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

[Simkie]

When we were looking at property, I saw this one. This sort of setup allows SO much more flexibility than living space upstairs. Barn connected to the house via the garage & mud room.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/4-Woods-Rd_Sherman_CT_06784_M44624-61076

This property is also roughly the acreage you’re talking about, over the kind of terrain you’re talking about.

Pair this sort of set up with a main level master house + two upstairs bedrooms and you’d have something super accessible and easy to use without all of the problems of living space above animal space.

[4horses]

You definitely need to put a lot of thought into how you put this together. There are always things you wish you could do differently after the fact.

I am not a fan of combining the house and barn area. The fire risk is a big issue. Any hay or shavings would need to be stored separately in its own storage building and you would need to cart hay/shavings to the barn. That is a lot of moving, especially if you use the stalls and need to bring in shavings 2-3 times a week.

My personal preference would be to have both buildings next to each other on ground level. No stairs to climb, and put a roof covered walk through connecting the 2 buildings. A friend of mine did this and was very pleased with the results.

I hate stairs. As people get older their risk of tripping and falling, especially if you have dogs, goes way up. If you are putting in an elevator, plan that to begin with. If you aren’t putting in an elevator, where are the stairs going to be located? Are you going to put in a second exit with stairs as well? My apartment in college had stairs and for fire regulations, the top floor was connected to a hallway, so you always had 2 exits.

I think I would put 3 stalls down one side of the barn, the opposite side can be storage. Your bedrooms should be over the storage area to reduce noise from the horses moving around.

My other concern would be noise. My old horse likes to stand outside my window at night- I can hear every time she walks by, snorts, or stomps a fly. She kicks the barn walls when she wants out of her stall and I think I would not sleep well with the barn attached to the house.

Another friend put in a barn apartment, at ground level. I quite liked that design. 6 stalls with an open aisle and an apartment at the end.

[CrazyGuineaPigLady]

This is the same barn with a first level living area, plus two beds and a bath upstairs. House is twice the depth and about 12 feet longer so I could get some light into the master bedroom. Green is feed room/storage, brown is mud/laundry, red is stairs, the long room with blue is master bedroom and the rest is kitchen/dining/living with a gray patio. There is a 16 foot aisle that completely separates the house and barn.

For those of you against this idea, what’s the dealbreaker? (besides insurance and fire risk) Is it mostly living “above” the animals or stairs? I hate that the house footprint has doubled and there is now so much wasted space above the barn and aisle.

[CrazyGuineaPigLady]

@Simkie

When we were looking at property, I saw this one. This sort of setup allows SO much more flexibility than living space upstairs. Barn connected to the house via the garage & mud room.

I’d go for that in a heartbeat if it was already built. Even a shed row type barn would work for the animals. It’s me who wants the climate controlled feed room with hot water and a wide center aisle. The problem is the more you go outwards, the more you spend on materials and labor so you could potentially put the money into a slab, better roof, elevator instead.

[Bluey]

Open space above stalls in barns is wonderful for quality of air and ventilation.

Unless in the frozen North, high ceilings in barns are an asset, not wasted usable space.

Two main advantages of building a house up is more use of footprint, easier to heat and cool and less cost to building, just one roof for the same total square feet.

Some of those advantages are lost if the house is over a barn, as you have to double up on insulation and bug and pest entry, more costly fire walls, insurance cost and permitting may be more.
Main living space on second floor and needing to go there many times a day makes for that much more effort and time spent getting around than if on the same level.

In the end, is your barn and your house.
Building what you want is also important, remember you will have to live and be happy there.

[Simkie]

• Added complexity of building with “cold” below “warm” living space
• Stairs (or lift/elevator) required every single day
• Noise
• Smell
• Resale
• Fire risk
• Insurance

…just to start.

Your building costs are going to be less with a more “normal” set up. Your resale opportunities will be better. Moving in/out will be easier with ground floor living. Even having guests will be easier & more private, if they have their space upstairs and you have your suite in the main level.

A single story barn will be less imposing on the landscape, freeing up the view, or give it a loft for storage. You don’t have to store hay in there, but someone else might want to.

[CrazyGuineaPigLady]

I keep hearing about insurance rates but more than half the barns in my area that provide housing for the barn manager, have it above the barn. Has anyone actually seen the difference in cost? I’m not trying to dismiss anything but I’ve lived in a few apartments above the horses I cared for and they heated and cooled like every other two or three story house I’ve lived in since. The stairs I totally get and would like to avoid if possible.

Either way, this project is a year or more out and I don’t even own the land yet, much less know if it will be in Alaska or Hawaii. What I’m trying to do is work out a few ideas for an easy to manage barn with attached or very close house, not lock this in with an architect . LOL

[CrazyGuineaPigLady]

@Simkie

A single story barn will be less imposing on the landscape, freeing up the view, or give it a loft for storage.

To clarify… the barn part of this as I have it now will not be a single story so the view of that is still roughly the same view. What you can see from inside the house will change drastically, though.

[clanter]

Once OP has decided on a possible location then they need to see if other similar structures are there. If so, find out who built those and inspect the quality of the work (if allowed) as this type of building has many unique problems that often tradesman will not understand how to address (you can not fully rely upon an architect unless they have a proven track record for this type of structure, even then there will still be questions).

Local tradesmen will not decline a project, even will tell you ain’t no problem we can build anything.

[CrazyGuineaPigLady]

Okay, here’s the same barn with a couple feet taken off the overhang, stall depth and aisle between stalls. The house is still connected by a 16 foot aisle but I used the left side for the feed room and a bit of storage, so no longer a drive-thru. I took some of the overhang for tool storage.

Dark gray is overhang and purple is house.

[ayrabz]

I’m in team build separate, but thats not what you asked help with, so one thing I will ask: have you researched ‘outdoor’ cargo/elevator lifts? As in a lot of the nice beach houses have them. no ‘shaft’ inside to have issues with. easy access to a deck area with a house entrance from deck AND…so much better for dirty paddock boots, boot rack outside, and inside ‘mud room’ type walk thru area.

[Bluey]

@ayrabz

I’m in team build separate, but thats not what you asked help with, so one thing I will ask: have you researched ‘outdoor’ cargo/elevator lifts? As in a lot of the nice beach houses have them. no ‘shaft’ inside to have issues with. easy access to a deck area with a house entrance from deck AND…so much better for dirty paddock boots, boot rack outside, and inside ‘mud room’ type walk thru area.

How interesting, may be an option to living up there:

Cargo Lift - DIY Cargo lift up to 27' height - Voyager II Lift Outdoor...

[CrazyGuineaPigLady]

That is very much along the lines of what I was thinking and why I want the aisle at least 16 feet wide. The elevator could go north of the mudroom or garage to be really convenient (and still allow small vehicles to drive through) or off the balcony by using some of the overhang area.

ETA: Pretend there is no longer a living area above the stalls and everything related to the house would be south of the balcony elevator.

[ayrabz]

not sure I’m getting the new layout idea…anyway. I was thinking of it somewhere you had stairs up to the deck/balcony so you’d have your french doors or slider or whatever to enter from that area. ALSO make sure its NOT just rated for cargo, you’ll want to get on it with your items I"m sure. I know I wouldn’t want one that would only work for me to run around and get up there to unload and then same thing to re load. https://aquariuselevators.com/ (more examples) and I’d never put it in the barn -aisle or otherwise. I"d keep this connected to people only area adjoining a second level deck entry to house on the outside. non horse area.

[CrazyGuineaPigLady]

It’s confusing because I’m using the bottom floor (first post) to scratch in rough details of the top floor without recreating it until I have a solid idea. Picture only this area in red being the house (using area above aisle but not stalls) and don’t pay attention to anything other than caring for animals in lousy weather or having an emergency vet call at midnight. Add a power outage, impending tornado and zombie apocalypse so all the worst case scenarios are covered. LOL

I would like more of an all weather elevator that is close to the rooms crap needs to be carried to, laundry and kitchen, and also use the mudroom as a buffer from outside to inside. At my former beach timeshare they had lifts similar to your link but they were under a roof and had railing all the way up to keep drunk people from falling out so that’s what I was imagining. I won’t have permanent horses so that amount of aisle is huge for my daily needs.

[Simkie]

If you’re considering areas with tornados, you probably want a basement?

The best barns I’ve ever been in for bad weather have all the storage etc on the windward side and the stalls that open to the outside on the other side. That way you don’t lose the use of half your runs when you get driving rain or snow.

[Bluey]

@Simkie

If you’re considering areas with tornados, you probably want a basement?

The best barns I’ve ever been in for bad weather have all the storage etc on the windward side and the stalls that open to the outside on the other side. That way you don’t lose the use of half your runs when you get driving rain or snow.

Or a safe room, built to withstand a tornado.
They even have some such you can put people and horses in there also:

[Bluey]

Interesting.
This firm is one of the more respected barn building ones.
This is some they have to say about building human dwellings attached or over a barn:

Design Guidance on Adding Living Quarters to Your Horse Barn

[CrazyGuineaPigLady]

Tornado alley is not one of the areas I’m drawn to but we get a legit warning here every year or so, along with hurricane remnants. I’d like to build at least the entire lower floor using cinder block and plan to use one of the interior rooms as a storm shelter.

[ayrabz]

I’m sorry, I was expecting your living space on the above level would have a deck/balconies etc? and the lift scenario from all I shared anyway is an outside to one of those levels situation. I wouldn’t want it in my barn aisles. I can’t imagine one of these coming thru a flooring into a residence above. but you have a specific agenda. So, really? I think you’re ready to talk to companies and see if they’ll approve/stand behind what you’re talking about.