Photos Pole barn houses/shops. Show me those pics.

man32ahan

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Feb 2, 2018
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Fairfield, Illinois
Me and my wife recently sold our home. We are moving to the country and we were originally going to buy a modular and I build a shop, but now we’re thinking about a pole barn house/shop all in one.

Anybody live in one? Show me the pics. What do you like? And what would you do differently if you had to do it again?

Thanks in advance.
 
The only ones I have seen had been on real estate websites for hundreds of days, resale will likley be much more difficult than house with separate shop and barn on the property.
 
If i ever build again it will be a shed house. Some of the ones I've seen are amazing. And you will only be taxed for an improved pole building instead of a house.
That’s my thinking. I’m a farmer and in rural southern Illinois so it make senses for me to go that route.

I know resale value ain’t the best, but this will be on my own land and will never consider selling as the land has been in the family for years.
 
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Don't live in it but my wife wishes I did. Tried to get away from the bland "pole barn" look. Two tone, nice windows, and asphalt instead of metal roof. Fully insulated, drywalled, and heated. Great builder. He did the shell, I did all the mechanicals and hired a drywaller. Capable but too big a job for me.
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Here’s my “barn house”. It’s not a pole barn it’s all metal structure except interior walls. Did 95% of the work myself. I don’t have any shop area inside. I have a shop and a barn outside. Started with a 40’x90’ metal building. Its 40’x60’ house 3 bed 2.5 bath and the other 30’x40’ is a 2 car garage and a reloading room. It looks a lot better outside now that I have grass.
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I want to build one if I ever move to the country. If you are on Facebook, go to the page called barndominium living. Some nice builds on there along with some tips on building them. Morton's website so has a bunch of them on there that people have turned into homes.
 
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A good buddy of mine is a carpenter and just finished up doing a living space in a pole barn and he said he would never recommend it unless the company putting up the pole barn does a really good job of getting it put up square and better than your typical pole barn construction crew. He said he essentially ended up building a house inside the pole barn to make the living space turn out decent. He also said starting with a quality pole barn like a Morton would be a huge benefit also.
 
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If you live in a humid area of the country I would advise against.. during rapid temp changes you will get a large amount of sweating on the inside side of the exterior wall metal. Most people don't realize until it's too late.
 
I’ve seen a few out here in Norther Colorado. Well not Pole Barn/House but “Shouse” steel building/ shop-house.
Looks like a great idea. I would worry about the exhaust smell. I guess no different than an attached garage just a lot more common wall space. The ones I have seen are housing tractors and the like so there tends to be more exhaust I guess
 
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Here’s my “barn house”. It’s not a pole barn it’s all metal structure except interior walls. Did 95% of the work myself. I don’t have any shop area inside. I have a shop and a barn outside. Started with a 40’x90’ metal building. Its 40’x60’ house 3 bed 2.5 bath and the other 30’x40’ is a 2 car garage and a reloading room. It looks a lot better outside now that I have grass. View attachment 7072800View attachment 7072801View attachment 7072802View attachment 7072803
Looks good!
 
Here’s my “barn house”. It’s not a pole barn it’s all metal structure except interior walls. Did 95% of the work myself. I don’t have any shop area inside. I have a shop and a barn outside. Started with a 40’x90’ metal building. Its 40’x60’ house 3 bed 2.5 bath and the other 30’x40’ is a 2 car garage and a reloading room. It looks a lot better outside now that I have grass. View attachment 7072800View attachment 7072801View attachment 7072802View attachment 7072803
Dude - that's amazing, very inspiring!