Rural counties in Northeast Georgia are experiencing growth and development that will change the character of these rural areas. Landscape architects can assist residents and developers in coming up with ways to design homesites that will help integrate new development and allow for farming to continue. This thesis examines the history of landscape architectures relationship with rural design and explores the social, economic, environmental and historic aspects of Madison County, Georgia in order to devise some basic principles for new design in rural areas. Four homesteads have been used as case studies.