Barn homes evoke verdant pastures, wide-open spaces and a simpler way of life. At the same time, they boast the clean lines, soaring ceilings and open floor plans prized in contemporary homes. It’s no wonder that homes built to resemble barns — as well as those repurposed from existing agricultural structures — have enduring popularity across the country.
Here, we break down common characteristics of barndominiums, barn conversions and barn-inspired homes, illustrating them with 35 examples of traditional and modern takes on the theme. First, we’ll define the terms; then we’ll cover framing methods and interior and exterior characteristics; and finally, we’ll look at common barn rooflines and styles. Click on the pictures to see more of the projects and to connect with the pros behind them.
Fred Parker Company, Inc.
A Texas barn converted into guest quarters by a design-build team found on Houzz
1. Defining the Terms
Barn homes are just what they sound like: residences that originated as, or are inspired by, buildings used for housing livestock or storing fodder or farm equipment. But these homes take many shapes and forms.
First, let’s make sure we’re on the same page when discussing the different kinds of barn homes.
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Built Rite Buildings
A barndominium by a post-frame building company in Missouri
Barndominium, or “barndo.” The term barndominium is often used to describe any barn-to-home conversion. A narrower definition is a pre-engineered steel-shell building that houses living quarters and a shop or garage. Because of the latter’s steel shell, they’re often less expensive to build than a traditional home (though financing can be trickier to secure). Many companies sell them as kits.
A 1940s barn converted to a dwelling in the Berkshires
Barn conversion. A barn conversion is simply a barn converted into a dwelling. Often, these are older barns that require substantial renovation, including new foundations, roofs, electrical, plumbing and framing, in order to meet current residential building codes. Consequently, they can cost more per square foot than a newly built home. But, oh — the charm!
The Wadsworth Company
A modern barn-style home in Vermont
Barn-style home. A barn-style (or barn-inspired) home may be a home built to resemble a traditional barn or one that pays homage to traditional barns but with a contemporary look.
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Dobberstine Homes, Inc.
A post-and-beam barn home in Kansas City
2. Framing Methods
While barn-style homes may be framed using conventional stick-building techniques (which use dimensional lumber and require internal load-bearing walls) or, like barndos, may have steel shells, traditional barns and many newly built barn-style homes are erected using centuries-old wood-framing techniques.
The ceiling of a custom post-and-beam barn in California
Post and beam. In post-and-beam barns, heavy wooden timbers are typically joined together using metal fasteners and connectors. The timber size, style and strength of construction means internal load-bearing walls aren’t needed.
Stebnitz Builders, Inc.
A metal-encased modern pole barn house in Wisconsin
Pole barn. Pole barns use post-frame building methods, which means they have deep-set posts that provide the main support for the structure. The rest of the structure may use post-and-beam or conventional framing methods. Post-frame buildings don’t require a foundation, though one can be poured.
Stebnitz Builders, Inc.
The interior of the previously pictured modern pole barn
Today, the “poles” typically are made from square or rectangular engineered laminated-wood columns.
15 Ways to Create Separation in an Open Floor Plan
Bartelt. The Remodeling Resource
The interior of a custom timber-frame barn-style house
Timber frame. Timber-frame barns are much like post-and-beam barns, but in timber-frame structures, posts, trusses and beams are connected with traditional joinery, such as mortise and tenon and dovetails, rather than metal joinery.
The level of craftsmanship involved in constructing timber-frame structures means they can stand for generations, and they are typically more expensive to build than a post-frame building.
Lanoue Inc.
A weathered-wood barn in Massachusetts
3. Exterior Hallmarks of Traditional Barns
Traditional barns’ finishes and features vary by region, age, available materials, function and the builder’s heritage. However, they have common characteristics that are helpful to keep in mind when designing a barn-style home of your own.
Timberpeg
A wood-sided, English-barn-style home in Old Chatham, New York
Wood siding. Rustic wood-plank siding, often painted or stained red, is a common barn material and thus a good choice for barn-style homes and barn conversions.
Whether simple boards or board and batten, the boards usually ran vertically in traditional barns to prevent water from infiltrating as it ran down the walls.
CLB Architects
A barn-inspired home in Wyoming with reclaimed barn-wood siding
New barn-inspired homes often incorporate wood salvaged from old barns slated for demolition. In addition to offering an authentically rustic look, salvaged wood can be both cost-effective and have a lower environmental impact than virgin materials.
Ailtire Studio llc
A restored stone “entertaining barn” in Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Corrugated metal, stone, brick, adobe, logs and basalt were common siding materials for older barns, either alone or in combination with wood planks.
STONEYARD®
A barn-inspired private guest house in Massachusetts with a silo housing a circular staircase
Silos. Nothing says “barn” like a silo (expect, perhaps, farm animals milling about). Traditionally used to store grain, silos are the perfect spot for a spiral staircase in a barn home.
Christine Lakas, The Designer, LLC
A grain bin converted into a hunting lodge in Tennessee
Freestanding grain bins and silos have even been repurposed into tiny houses!
A 1930s dairy barn converted into a residence in the Texas Hill Country
Simple shapes. Typically built by hand from local materials and in the local vernacular style, older barns illustrate the axiom “form follows function.” Simple silhouettes and rectangular foundations are common.
Purple Cherry Architects
A cupola and barn doors on a barn-style building in Hot Springs, Virginia
Cupolas. Traditionally, barns use cupolas for ventilation and light. They can still serve those purposes in a contemporary home, or they can be strictly aesthetic.
Yankee Barn Homes
Functional bi-parting barn doors (seen closed here) — and garage doors that resemble them — on a New England barn-style home
Barn doors. Originally designed to slide out of the way for livestock, barn doors, which hang from a track, add a rustic look to a barn house garage or patio entrance.
Barn doors can be single, bi-parting or bypass doors. They’re often used inside barn-inspired homes as well.
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Colin Smith Architecture Inc.
A restored historic barn in Lexington, Massachusetts
Stone foundations. Before concrete was in widespread use, barn foundations were often made from loose-laid stones found on site.
Today, reclaimed stone can be used as a veneer over a converted barn’s or a new home’s concrete foundation to give it time-worn appeal.
Michael Robert Construction
The interior of a converted backyard barn of an 1850s Victorian home in New Jersey
4. Interior Characteristics
Like barns’ exterior elements, barn interiors vary, but there are a few design elements that span eras and styles.
CLB Architects
Black steel tension rods and trusses in a barn-inspired home in Wyoming
Exposed structural frames. Because the goal was function, farmers of yore didn’t bother to cover the intricate framing of their traditional post-and-beam and timber-frame barns. Thus, beautiful exposed structural frames are a barn home signature.
Metal structural elements can add an industrial feel to agrarian-inspired buildings.
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Joan Heaton Architects
An agrarian-inspired home in Vermont with air-to-air heat pumps, 4 inches of rigid foam insulation on the exterior and rock wool in the wall cavity
When building or converting a structure with exposed structural beams, opting for exterior insulation allows those beams to shine. It’s critical to work with a pro who can ensure that the structure is both well-sealed and properly ventilated so moisture doesn’t build up and cause mold.
Houzz Tour: Modern Barn Home for a Simpler Life in Vermont
The cavernous interior of a dual-pitched gambrel-roof barn
Open floor plans and soaring ceilings. Because traditional construction methods as well as steel shells allow barns to be self-supporting, their interiors are often wide open. That openness aligns with contemporary preferences for flexible floor plans.
In old barns, the floors themselves were usually thick floorboards or concrete that could stand up to threshing and animals’ hooves. Modern barn homes’ floors are often reclaimed barn wood.
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Ailtire Studio llc
A kitchen and loft in a custom barn conversion in Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Lofts. Traditionally, haylofts were a place to store loose hay and other fodder that could be forked down to the livestock living below.
In a barn home, they’re the natural spot to put private spaces like bedrooms and bathrooms.
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Amena Zamora Designs
A rustic Illinois barn with gable roof
5. Common Barn Styles and Rooflines
Barns are generally identified by their rooflines, though there are plenty of variations depending on the factors mentioned in the “exterior hallmarks” section above. Here, we’ll mention a few silhouettes and styles that are commonly seen in barn homes.
Lanoue Inc.
A restored English barn in New England with a gable roof
Gable roofs. Gable roofs, which are on some of the oldest U.S. barns, have a single pitch on each side.
Rectangular English barns with gable roofs (also called Connecticut, Three Bay or Yankee barns) had doors for carriages on their long sides.
Dutch barns were more square, with gable roofs that nearly touched the ground and carriage doors at the gable ends of the building. Built only in parts of New York and New Jersey, relatively few originals still exist.
King Construction Company LLC
A beautiful gable-roofed bank barn home outside Philadelphia
Bank barns. Bank barns were built into hillsides, taking advantage of the elevation change so that the uphill side could access the second floor without steps or a ramp. The lower level usually housed livestock, whereas the upper level stored hay that could be forked down to the animals.
Archambault Construction
A converted gambrel-roof barn in Massachusetts
Gambrel roofs. Each side of a gambrel roof has two pitches. Barns with gambrel roofs became common at the end of the 19th century and allowed more room for hay than a gable roof.
A dual-pitched gambrel-roof barn conversion in northeastern Ohio
Prairie barns. Prairie (or Western) barns are distinguished by their low-hanging gambrel roofs and distinctive peaked roof projecting over a hay loft
Absolute Design
An arched roof on a barn-style home in Idaho
Arched, Gothic and rainbow roofs. With the advent of prefabricated laminated arched rafters, gambrel roofs evolved into rounded-roofed barns in the early 20th century. Gothic arches had a ridge along the rooftop.
Andre Rothblatt Architecture
A metal-sided barn conversion in California wine country
Monitor barn. Also called RCA (raised center aisle) barns, monitor barns have a — you guessed it — raised center aisle, usually with windows along it, topped by a gable roof. The design allows for good air circulation and natural light, as well as storage in the raised section.
They are most popular in South-Central and Southwestern states.
Uptic Studios
A barn-inspired home in Washington state
A half-monitor barn is a variation on the monitor barn, with two shed roofs that never meet.
Barn Livin' LLC
A saltbox-style barn home in New York state
Saltbox. Saltbox-style barns are similar to gable-roofed barns, except one side of the roof is sloped lower to the ground. That side is generally pointed north, or whichever direction protects the barn from the prevailing wind.
Ryan Bent Photography
An attached house, barn and greenhouse in Burlington, Vermont
Connected barn. The New England connected (or connecting) barn allowed farmers to do their chores without having to go out into the harsh winter weather. With examples dating back to Colonial times, these rambling structures typically comprised a main house, kitchen, shed, barn and various other outbuildings.
MaMo Architects
A modern interpretation of a connecting barn near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania
Those converting a connecting farmhouse, or building a home inspired by one, may not need to go choring in subzero temperatures, but they can enjoy the creative opportunities afforded by having multiple architectural styles and forms connected in a single residence.
Tell us: What appeals to you about living in a barn home? Which style is your favorite? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
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