Barndominiums Sonoma County

What’s a Barndominium? Here’s Everything You Need To Know About This Trendy New/Old Housing Craze

Farm houses have been combined with barns for centuries, but in recent years, this has become a trendy, as well as practical, choice. So much so that in 1989, Real estate developer Karl Nilsen coined the term “barndominium”. Initially it described properties offering a house and boarding facilities for horses.  The term was revived in the 2010s to reflect new housing options that prioritized economic and energy-efficient options with minimal overall construction. A barndominium can be a full-fledged traditional new house that has unlimited rooms and bathrooms included or created in a more simplistic shop house style to store livestock as in previous times or, more often today, to store and protect  RVs. They are created using new metal construction as well as wood and even older rough constructed open beam barn make-overs.

Barndos can take many forms: Some are turned into houses with multiple rooms, while others have an open-floor layout. Still more are used as garages, workshops or for animals. There’s typically room for both living quarters and a shop or garage, or whatever you’d like to use that open space for. They usually feature high ceilings, large windows and open spaces.

Why A Barndominium?

• RV storage: One of the biggest benefits of an RV barndominium is that it gives you a place to store your RV. Constantly traveling and searching for parking and campgrounds can be exhausting. It’s nice to have a reliable place to return to. Plus, you can store the RV in a protected area during periods of disuse or bad weather.
• Extra space: There are lots of places you can store an RV, but a barndominium is useful because it gives you extra space for storage and living as well. Even the largest RVs are limited when it comes to space, so it’s nice to have a place to stretch out.
• Cheaper than a house: If you choose to convert an existing barn into a barndominium, they can sometimes be bought for a good price. Even id you have one built, it’s still less as expensive as buying a house.

Barndominiums For Spacious Living

 

A barndominium, or barn and condominium, originally referred to a barn that had been converted into a living space. Today, a barndominium is any standalone, metal or wooden, barn-shaped structure that has been turned into a home (whether or not it started as a barn).

Also Called A Barndo

A traditional home has limited design options, due to the need for load-bearing walls. Creating a wide, open living area without adding columns or supporting walls is difficult.

The frame of a barndominium allows you to use large open designs. You do not need interior walls for support. This provides more versatility when choosing the layout of the rooms and hallways.

The open design allows you to add almost any type of space to your home. Along with a barn or a workshop, you could add a studio or a garage. You can even add vaulted ceilings and other interesting design features with less of a hassle compared to a traditional home.

House construction costs estimates are based on square footage. While a new home comes in around $400.00 per square foot in California, a Barndominium can be much less; often around 2/3 of the cost of a new home.

The extra space that you gain may be used to add bedrooms or increase the size of rooms. You could also add dedicated rooms, such as a den or a family game room. With two-story ceilings and rooms that run the length or width of the barndominium, you have endless design options.

Barndominiums For RV Storage

As seen on Camper Report, this concept solves several issues for the RV owner who isn’t in to Full-Time RVing.

As the name suggests, a “Barndo” as it is sometimes called, is a mixture between a condominium and a barn/garage. These buildings are designed to provide coverage and protection to RVs while doubling as a living space. The center of the design is usually occupied by a large garage, but there is space on the sides and top for extra rooms.

Barndominiums come in many shapes, sizes, and decor styles. Lots of them are meant to resemble barns (hence the name), so they have some rustic charm. The earliest barndominiums were probably actual barns that were tall enough to store an RV during the winter. Nowadays, they are usually custom-built, but the design elements are still there. They are also called RV port homes, so that’s another name you might know them by.

 

Bielefield Construction Inc.

Bielefield Construction Inc. is here to help. If you are even thinking a Barndo might be a good fit for you, get in touch and let us walk through the planning stages with you. Our expertise, experience and genuine desire to see your dream become tangible, makes us the right choice for you in Sonoma County.