What in the World Is a Barndominium

You’ve heard of tiny homes, shipping container homes, and even restored and converted buses and vans -- but are you familiar with barndominiums? Over the last few years, barndominiums (also referred to as barndos). have been making a splash throughout the Southern region of the U.S., and it’s exactly what you’d think it is. Barn + condominium = barndominium. Chances are if you’ve been on social media at all during the pandemic, then you’ve come across a barndo account or two. Let’s get into what it really means to build a barndominium and why they’re becoming so popular.

What is a barndominum?

Whether you live on a homestead or you have a pretty piece of property to build on, you may have come across barndominiums. The barndo experts, the Barndominium Company, define a barndominium as a “custom-designed, steel-framed, single-family residence with metal roof and siding.” Basically, they are small houses (although recent trends would say otherwise) made from metal barns or buildings built for agricultural purposes. While these new types of homes may seem trendy for the times, they’ve actually been around for years in rural America. You can learn a little more about the history from this 1989 New York Times article. Now that you understand what a barndominium is, let’s look at just why they’re so popular.

The benefits of a barndominium

While some may have combined their living spaces with barns purely for practical reasons, it has become quite trendy over the last few years, and for a good reason! Here are some of the top factors of why many landowners are opting for a barndo on their property.

1. Cost-effective: Everyone’s favorite factor - you can save lots of money! The materials are generally cheap, it’s quick to build, which means your costs will be lower, and you can even renovate existing structures so you may not even have to start from scratch.
2. Easily adaptable: The interior of a barndo is extremely spacious, and most utilize partitions vs. traditional walls which gives you tons of flexibility and freedom to move around floor plans as you please.
3. Time is on your side: Need your structure set up quickly? No problem! In some areas, it is even possible to have a barndo ready in as little as two weeks.
4. Very durable: Thanks to the steel frame, your barndo will be able to withstand damage from various types of weather (which is why they’re so popular in the south). Plus, maintenance costs will stay low thanks to fewer upkeep issues associated with steel.

With all of these benefits in mind, it’s worth noting that a barndo isn’t just a great option for a living space. In fact, you could also consider utilizing a barndominium for other purposes like a guest house, meeting center for an organization, an office or studio, and even as a game room. You can purchase a build kit directly from many steel manufacturers or even floor plans from companies like Our Barndominium Life to give to your contractor. Think that a barndominium is the right fit for you? Check out Land Hub’s current land listings to find the land to build on. Like this article? Please feel free to share or post a link to your site: https://www.landhub.com/land-news/what-in-the-world-is-a-barndominium/