IMO and experience when buying a house or a horse farm, building a house and or horse farm. One should always look at future resale, value and desirability.
There are certain “norms” that people in general are used to and want. The further you deviate from those norms the more you reduce the overall market appeal. It can and does reduce the potential buyer pool considerably.
People may say, think, hope they will live on their property for a long time, for life. But things can and do change. One never knows when they will wake up one day and want to move, change. Or have to sell due to any number of life’s uncertainties.
A lot people, horse people will not find a house built next to and or connected or built over a barn “desirable”. IMO it will have very limited market appeal. As a life long horse person I would have no interest.
Horses and flies, spiders etc go hand and hand. No mater how diligent one is with pest control. Big or small horse operation the area around a barn gets a lot of traffic, horse and equipment. I try and keep the area around my barn look nice, but there are times, plenty of times, due to weather, work load etc, it is not keep as nice as I would like.
I am just not going to rake up, blow, sweep everyday to keep it looking nice. Equipment, trailers, mowers, etc can and do “drag-carry” mud/dirt etc around with them. Hay, straw, shavings, can and do seem to follow horse and humans with them, wind scatters it. I am used to the smell of horses, others no so much. I prefer to keep the smell of horses in the barn, barn area as much as possible
IMO and experience keep the area, landscaping etc around my house a lot easier looking nice than around my barn, shop, etc.
“What changed my mind finally was the firemen I know that told me a house should be at least 100’ from any barn, to protect both best”
Due to the nature of their job and training this is the mindset of “fireman”. But considering most suburban housing is separated by maybe 25-50’ and we never read, see a block of houses burn down when one house on the block has a a fire I don’t see how this should be much of a concern. I live my life by the “norms” not the exceptions. The News don’t “report” the norms they tend to only show the “exceptions” so people tend to think they are common.
“The hay will be kept in a separate small barn and not in a loft above the barn because of the fire hazard”
This is a common “theme” and holds little to no bases in fact. Fact is barn fires, especially horse barn fires are very rare. So rare that statistics for “horse barn fires” only aren’t even kept. They are lumped into all “Ag structures”. Regardless of use. My barn, a VERY large bank barn is over 300 years old. Not only do I store 100s of tons of hay and straw in it. So have ALL of the other owners of this property over the past 300 years. If barn fires due to hay storage were as common as people seem to think this ole barn would have burned down a long time ago. I have asked to my issuance agents if storing hay and straw in my barn will effect on the cost of my policy. In short no. At least not in my neck of the insurance woods. What does have an effect is the repair and maintenance and the barns “systems”, electrical, heat sources, water, etc.
“but I know some had to do with firewalls and with ventilation.”
This is and has been standard fire and building code for a long time. Be it a barn attached or a garage to the living area, “condo housing”. Some areas may only require a double layer of fire resident drywall. Others a cinder block wall. “Ventilation” is not for “air movement”, fire code calls for restriction of. “Holes” where electric, plumbing etc pass through to the living area have to be filled with code approved fire resistant “caulk, filler” etc. Doors have to have a fire “burn through” rating of X time. This shouldn’t add significant cost.
