Barndominiums: What The Heck Are They?
Last Updated: Mar 17, 2025Barndominums are one of the quickest growing trends in home styles across the United States. Both practical and aesthetic, this unique home style offers benefits for homeowners looking to add space for hobbies or business without constructing a separate physical structure.
The homes that our grandparents and great-grandparents lived in were often an extension of their farm. Root cellars in the basement for storing produce and large pantries to keep canned vegetables were integral to homes built in the era. In some cases, homes were constructed above a barn or shed, combining the barn and the house into one structure. Fast forward a few generations, this unique home style is making an unexpected comeback.
Table of Contents
- What is a Barndominium?
- When Was The Barndominium Invented?
- What Do Barndominiums Look Like?
- Where Are Barndominiums Being Built?
- What Are The Benefits of Building a Barndominium?
- Are Barndominiums Safe?
- Do Barndominiums Hold Their Value?
- Are Barndominiums Taxed?
- How Much Does a Barndominium Cost?
- How Do You Build a Barndominium?
- Barndominium Floor Plans
- Can You Finance a Barndominium?
- How Long Does It Take to Build a Barndominium?
- Can You Buy Barndominium Kits?
What is a Barndominium?
A barndominium is just what it sounds like: a combination of a "barn" and a "condominium." Barndominiums combine a living area, usually built above (or around) a larger open space used as a barn, a workshop, a shed, or some other hobby requiring extra square footage. This description might invoke images of "The Little House on the Prairie" or some different rustic farmhouse style of home. However, most barndominiums built today are large, metal structures.
When Was The Barndominium Invented?
The concept of combining a home with a barn has been around for hundreds of years. The Low German House, for example, is a type of vernacular architecture found in Germany and the Netherlands that combines living quarters, byre, and barn under a single roof. Many Amish and Mennonite communities across North America continue to attach their homes, barns, and workshops into single buildings.
The term "barndominium," however, appears to have first surfaced back in 1989. Karl Nilsen was a real estate developer who, in the 1980s, was creating planned communities around the "theme" of raising horses. Just as many country-club homes are built around a golf course, Nilsen thought horse-lovers should have their own planned communities with ample space for their equine companions.
According to a 1989 New York Times article, Nilsen's horse-lovers community planned to sell homes with fenced pastureland for each family to manage their horses. Instead of building a separate stable, Nilsen planned on creating a barndominium concept. His concept placed the living quarters of the home on top of a full stable underneath. Though the real estate project never completely took off, the idea of a modern home that incorporated living quarters for both humans and animals began to take hold around the country.
What Do Barndominiums Look Like?
Most barndominiums built today are large, open buildings constructed from a steel frame and sheet metal siding. Their large, open nature gives them the appearance of a storage building or barn structure. The interior living space is built around and above a modern and sizeable open area. Barndominuims incorporate essential comforts and amenities present in many modern homes.
Are Barndominiums Safe?
Barndominiums are made of solid wood timbers, steel, and metal components, making them incredibly safe. In some ways, a barndominium is as safe, if not safer, than a traditional home. Timbers, steel, and metal help protect the structure against water damage, severe weather, and wear and tear over the years.
Do Barndominiums Hold Their Value?
The ability for a barndominium to hold its value is similar to that of a traditional house. These criteria range from the desire of a barndominium in your area at the time of sale, square footage, age, construction quality, architectural features, and even upkeep.
Are Barndominiums Taxed?
Barndominiums taxation is a difficult question to answer and depends on the tax regulations in your area. Some assessors that value property for local real estate taxation purposes count unheated square footage, while others only count heated spaces. Some barndomium owners have said that their local tax office taxed their barndominium by looking at the square footage and a comparable house locally. Before building or buying a barndominium, we'd recommend consulting your local assessor to understand if and how a barndominium may impact your property tax.
How Much Does a Barndominium Cost?
The cost of a barndominium will depend on several factors, including the size of the barndominium, the amount of land that comes with it, the material used (metal most likely being cheaper than a wooden barndominium), interior customizations, and finishes. Homeowners looking for a barndominium should expect to pay $95 to $125 per square foot for a complete turnkey build. The average cost for a 2,000 square foot barndominium sits at around $220,000, comparable to other types of homes on the market.
How Do You Build a Barndominium?
Building a barndominium by yourself will require some significant DIY abilities. However, a barndominium is generally easier to construct than a traditional 2x4 stick frame structure. Barndominium construction consists of three phases: the concrete slab foundation, the metal building/framing, and the interior living build-out.
Many homeowners wanting to build their own barndominium choose to have a professional construction company pour the concrete slab, build and insulate the metal frame of the barndominium. The resulting large, insulated, open warehouse-style interior gives you free rein for all of your DIY home building ideas.
The floor plan for Chip and Joanna's barndominium included a large upstairs kitchen and living room. The first story has two family bedrooms and an indoor/outdoor gathering space for entertaining. You can see the floor plans and a few pictures of this beautiful barndominium here.
Pinterest is also full of unique ideas for designing barndominiums. This wood-framed barndominium incorporates wrap-around decks and huge floor-to-ceiling windows to help combine indoor and outdoor living spaces. This 40x60 foot single-story barndominium floor plan utilizes the open space to create a massive "family area," which is excellent for families with several children. If you like the idea of the open spaces in a home but aren't keen on the aesthetics of traditional barndominiums, this barndominium offers a sleek, modernist design. You can also find several barndominium floor plans offered for free on the WB Metal Building's website.
Can You Finance a Barndominium?
Bardominium lending isn't for all lenders, but it's not impossible either. Many barndominium owners have found financing options through local banks, credit unions, and farm credit lenders. But that is not to say the larger, national lenders are not interested in helping you finance a barndominium either. National lenders will typically apply more scrutiny and look at credit rating, plans, and whether you have a contractor or subcontractor.
Can You Buy Barndominium Kits?
Because barndominiums are essentially metal structures covered by sheet metal siding, many companies are beginning to sell the barndominium shell as a pre-fab kit. Of course, a barndominium kit might take away some of the customization ability on the exterior. But, the large open interiors are essentially a blank slate for creative homeowners to create.
General Steel Buildings offers several pre-fab barndominium kits to choose from. Their catalog includes different sizes of barndominium metal shells, including a 60-foot x 60 foot home, a 40-foot x 70-foot barndominium with a large covered deck, and a four a bedroom L-Shaped barndominium.
When searching for the best barndominium kits, it is essential to find companies that offer kits that include everything you need to build the house's shell. These necessary components are the primary and secondary framing (for all steel), exterior sheeting, trim, closures, fasteners, and stamped building plans. More elaborate kits, such as those offered by Worldwide Steel Buildings, might also come with materials to add overhangs, wrap-around porches, and other customizations.
Tobias Roberts
Tobias runs an agroecology farm and a natural building collective in the mountains of El Salvador. He specializes in earthen construction methods and uses permaculture design methods to integrate structures into the sustainability of the landscape.