What is a Barndominium?

Sometimes you can find a deal on eBay where someone has bought a house kit and then their plans changed. Right now there is a 2400 square foot Barndominium kit that will probably be a good deal for someone.

The kit is sitting on a lot in Punta Gorda, Florida, waiting to be built.

The Barndominium kit is from Steel Commander Corp. It will build a house kinda like this.

This is the downstairs floor plan. Look at all of that closet space!
You could follow the included plans and instructions or build anything you want with the materials.

Barndominium Brand New Still In Original Shipping Containers on eBay

Barndominiums have metal walls, but they don’t have to look like a warehouse. This is an example from Steel Commander Corp’s website. Adding a lot of windows and the stone make it look like a rather modern residential home.

You can see more photos from people who have built Steel Commander Corp’s kits on their site: Steel Commander Corp’s Customer Photos

NuEcoSystems also sells Barndominium kits on eBay.

NuEcoSystems Barndominium Kits on eBay

They are available in a lot of different sizes and styles.

Houses built from these kits can look rather traditional. And you can build them bigger, because by the square foot, they cost less to build.

What is a Barndominium?

When people say Barndominium now, they usually mean turning a barn into a house. Usually turning a metal-sided barn-type building into a residential home.

Converting a barn into housing isn’t new. Building an apartment into part of a barn isn’t new. What is new is the popularity of turning a metal building into a house, usually to save money. Sometimes people start with an existing metal building.

More often people build a new house combining the cost-saving materials of a metal sided building with traditional construction methods and materials to make a comfortable home.

One way Barndominiums save money is by building on a slab. A slab foundation is a lot less expensive than building a foundation with a crawlspace. A basement costs even more. But there are a lot of drawbacks. It is a lot harder and more expensive to make repairs to plumbing or power that is encased in concrete. A slab floor can stay really cold. And if you are in an area with radon, mitigation may be more complicated.

You can buy plans to build a Barndominium from locally sourced materials you buy yourself. Other plans help you convert a metal building into a Barndominium home. There are also a lot of books talking you through the process.

Barndominium Plans and Books on Amazon

You can buy Barndominium shell kits with just the materials for the outside. Then finish the inside the way you want. Or you can buy complete kits, with everything you need.

Earlier Barndominiums

The word Barndominium changed meaning A LOT. The first Barndominiums were not barns at all.

The word Barndominium was coined from condominium and barn.  With a condominium, you own a unit, like an apartment. The building belongs to all of the owners in common. Many condos come with amenities like, swimming pools, tennis courts, workout rooms and event space. Every owner pays a condo association fee to pay for it. They share the cost of the amenities.

Barndominiums were more about sharing the costs, not about living in a barn.

They word first showed up referring to equestrian subdivisions. A 1989 article in The New York Times, talked about them. Silhouette Farm “Barndominiums” are regular houses, but with the home comes an interest in an equestrian center. Like the amenities that are included with a condominium. The developer compares the equestrian subdivision to a golf community, except instead of being built around a golf course, the homes are built around barns, stalls, bridle paths, trails and riding rings. The equestrian center sells the lot and stall condo-ish, without a house, too.

Charlotte Libov reported that developer Karl Nilsen invented the word ”barndominium” for the purchase of a lot and horse stall together.

At Silhouette Farm, owners will also have an interest in an equestrian center under construction. Houses will cost from $300,000 to $500,000 with an estimated $300 per month extra for horse care. Without the house, a lot and stall will sell for $160,000, he said…

Riverwind in Madison is to be a six-lot equestrian community: every house will come with a barn and 12 acres of common ground will be set aside for riding… ”Each house will have a stable and pasture,” he said. ”It’s an extremely imaginative idea.”

At ‘Barndominiums,’ Home Is Where the Horse Is
The New York Times, Sept. 10, 1989
Sept. 10, 1989, Section CN, Page 12

Featured image Barndominium Construction from Steel Commander Corp