Wonderful opportunity! There are so many of these conversions in Pennsylvania that are wonderful. Where is this located?

Love it. Hope we get to follow your project.

I would want more of a sense of enclosure and embrace from the entry as an actual room rather than as a less definite suggestion of a foyer. And I'd want to flip the axis on the main plan to have the office up front, and the family living space in the back. I do like the adjacency and flow, but never like the messy and private areas to be the first seen. A nice big foyer with the office next to it, and the stairs also adjacent, separating public and private, is a tried and true design concept.

Weather in Michigan requires lots of winter outerwear, especially with children. Have you considered a closet in the mud room area? Wonderful project!!!

@joyce_6333, the mud room has plans for 6 closeable lockers as well as coat racks. The lockers would be large enough for backpacks, several coats and would also include drawers and baskets for mittens, hats, etc.

You might consider a pass through or even a door from the master WIC to the laundry area.

I like the elevation views.

Would you benefit from a pocket door from the mudroom area to the main house to keep the puppy/dog contained (once passed crate training) when necessary?

Nice project. And another great illustration of the best way to conceptualize. Soft lines, soft ideas. Hard lines, hard ideas.

And most good conceptualizers, even in this day of technology, still convey what's in their head with a pen. Sure, a good concept then may be DEVELOPED later with Sketchup or what not, but the initial idea is done freehand with a pen.

When my clients ask why I don't conceptualize with a computer I say "While a computer drawing may show what I know, a sketch will show what I'm thinking".

And sketches are SO much faster. This one shows what I was thinking for a front elevation and it took literally 90 seconds from start to finish...drawn in front of the client.

Again, nice project!

My first concern would be the existing foundation. Not only do you need to be sure it can support two floors, you will need proof for the building department. But if your architect is experienced he/she has already exposed some of the footings.

The scale of the proportions of the perspective sketch doesn't seem to match the photo. What is the vertical height of the exterior wall from the first floor to the roof eave and the length of the building? It should only take an architect an hour to to mock it up on a computer or a little more time to draw an accurate perspective by hand. To me no design sketch is not of any use to a client if it is not reasonably proportionally correct.

You should also do a careful assessment of the existing superstructure. The structural elements of old unheated uninhabited farm buildings might not meet modern building codes for homes. For instance, rafters might be too small and/or too far apart.

Where would the basement be? I have found dogleg connectors to be surprisingly expensive to build.

I love the whole barn conversion idea--I've seen some really fabulous outcomes! What would concern me in regard to this plan, however, is the size of the bedrooms, specifically the kids' rooms. They're awfully tiny-looking, especially for a 5,000 square foot home.

P.S. I love the front elevation...GREAT proportions and the old and new are in great harmony. And the sketch itself is so charming you could use it as the art for simple fold over notecards. :)

Love this concept - and I like the casualness of the layout as it exists with the kitchen in the front - especially if the orientation will have the "play" areas more in the front than in the back. I envision kids playing in the driveway / basketball / activities that greet someone coming down the drive. That allows for the kitchen to look over the kiddos.

That being said - make the kitchen "easy" to keep decent.

Overall:

• you look short on storage / stowage
• agree the scale looks off
• the doglegs looks welcoming on the outside, but the awkwardness is a cost to the interior layout
• really like the thought you put in the jack and jill baths - how each room has a private sink area. Taking that a step further - I never understood the toilet in the shower / tub area - you can't use both at the same time, it separates the toilet from the hand sink with a door (common, but ew....) I wonder is there a way to take what you've done and modify it so that the toilet is usable separately from the shower? (and I realize at that point - you might as well build separate baths)
• Pretty sure I would not do a basement under the addition - you'd then have to add stairs down to it... seems too costly when you have enough space above grade.
• Lots of work to get this right - especially with structure, insulation, windows and HVAC - make sure your builder / contractors are VERY skilled in these areas.

Exciting - would love to see this how it progresses!

I daily drive by a barn that was turned into a home, and it's so awesome! It's not as massive as yours, but quite charming.

I wonder about the master bedroom being completely visible from the front door, kitchen, dining room, and living room? On the other hand, the laundry room, which you will be using a lot, is rather far from both the "launderer" and the laundry clothes. I'd almost want a swap-around somehow of master, office, and laundry.

With such a setting and an active family, you might appreciate a mudroom that has doors to the front AND back yards.

The major challenge of converting an existing structure, like a utilitarian barn, into a structure for human habitation, lies in the structural condition of the foundation, framing and exterior materials. As has been said, farm buildings are seldom engineered, rather they are erected using time-honored methods (for barns, not houses). And they are left to weather, without regular maintenance, for much longer than most houses. So an inspection, by a knowledgeable professional, is vital.

The second challenge are the strategies for add utility systems and their distribution. Fortunately, barns like this seldom pose a problem with head space, do sizing and routing HVAC ducts is not often a problem, except as they need to run beneath existing beams. Insulation of roof and walls, a waterproofing or damp proofing membrane and flashing/sealing of windows and other penetrations, on the other hand, is very important and deserves careful analysis.

One of the great and irreplaceable beauties of old barns, besides their exterior aesthetic, is the beauty of the columns and beams, many of which may even be hand-hewn. In your explorations, consider how these will be viewed and how they can be exposed in appealing ways throughout the new design.

Good luck and best wishes!

I have not renovated a barn but I have renovated a Yankee Barn house from the 70's that was framed with heavy timber posts and beams and insulated plywood panels. After a minimal renovation the owners told me the two story space was impossible to heat and light. After months of struggling with a design we filled in the second floor opening and removed the posts that were in the living spaces. The end result was not barn-like but considerably more comfortable.

Wow. All of your comments are fantastic. So very much appreciated! So, a consistent theme is conversion itself. Our architect went through, inch by dirty inch, and has measured and measured and measured to ensure his data entry into CAD or whatever he uses is accurate. The beams, according to him, are in excellent condition with the possible exception of the rafters which are actual 6-8" tree trucks (bark included) and about 32" on center but not consistently. It is a barn, right? The foundation should easily meet local codes but he reccomends adding foam insulation outside and underground. Plans thus far are to spray foam the entire thing and as he says turn the barn into a YETI cooler. This would leave 1-3 inches of posts and beams exposed for aesthetics except the ceiling. We can replicate that though. As far as walls go, 2x6 stud walls built into existing post & beam to help insulate and strengthen. Should be good.

What else? Your insight and opinions are helpful and productive. Thank you SO much!

I find it hard to believe a barn foundation will meet the current building code. If he hasn't seen the footing he can't know if its adequate to support a first floor much less a second floor. I've discovered footings missing on houses that had a continuous concrete footing shown on the old permit drawings.

Wow that barn is beautiful and the trees and setting look gorgeous. I dont know if I would want the master bedroom off the kitchen, but maybe you dont have an alternative given the space? I agree the kids rooms look kind of small. What would you do with the silo if you keep it? I hope you post updates as your planning and build progress.

The kids beds drawn on the layout are actually full size beds. The rooms are sufficient without being too large. We don't believe in computers in their rooms so they are sleeping spaces, and that's about it.

The setting is indeed gorgeous. Thank you. We feel very blessed. The silo would be the stairwell into the basement and possibly the upstairs. Again it's super cool aesthetically but very, very expensive.

@JDS, the foundation is pretty thick. Architect seems confident. He's been doing this a whil so I trust him. But your concerns are valid. Michigan can be interesting weather wise.

Oh my, what an awesome project, can't wait to see it!

Speaking of Michigan weather, consider creating an air-lock at your entries; something designed to inhibit cold air/wind from entering the home when someone opens exterior doors.

Angled walls many times create inefficiencies in the layout of space. Make sure there are good reasons to angle the garage.

Make sure your vision for the home is carried out. If you want to maintain the character of the barn, make sure it is not destroyed by covering the features that makes it a barn or adding cliché details.

Keep fires away and down wind from the barn.

Research the uses of the barn over the years for potential chemical hazards in the existing materials.

Years ago I had a client that had me convert the third floor attic space of his barn/home into bedrooms for his kids. After realizing the spectacular view from the third floor, he wished he moved the master bedroom up there.

The thickness of the foundation is unlikely to meet current building code requirements and it doesn't tell you if the foundation is below the building code frost line. The only way to know if the foundation is adequate is if it is exposed in a basement.

the lone voice of reason in the whole thread. at the risk of sounding like debbie downer, you should investigate jds' comments.maybe it is doable, maybe it passes code, maybe it will be as amazing

as the drawings. but first...find out.

marrying old construction to new construction is doable,

but comes at a cost. make sure to allow for lots of overages.

that said, I love well done barn conversions. it takes real craftsmanship,

advance planning & preparation for the unexpected.

best of luck on all of these.

we would love actual pictures of barn and

setting.

Anyone remember This Old House and the Wickwire barn conversion? That ended up costing FAR more than new construction, and not ending up with very much of the original barn at all because of problems just like those raised above? It's probably put there on YouTube somewhere. I suggest viewing the whole season ASAP. They ended up wishing that they had built all new because or the massive costs associated with doing the project correctly.

Next phase of design on the barn conversion. My architect created what I consider an awesome project. Excited to get started this summer! Even wife who was opposed to the conversion has come to love this!

Had to nix the silo stairwell. Children's bedrooms are all upstairs and measure approx 12x14 each.

Also to answer some previous concerns, some digging around and a meet with a structural engineer. The foundation is 46" think and reinforced with re-rod. Therefore the barn is on a solid footing. Roof needs replacing because he rafters are actual tree trucks and on average 40" on center... not good enough apparently. Oh well.

Only 46"? In a location that averages 50"-60" of frozen soil and up to 120" of frost penetration? And the inspector is letting that pass???

I was just enjoying reading your latest posts but when I read the last couple of sentences I rolled my eyes (and my iPad camera) upward from where I am sitting in our family room. Our tree trunk beams are 48" on centers and we had no problem preserving them when we rebuilt this house, even in code heavy, hurricane prone Florida!

I have a similar project in Central Il. That sits on just over 6 acres and has a drive thru grain barn open on each end. I am very curious about the steps you took to make this your reality. from what I gathered you involved a structural engineer and an architect who also has design build experience. if you have any other suggestions could you please enter a post to clarify the process.

Your floor plan is very similar to what we have in mind the only difference we have is one of the upper rooms will serve as a bunkhouse with 4 bunk beds.

The steps? Honestly? I brought a really comfy set of chairs one day and a good bottle of wine and my wife and I sat in the sun and talked. Then, by chance we met an architect who we knew in round about way that this project was perfect for. He's been so helpful for us. Then we started talking as a group. But he has done much of it. Neither my wife nor I knew exactly what we wanted but he helped a lot and made some of the decisions for us.

Then he did his thing. We tweaked and then tweaked some more.

Now, we need to tweak even more because he came in $200K over budget. But the final designs are awesome.

See new photos.