his father kept seed corn.

A living room wall covered the staircase. Removing the wall has made the staircase one of the nicest features of the house.

The doors of the built-in china cupboard between the kitchen and dining room had been covered with wood on the kitchen side. The wood has been replaced with glass so the shelves that held his mother’s “good dishes” are visible from both rooms.

The dining room floor, which had been covered for 55 years, is wide-planked red maple. The soft pine floor in the upstairs hallway had been painted. Both refinished nicely.

The couple had plumbing installed on the second floor. A large master suite with a walk-in closet and large bathroom with a whirlpool tub was created upstairs. A guest bathroom and a second-floor laundry room also were added.

The renovation continues. Luetchens’ parents “modernized” the kitchen in the 1950s, and because of the war had to wait to get a metal sink. New kitchen cupboards, a dishwasher and, undoubtedly, a new sink are in the plans.

Another project in the works is the porches. Luetchens has a photograph of the original owners in front of the house and wants to rebuild the first- and second-floor porches on both the front and back of the house to resemble the original ones.

One of his parents’ additions to the home will remain. They had added an attached garage that is entered from the basement on one side of the house.

Luetchens initially wanted to remove it. “It’s kind of ugly and interrupts the architecture, but after one winter out here, I decided to keep the garage,” he said, smiling.

Many of the farm buildings are no longer standing, but the small brick smokehouse in which Luetchens’ parents kept fires going for weeks to make dried beef and sausage is being preserved.

An important part of living in a farmhouse is, of course, the rural setting, and that doesn’t appeal to everyone.

When you return to the farmhouse you grew up in, are you moving forward or backward? That was a question Luetchens pondered before moving back.

What he found is that moving back to his childhood home has been a huge step forward in his appreciation of his parents and rural life.

“The things that I thought would be negatives have become positives,” he said. “I had become so urbanized that I wondered if I would feel isolated. But rather than feel isolated, I look forward to the renewal of the isolation.

“When you’re living in the country, you’re involved with nature all the time, and I enjoy watching the crops grow. It’s peaceful here.”

He even installed a switch on the yard light so he can turn it off at night for a while to better see the stars.

Most significant, he said, has been a reconnection with his parents and their values.

“I feel like I’ve gotten more in touch with my parents and what was important to them. It has been a good reminder of how the past, present and future are so intricately linked.”