Barndominiums are a style of construction that crosses a post-frame building construction with a house to maximize a building budget while gaining the open ‘barn-like’ feel. Instead of investing heavily in concrete footers, stem walls, and basement walls, this style of construction limits the digging to post holes for the post frame to rest in and cement pads to support the finished flooring. Depending on the framing choices, barndominiums can also mimic garage construction.
Barndominium floor plans offer diverse uses. One common purpose is barndominium plans with garages and/or RV storage bays. Instead of backing the RV into a narrow building, the RV storage can be designed with a pull-through option with garage doors at each end.
This particular ranch barndominium plan offers about as much square footage devoted to the living space as to the garage/shop/RV storage. Often, living spaces can be reduced and more space given to the storage of “toys” like snowmobiles, jet skis, boats, four-wheelers, campers, and motor homes. Other storage is also needed for maintenance essentials like lawn mowers, lawn care tools, etc. A barndominium like this is also useful as a guest house or ADU unit.
Next, we have a barndominium designed as a horse barn with living quarters. The first floor is a heated barn with stall runs, tack room, wash rack, laundry room, and mud room. The second floor is a spacious three-bedroom, two-bath, great room arrangement with a large upper deck. Sun shading for the horse runs is gained through the upper-level deck.
The sectional view of this building reveals that timber framing has been added to the second level to accent the cathedral ceilings. The barn motif is carried throughout the plan by the barn-style doors, reclaimed vertical wood siding, and gable overhangs with trusses.
In future articles, we will explore 2-story barndominiums with garages, ways to keep cathedral ceilings throughout the living space, and ways to add great outdoor kitchens.