Eric Stonestreet Wants to Have His Wedding at Home — He Just Has to Build It First (Exclusive)

The 'Modern Family' star and his fiancée Lindsay Schweitzer are building a home in Kansas, where they hope to stage their nuptials

Eric Stonestreet is dreaming of a wedding at home.

The Modern Family star, 52, told PEOPLE he and his fiancée, Lindsay Schweitzer, envision tying the knot surrounded by their family and friends at their own house in Kansas City, Kansas. The only snag in their plans? The house isn't built yet.

The couple — who announced their engagement in August 2021 after five years of dating — are currently in the midst of building their home, and that project has temporarily taken priority over their nuptials.

"We're not in wedding planning now; we're building a house. I think what we've decided we want to do is build a nice house to host a wedding," the actor told PEOPLE in an interview about the More to See campaign, for which he's an ambassador.

"That's the goal — to have our friends be able to come and enjoy a nice party and a great time," he added. "You know, I don't know how often I'm gonna get all my friends to Kansas City. So I would like to do a housewarming and a wedding at the same time. I think that would be great."

Related: 'Modern Family' 's Eric Stonestreet on His Kansas Farm Upbringing and Longtime Love of Pigs

In the meantime, Stonestreet is keeping tabs on the construction progress as the house begins to take shape.

"I enjoy waking up and going and checking on the progress and working on the property and mowing grass. I mean, I've mowed a tremendous amount of grass," he joked.

"This year I've become very proficient at knowing trails ... I have my own little UTV that I drive around and cut limbs off so I can go under trees," he continued. "I would say the highlight has just been working and in trying to make that place really perfect."

Stonestreet said he and Schweitzer decided to make Kansas City — where he was born and raised — their main home base when his Modern Family gig wrapped up and the pandemic began in 2020. "It just was time for me to make a change," he explained.

"My dad's health was deteriorating, and Lindsay lived in Kansas City and she had been traveling back and forth to L.A. for two years to spend time with me," he continued. "And so when the pandemic happened and Hollywood kind of ceased, it just made sense to go home. I didn't know I would be moving home."

And while they wait to set a date, the couple is enjoying their time together. "We have a fun life. We do lots of fun things. I think I have more fun than she does — at least that's what she tells me," Stonestreet joked. "She's constantly dealing with me a lot."

Related: Eric Stonestreet Jokes That His Fiancée 'Is Uniquely Qualified... Because She Can Put Up with Me'

The Santa Clauses star is currently serving as a celebrity ambassador for the More to See campaign to encourage people to be more proactive about their eye health. His mother, Jamey Stonestreet — who has AMD, or age-related macular degeneration — joins him in the campaign, which also raises awareness for GA, or geographic atrophy, a more advanced form of AMD.

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"We kind of take our eyesight for granted. So that's why I'm here to encourage you to go to the doctor and get ahead and be proactive with your eye care," Stonestreet said, noting that many eye diseases like GA are silent.

"You can have it and not know," he added.

Stonestreet said his mother's condition is well-managed and she hasn't experienced any vision loss. However, his grandmother was not as fortunate.

"I watched my grandma's quality of life deteriorate," he explained. "She was a real tenacious, go-getting woman, but it was unfortunately the vision issues that really were the most troubling for her of all the health issues she had."

He hopes his grandmother's story will motivate people to keep their eyes checked regularly. "It's important for people to understand that there may be options for them if they visit their health care provider," he urged.

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