Ideas for a 30x40 pole barn build

[shawn84&92]

I am in the planning stages of a 30x40 pole barn and wanted to get your opinions of my ideas. I bought a half acre and the covenants say it has to have a single family dwelling.

My thoughts were to do 16 ft sidewalls and have a loft apartment in half of the building to satisfy the covenants. That way, I would still have car storage under the loft.

The 40 ft will be the front of the building with a custom made set of french doors 8 ft wide so I can pull in a car under th loft area, and a window on each side of the french doors to give it a little more house look. There would also be two 10ft wide garage doors on the front and a single garage door in the back to be able to pull through.

Still planing, so give me some ideas.
Thanks,
Shawn

 

[Jimmy_B]

That's sounds great. We couldn't build anything like that here.

 

[bobj49f2]

Sounds like an OK plan to me, every man's dream building but I'm not so sure of your neighbors. You said you have covenants, which I've heard can be very restrictive. I live on a farm so I don't have to deal with that, just my in-laws which can be a lot worse than any covenants.

Will this plan fit into the neighborhood? Have you run this past the association that maintain the covenants? That's the first place I'd go. If the design passes the restrictions of the covenants your neighbors still might not like if it they feel it doesn't fit the neighborhood. Having happy neighbors is very important if you want a nice peaceful life.

I knew a guy who bought into a subdivision out in the country and since the seller was one person, not a huge realtor, and there wasn't a set design of the homes, each owner could use any builder they wanted he thought he could build anyway he wanted. He hired his own contractor and started building the home at a 90° rotation from the other homes in the area. Why? I don't know, he just wanted the house facing a different way. After the foundation was poured the seller happened by and saw the odd angle and put a stop work order on the house. BTW, the seller was a lawyer so he didn't any problem doing this. My friend ended up buying a very expensive man door and insulated windows for the side of the garage so it matched the rest of the windows in the side of the house facing the street.

 

[shawn84&92]

The restrictions are
1. no mobile homes
2. no commercial livestock
3. single family dwelling
4. no commercial buildings.

It is a single dirt road with four houses on it and two unsold lots. You are very right about keeping the neighbors happy, the neighbor to my left said he didn't care what I built and wouldn't mind a mobile home except for the restrictions. The house on the right is fairly new and I think is going into foreclosure

I do need to check any county building codes, because I am not in the city limits.
The only thing I worry about is the 16 ft side walls.

 

[50flathead]

Sounds like you are in a pretty development friendly area. I'm planning to move to a place like that someday soon. Enjoy your build!

 

[bobj49f2]

From some of the advertisements I've read and heard on TV and radio, many of the pole building builders can make a building look like anything to fit into any kind of environment, commercial or residential. We just had a big free stall barn built on the farm and when my son was deciding on the builder he got all of the sales brochures from all the manufacturers. They had some very nice looking building that I wouldn't mind living in.

Sounds like you have a fairly liberal area to build in. I'd go for it if you can, build it the way you want but I'd also take in consideration the neighbors and try to make it as less pole building as possible. Even if you on neighbor doesn't mind his thoughts may change if he ever tries to sell his property and can't find some one who wants to live next to a pole building house.

 

[Cheap5.0]

With the right builder/designer they can make the sidewalls look about normal. You sound a bit like me, in that your not extraordinarily creative when it comes to buildings....so it may be hard to picture it now. Just leave it up to a competent architect and builder.

 

[shawn84&92]

Finalized the plans, and should start building in about 4 weeks.

Final Plan:
30x40x12 with a 20 ft fully enclosed shed down the entire 40 foot side.

Restrictions say it has to be a single family dwelling, so the 20x40 shed will be the living area.

2- 10x10 doors in the front and 1 -10x10 in the back.

Dirt pad was done today!