Do you know what chemicals were stored in the barn? Insecticides such as DDT were common not so long ago.

Here is

It is dependent upon the barn.

For some reason photo wont load, its it's a historic barn that has been relocated and is on 48" footings with concrete floor. our knowledge only hay and animals were around it, would be spray foamed and sealed off if went that route.

Like i said take all that stuff away, is it even worth considering or just a bad idea even if it was an ook barn ththat only had alfalfa all its life haha.

Like i said take all that stuff away, is it even worth considering or just a bad idea even if it was an ook barn ththat only had alfalfa all its life haha.

I have seen it done gorgeously and i have seen one monstrosity in particular in my area. The key is to not get too kitschy with the barn theme, but also don't try to turn it in to a suburban colonial. Simple, clean lines.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/33-Buttercup-Ln-Hanover-MA-02339/123648699_zpid/

You can't separate "all that other stuff". You are going to spend significantly more money to turn an agricultural building into one that meets the legal requirements for a home. There are a lot more requirements and limitations. Insulation, plumbing, electrical, hvac, are all more difficult to retrofit into an existing structure. You will basically need to sacrifice either the exterior or interior wood to frame new walls in order to do the things that need doing. You can't have nothing between you and the snow be a 3/4" piece of cypress. Plus, you are limiting yourself to the footprint of the existing.

Contact a local architect and discuss possibilities with them, preferably an architect that has experience with barn conversions. There are so many variables that you need someone that can get to know your circumstances and the barn and the vicinity and the local codes and a lot more information.

If money isn't one of your limitations, go for it. Just have the right expectations about the result. It will always be built poorer than a new home structure designed from the beginning, just happening to be gambrel shaped.

I think if I had enough money to renovate an old barn . . . I would build a new one.

Point taken, I will leave it to man cave workshop area haha, have to wonder every now and

People do barn conversions all the time. It's more common in the UK than in the US as we often just tear down our old barns.

My SIL did a barn conversion several years ago. It would not be my personal cup of tea, but it was beautiful and they loved it.

For heaven's sake, don't get hung up on what was in the barn in the past. People in the UK who convert 300 year old dairy barns to houses don't appear to be dropping like flies.

“I think if I had enough money to renovate an old barn . . . I would build a new one.”

That’s exactly what happened with the This Old House barn project. Great result! But it would have been so much cheaper if they hadn’t tried the preservationist approach first.

https://www.thisoldhouse.com/watch/concord-barn 

You could build a new home modeled after a barn? Or some of your favorite barn features?

Keep it as a barn and get some horses. Actually, I'd love to convert the top floor of a bank barn into living quarters and keep the bottom as a barn — a barndominium without the stairs. Then again, I'm not normal people.

bluesanne; That's how small castles in the UK were built. As a bonus, in the winter the body heat from the animals rose from the ground floor. Probably smelled lovely too, because they weren't sealed off from the rest of the house.

A contractor I work with did this and looks great! There is a big house on the property but him and his wife decided to convert the barn to living quarters. Its close to a new build but you already have the framed structure. Anything can be done.

Ken

I have heard of people converting barns into houses, but I have never heard of them doing it again.

Yes Mark that does make since. But the ones that do it is there home for years to come. They don't do it for a flip house. And yes contractors that have done this now has the experience to do another if someone wants it.

Ken