A row of thatched cottages sits at the center of the scene, their roofs rendered in thick, rhythmic strokes of ochre, brown, and green. The buildings cluster together at the foot of a gentle hill, filling the lower half of the canvas with angular rooftops and pale blue walls. Green foliage surrounds the houses, with bushes and trees painted in swirling, energetic lines that echo the movement of the roofs.

Tall, slender trees rise above the rooftops at the center, their trunks and branches drawn with quick, vertical strokes that break the horizon. Behind the cottages, the landscape opens to wide, golden fields stretching into the distance, the brushwork here looser and more horizontal. The fields are marked by patches of yellow, green, and ochre, suggesting different crops or the play of sunlight across the land.

The sky is left mostly blank, with only a few blue lines and faint clouds, lending an unfinished quality to the upper edge of the painting. The brushwork is rapid and visible throughout, giving the surface a sense of movement and immediacy. The lower right corner features a patch of ochre and white brushwork, indicating a sunlit dirt path or open ground.

In the upper right corner, a segment of another building with a slanted roof is partially visible, cut off by the edge of the canvas. Farms near Auvers was created by Vincent van Gogh in July 1890. The scene is set in Auvers-sur-Oise, as indicated by the title and supporting records. The shapes of the thatched roofs are repeated in the rolling forms of the hills behind them.