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"Barndominium" - new to me

I guess it's a play on "condominium"? I scanned the auction ad, hopefully if you can't read it, you can see the photo.




Comments (10)

  • 2 years ago
    last modified: 2 years ago

    That does not fit our definition of barndo.....I call a barndominium a barn with an integral home. Sometimes, this is upstairs; other times, it is single story. If the attached portion is a shop, we call it a shopdominium.


    I have several Amish friends in Millersburg!

  • 2 years ago

    I see barndominium from time to time over on the Building a Home forum and I still don’t understand what it means.

  • 2 years ago
    last modified: 2 years ago

    The barndominiums I've seen in person are metal, like metal barns. The barn is totally one opened up room (kitchen, dining, living area-with the exception of the bedroom(s) and bath(s). Very tall barn-like ceiling. There is normally a loft. No hallways.

    We went fishing in Matagorda, TX (very small town) a couple of years ago, and the whole neighborhood in the downtown area, had been converted to very nice and colorful barndominiums. They aren't cheap, like you'd think. These people stored their boats etc in the attached metal barn/shed. They had them landscaped very nicely and they each seemed to have their own personality. Very cute.

    I know a couple of families who have built one on their land, around cattle or farming around here. One stores their small airplane nearby in barn matching their barndominium.

    Definately not only for the Amish. Definately not tiny. No wood, except for the inside is trimmed out, like a house.

  • 2 years ago
    last modified: 2 years ago

    I had to google "barndominium" and found this.

    Real estate developer Karl Nilsen coined the term “barndominium” in 1989, initially to describe properties that offer a house (or lot) along with boarding facilities for the residents’ horses.

    So for the property in the clipping, it's not quite that. But it seems like the spirit is some kind of smaller living space attached to an out of scale property and garage in this case? 1 bed 1 bath 456 sq ft living with a TWO CAR garage on 2+ acres. Sounds like my husband's dream home except then he'd build an additional 2-4 car garage on the acreage. lol

  • 2 years ago

    I think barndominiums are becoming popular in certain areas. It may be in part to Chip and Jo and the farm house trend. We live within a farming area. I've seen a few barndominiums here. In fact we have a friend who builds and his own house is a barndominium. Their house is not small. It is very open, wood with a metal roof and in the main rooms of the house, they have lovely stained concrete floors. I have actually never been in the "barn" area but they do not use it as such. I believe they use that area as storage and a play area for their 5 children. Their barndominium was built on their family farm, so there were already 2 barns. They do have a loft area; I believe all the children's bedrooms are there. It's really pretty neat, especially for their family and living on farm land. Our friend's mother lives on another area of the acreage and he built her house too, but it is a typical farm house style, a really nice house that looks old, but isn't. He has built a couple of other barndominiums in the area, but they are not something you see that many of. The ones I have seen are pretty good in size, not a small living space. OTOH, our friend has a son from a previous marriage who is just starting out on his own. He bought an additional 10 acres that is right across the road from the farm. He has a cute little tiny house!

  • 2 years ago

    Chip & Jo DID a barndominimim (sp?) on a show. I assumed they came up with it. 🤷‍♀️ Glad to read the info here to educate myself!

  • 2 years ago
    last modified: 2 years ago

    They are very popular here in Texas and have been for decades, but are not what’s shown in that ad.

    They’re just kind of a way of life. Here it actually is a combo barn and house/apt … either side by side or living quarters above the barn area.

    The building is metal on a slab foundation — the interiors can be anything. There are primitive ones, extremely luxurious high end ones, and everything in between.

    Most are built for the hired help or for the owners to live in while building a house.

    My dad has one, but we call it a Shopdominium. :D Half is a big tricked-out shop for his custom vehicles and motorcycles, with a bathroom, half is a 1,000 sq ft apartment 1/1. A door separates them. He loves it, the apt side has a long front porch overlooking a pond. The inside is like any house — drywalled, etc. It’s very nice. I enjoyed helping and choosing lighting and other elements.

    The reasoning for his was that the building spot on the land he bought wasn’t large enough for two big dwellings, so he combined them. Plus, saved money by being his own contractor.

    We have friends who built one on a small public airstrip that was half hangar for their plane and half house.

    I even lived in two different ones in Germany when there training horses. Ours was an apt above the stalls. I loved hearing the horses at night.

  • 2 years ago

    I think of barndominiums as ready to go metal buildings from companies that sell them for barns or shops but that have instead been turned into housing. There is a lovely one - a Morton building - up our road several miles. They don't have animals, except honeybees, so theirs stands alone on 20ish acres.


    If a barndominium is just a house on acreage that also includes a horse stable or barn, (Real estate developer Karl Nilsen coined the term “barndominium” in 1989, initially to describe properties that offer a house (or lot) along with boarding facilities for the residents’ horses), I believe the King of England owns several.

  • 2 years ago

    got it!

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