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Would anyone like to help me design a future barn/house combo?

Have you consider some part of that, since you are not in flatlands, but have some elevations to work with, to put the barndominium on a slope and build it as some kind of part bank barn?

If you can make the upstairs on some side have their own entrance at ground level and the barn it’s own below, that would solve many of the access problems dwellings over a barn tend to have.

I have lived in all kinds of places, some apartments over a barn and it was ok, except the time I was injured and those stairs were like climbing the Himalayas, many times a day, for every little thing, ugh.

It is super handy to live right where you can just walk directly in the barn, don’t have to first brave the outdoors to get there.

Sounds like you will have fun just researching all about this.

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I’ve seen some really awesome bank barns over the years. Including some gorgeous conversions from full barn to barn/living space. Might be something to consider for OP?

What is the concept for the upper living quarters layout? As it is all plumbing would be in the front part of the structure

… and a second and/or third way out the second floor (other that jumping out of a window)?

Or a rope ladder.
You better not have a broken leg mending, as with one you can’t get up or down even thru regular stairs.
That elevator is looking better and better and a large generator to run it in storms :thinking:

Another option would be having main rooms, kitchen/living room bathroom and one possible bedroom at floor level, other bedrooms and storage above.

but should not be used if there is a structure fire… and the shaft for the elevator really need to be built correctly otherwise it can become a chimney

Right, they are a fire draw that expands fires much quicker and if they quit working and you are stuck between floors …

I would love a bank barn. No idea where I’d end up buying land or if it will be a blank slate but the only thing I’m ruling out is pancake flat and treeless for miles. I’ll definitely have a generator that powers everything.

Everything shaded in gray would be living space above. The kitchen and two bathrooms would be above or surrounding the feed, laundry and front entrance. I’m still not sure about stair location in this draft but it can be tweaked later.

The area above “storage” and possibly north of that (the aisle) will be a second story, covered balcony off the kitchen to grill and grow food. There would be an exterior set of stairs going down to the barn aisle door.

that will make some very long trips from the bedrooms

Without re-doing everything, here is the second floor in this draft. My first version had the stairs in a different arrangement with living room above the garage and bedrooms over the stalls. Bathrooms were north of the kitchen, over the aisle.

When I was designing my house and tack/bath/feed room, I was trying to get water sources close to each other, but builders were telling me to get things where we want first, we can get water any place we want to today.
Is nice if water and drain runs are straight and short, but about the last to consider, a very small detail between many more important stuff.

He was right, we put water sources, faucets, toilets, sinks, hydrants where we wanted them and it was no trouble to pipe to and away from them.

I might swap the office/closet and master, it would depend on how close to a road one is and if that front corner gets headlight beams across it… Can you tell I sleep poorly? :smiley:
Another thought…depending on your climate, if some or much of your 12 foot overhang is actually a porch, beyond what you already show, you have just created a huge amount of summer/fall outdoor space. Useful for all sorts of things.

Your only access for the main (non master) bath is through the master?

Actually, how do you access your master at all? There’s no door?

The entire back half of your living space is risking being quite dark–very little light is likely to make it into your windows, given the overhang. Perhaps consider moving your main living areas to the front?

Bathrooms next to kitchens is often in the “avoid” column, due to smells etc.

Are you sure you want your laundry downstairs? Laundry without stairs is a beautiful thing.

Yeah. I’m not too wrapped up in having all the water in one place so long as it makes sense, and isn’t over the stalls. A flood would be bad anywhere but I’d rather it wasn’t on the animals.

The overhang will be sloped and solid, so not much use on the second floor. I want it that way for an additional dry area the animals can putz around in during bad weather or a way to keep them safe and contained for a sitter.

Hopefully there won’t be any random headlights wherever I move! The last couple years of townhouse living with the car alarms, solicitors and constant lawn care noise is what I’m trying to get away from. LOL

I didn’t worry about doors or resizing anything because it was meant to be a quick sketch of where the different rooms might go.

The entire gray area would be a full two stories with the overhang being a separate and lower roof. Jawa’s second picture in post 7(?) demonstrates what the back half would look like, except I’d have the overhang extend around the deck area on left.

Wherever the bathrooms end up, they won’t be opening in or near the kitchen.

No, I’m not sure I want laundry on the lower floor but I do know I want a huge mud room to keep filthy and seasonal clothes out of the house. I’m torn about lugging clean-ish things downstairs or nasty crap up to be washed.

For your lean to area, consider making the top part a deck and install something similar to what’s in the link.

As far as laundry, I can tell you that if I had to hump it up and down the stairs (dirty or clean) I would HATE it. Consider putting in 2 laundry areas. The downstairs laundry area could double as a bathroom with a shower. The utility sink could do double duty in that situation.

I may have missed it in other posts, but how big is the main building (not including the lean to/deck space)?

I totally get the idea of not storing the majority of your hay, bedding, etc in the main barn. I store around 1-2 weeks worth of hay in the feed room and can store around 2-3 months worth of feed for 3 horses in a 12x12 space that also includes the stairs that lead to the loft.

The builder DIDN’T get the entry doors the correct size on the front of my barn. They were both supposed to be 3’6" doors. They are 3’. I use the feed room door RARELY, but it is nice to be able to leave it open. It creates a nice draw/air flow since that room is open to the loft above. I made the feed room door that accesses the aisle a 4’ door. It would have been better a bit wider, but then I would have lost floor space to store hay.

I would make your garage doors as wide as possible. I have a 12’ aisle and 10’ garage doors. It is no issue to back or drive a vehicle into the barn, but the 12’ wide makes it hard to get out of the vehicle.

Do you have a dedicated space for manure forks, shovels, brooms, wheel barrows ( I like to have 2. One for manure, one for clean things like bedding, hay, etc). I knew I wouldn’t have a dedicated space due to the relatively small footprint for my barn. I currently have one horse, who can’t be in a stall due to heaves. His stall gets used for wheel barrow storage. It makes the aisle look so much neater.

Ugh. I wasn’t feeling very inspired today but played around with the upstairs a little bit. Took a break and came back with an idea and then hit the fill in tool on the wrong spot in one of the final details, which took away all my black lines. (walls, stairs, etc.) It’s not hard to re-do but I have to be in the mood.

@jawa Not including the overhang, the barn and upper level is 44 wide (2 stalls plus center aisle) and 32 long (two 16 X 16 stalls). The front half is 68 wide (the 44 from above plus 24 of overhang) and 40 deep (24 garage and 16 foot aisle) Roof line will be T-shaped, if that makes sense.

I don’t really need stalls that big but figured it would be more useful to have less of them that could be split into an 8 foot width. Permanent residents should be a small group of goats using one full stall, eggs laying chickens using the one directly across the aisle, a couple small pigs in one of the 8 X 16’s on the end as needed and a small flock of exotic/pet/useless chickens across from them. The other two spots could be for goat births, raising chicks, dropped off puppies, whatever.

The plan is for wheelbarrows, forks, brooms, etc. to all be kept in the storage room.

ETA: Right now the whole thing is way to big for what I’ll actually need or want. Kitchen, mudroom and a large pantry are not really up for consideration but everything else in the house is.

Here’s a version of the living space with stairs reconfigurated and bathrooms spread out. The fill tool kept messing up so you’ll have to live with ugly tan. All the nooks in bedrooms are closets. Kitchen is purple and dining table with bench is brown. That’s not my dream pantry and I don’t love the W/D in a hallway but they could work. One option is to move the master bath over to the right (above the dotted line) and use most of that space for a proper laundry room and walk-in pantry.

What about something that is side by side? Here is a picture, not great but gives you a general idea.
14031 Barndominum Horseman’s Ranch : Ranch for Sale in Stephenville, Erath County, Texas : #82533 : RANCHFLIP

My thing about living upstairs is those times when you may not be mobile to climb stairs (like a blown out knee etc. or getting older).

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I’m not ruling out a side by side, but I haven’t found one yet that has what I need and want without covering a lot of ground and wasting so much space above the barn. Totally get the point about stairs but a lift or elevator should cover that. If not, I probably won’t be able to take care of animals so it would be time to move anyway.

This design is one thought for a piece of land that might only have a small clear and flat-ish spot to build on. I’m sure it will evolve into something else by the time I’m ready to build.