From floor plans to prefab kits to local builders, Barndominium.org is your start-to-finish guide to building a barndominium — in any of the 50 states.
A barndo gives you a real home for far less than traditional construction.
Start with one of our 1,200+ barndominium floor plans, from cozy 1-bedroom designs to 6,000 sq ft shop-houses.
Prefer to build from a shell? Compare barndominium kits with quick-ship options.
Not sure what it costs? Our barndominium cost guide and calculator break down 2026 prices by size and finish. And when you’re ready to build, we’ll help you find a barndominium builder near you.
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What is A Barndominium?
A barndominium — “barndo” for short — is a barn-style building designed and finished as a home. It keeps the simple, durable shell of a metal or post-frame barn, then adds the insulation, wiring, plumbing, windows, doors, and interior finishes that turn it into comfortable living space. The result is a wide-open, clear-span home you can lay out almost any way you like: a full house, a house-plus-shop, or a weekend place.
People choose barndominiums for two big reasons — affordability and build quality.
A steel or post-frame shell goes up fast and costs less than conventional framing, and the clear-span design means no interior load-bearing walls to work around. Whether you want a compact 2-bedroom or a sprawling family compound, there’s a barndominium that fits.
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WHY BUILD A BARNDOMINIUM?
The main benefit is affordability and build quality
A barndo allows you to have it all: a large home which has space for work and play, but is surprisingly cost-effective.
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Fast & Economical Construction
With a barndo kit and the help of a skilled contractor, you can rapidly and affordably build a home of your own.
Open Floor Plans
Almost all barndos feature spacious floor plans with few obstructions. Such a layout can be satisfying both from a functional and aesthetic point of view.
Size to Value
You can build a huge house if you choose a barndominium design at a cost which is startlingly low (we will go into details on barn home costs shortly).
Eco-Friendly Materials
A barndo can be constructed out of metal, wood, structural insulated panels or any other materials to suit your preference.
They can also be a combination hybrid of multiple materials.
Aesthetic Options
A completed barndo can look like a traditional rural farmhouse or a sleek modern building. The finished appearance of the structure is entirely up to you.
Residential or Commercial
While barndo homes are a popular, they are not exclusively residential. In fact, they are ideal for a wide range of commercial uses like event venues, churches, retail stores or workshops.
Most barndominiums finish out around $65–$120 per square foot for a standard, move-in-ready build, and $130–$200+ per square foot for high-end finishes.
What are some of the factors which impact the price per square foot?
- Type of foundation: Different types of foundation are more or less expensive. You will need to choose a design which is suitable for your structure and location.
- Cost of materials: Many barndominiums are made of metal, but some are made of other materials. Plus, finishing materials may differ as well.
- Doors, windows and features: Installing doors, windows and additional features can all raise the cost of a structure.
- Insulation: The insulation you choose can impact the cost to build your home. Keep in mind, however, that it may be less expensive in the long run to opt for higher quality insulation now. Doing so may save you money on long-term heating and cooling bills.
- Delivery cost: There can be variations in how much it costs to deliver a barndominium kit depending both on the specifics of what you ordered as well as your location.
- Labor cost: How much you pay contractors to build your barndo may range significantly based on their experience, processes, and more. If you choose DIY for some portion of the work, that is one way you could lower your costs (though it still requires a time investment).
- Cost to purchase the land and outfit it with utilities (water, power, cable, etc.): Do not forget to factor in the cost of your land as well as any steps you need to take to prepare it when calculating the full price of a barndo.
Who Should Consider Living in a Barndo?
Could a barndominium be the right kind of home for you?
Here are some signs that it could be the ideal option for you:
You enjoy spacious, open layouts.
You have the budget to invest in a larger home, but do not want to spend an arm and a leg.
You want to be able to customize a large home to your exact needs.
You have a practical reason to want a large, functional space, for example because you want your home to also include a workshop.
These are just some of the many scenarios where a barndominium could be suitable.
Types of Barndos
There’s more than one way to build a barndominium. The three most common shells are:
The most common material used for metal barndominiums is steel.
Constructing your home out of steel offers the following advantages:
Save time and money on construction. With prefabricated metal parts, it is fast and easy to build a metal barndominium. As such, it also is more cost-effective than putting up a wood structure.
Spend less money maintaining your home. Because steel is much more durable than wood, upkeep is minimal, saving you more money as well as time and stress.
Your house can stand up better to harsh weather. Steel is far less likely than wood to buckle under high winds or other intense weather conditions.
You won’t have issues with wood rot. If you live in a climate where humidity and mold are common problems, steel is a much smarter choice than wood as it will not be susceptible to wood rot. Pests don’t chew on steel. Termites and other pests that feed on wood will not harm your steel structure.
Your home is fire-resistant. Although fire can damage metal, it is still more resistant than wood.
Steel offers superior longevity. Few materials can stand the test of time as well as steel. If you build a barndominium today, it should be in excellent condition for the rest of your life. Indeed, you should be able to pass it down to your descendants.
Metal can be an eco-friendly building material for a barndo. You can build a barndominium from recycled steel. Even though your building should stand for a very long time, if it needs to be demolished for whatever reason in the future, you can rest assured that it too will be recyclable.
Barndominiums are typically large, open space, airy homes. Because their square footage tends to be on the high side, you need to ensure that your home is particularly well-insulated. That will help keep the interior comfortable in all seasons, reducing the amount of energy and money you need to spend on heating and cooling.
One effective option for making a barndominium energy-efficient is to construct it out of structural insulated panels.
Let’s start out with the basics, in case you are not familiar with structural insulated panels at all. Often known simply by the abbreviation “SIPs,” structural insulated panels are a building system that is popular for both residential and commercial structures.
You can picture an individual structural insulated panel like a sandwich. It consists of a foam core for insulation, with a structural facing on either side of it. Usually the facings are made out of oriented strand board (OSB), but other materials can also be used.
This type of barndominium may be known as a “pole barn,” a “post-framed building,” or simply a “pole building.”
This is a more traditional method of construction, though it may include some pre-engineered elements.
The main attraction to wood as a building material versus metal is probably that the cost per square foot for the materials tends to be cheaper.
Nevertheless, the building process tends to be slower and more involved, requiring a higher level of expertise. This can offset those costs savings.
Plus, in the long run, metal offers a number of compelling benefits wood does not (see below).
READY TO GET STARTED?
Start with a floor plan — browse 1,200+ designs by size and bedroom count. Browse Floor Plans →
Build from a shell — compare steel, wood, and SIP packages. Shop Barndominium Kits →
Find help near you — connect with a builder in your state. Find a local Barndominium Builder →
