Barndominiums are increasing in popularity all over the United States, including the Lake Conroe area. In fact several articles state that they are the biggest 2021 trend in home design. Across the pond in Great Britain, barn conversions are also popular. They take an old barn and turn it into a beautiful and unique home. While you can do that here, barn conversions and barndominiums are not necessarily the same thing. Barndominiums are typically new structures that look like barns on the outside, but are lovely, spacious homes. Let’s explore the pros and cons on building one and why it is trending big this year.
Pros:
Customization is probably the biggest advantage that building a barndominium offers. We are not talking about interior design. Every home can be decorated to your own uniuue taste. Instead, we are talking about the actual floorplan design of your home. You can literally design the inside how you want it. Some people have the bottom floor as their barn, workshop, garage, business, etc. Others have those aspects for only half of the downstairs floor. While some fit out the entire space as their living quarters. You can build a second story or have vaulted ceilings.
As you can see, customizing the floorplan is simple and attractive to homeowners. The versatility this kind of home offers is amazing. The steel frame of the barndominium enables you to have open concept floorplans with long spaces without support. “Once you see one, they just have a ‘wow’ factor. You can accomplish things you just can’t do with a regular stick-and-brick or site-built home,” Jonathan Eller said in Community Impact. Its strong structure is a huge advantage.
Cons:
The biggest con is that many cities or master-planned communities will not allow the construction of a barndominium. Therefore, you have to find the right place for your homesite. You cannot choose to build anywhere. According to Green Garage, “Barndominiums tend to appear in rural communities because the building codes tend to be more relaxed in townships and loosely structured governing areas compared to the average municipality.” If you prefer to live in a rural area, then you truly have no disadvantage to building a barndominium. If you don’t want to live in the country, then you might have a more difficult time finding the right place to build.
Peach Creek Farms
One local development in Willis saw the rising trend and demand for barndominiums. Therefore, they created a place specifically with that option. They offer 1-5 acre lots with the expressed ability for landowners to build a barndominium. At the time of the Community Impact article, only two lots were available. If this doesn’t illustrate the popularity with this style of home, I don’t know what will. But don’t lose heart, there are many other developments around the Lake Conroe area that are catering to the barndominium trend. Of course, there is always the possiblity of buying rural property and building on your own.
To get inspiration, check out Newsweek’s article featuring many stunning pictures of both the exterior and interior of barndominiums. While we see this style of home trending big in 2021, I think in a few years it will no longer be a trend. Instead it will be a solidified style in home design.