Photo courtesy of Vermont Historical Society

About our inventory

The Barn People maintain a large inventory of barns, in many shapes and sizes. Each barn is "one of a kind", yet all of them share the same warm mellowed timbers bound firmly together with wooden pegs. The integrity of the precision joinery, executed by hands that took the time to do things right the first time, will be obvious. All have withstood the test of time and hard use; many of their European ancestors have stood solidly since the Middle Ages. Each barn offers pleasing proportions and a simplicity of design, which are easily adaptable either to contemporary or traditional interpretation. Many offer endless possibilities for different floor levels, lofts and basements and due to the enormous adaptability of the barn frame, the possible configurations for personalized living spaces are virtually unlimited.

Our inventory is constantly changing as we buy and sell barns, however there exist some basic categories with regards to sizes.

Our smaller outbuildings called granaries are quite suitable for studios, home offices, home additions and outbuildings such as garden sheds. They tend to be roughly 14' wide and 18' long or 16' wide and 20 feet long. There are usually provisions for a small loft, and because they are tall, they offer a ground floor plan with a nice airy feeling about them.

Wagon and carriage barns or "cart houses" range in size from 18' wide and 20' or 24' long up to 24' wide and 36' long. In addition, 20' wide and 30' long is also a typical size for this type barn. These barns are usually 1 and 1/2 stories tall and have provisions for a loft. They are ideal for garages with studios or guest rooms above, small vacation homes or "Great Room" additions. They are also the perfect size for a fabulous country kitchen.

Many of our past projects have included the above two barn types, connected together creating a complex similar to the early New England farmstead which permitted the farmer to stay indoors during long winter months, instead of walking outdoors from barn to barn for various chores. Here again, the possible configurations are endless.

The majority of our clients prefer the three bay, English Style hay barn .This structure lends itself very nicely to barn home conversion and is capable of multi-level living spaces. It also makes a splendid "Great Room" when building the rest of the home conventionally. These range in size from 24' wide and 36' long to 36' x 46'. The most often utilized size is 30' x 40'. This barn is the most typical barn you'll see dotting the Vermont landscape and was the most important barn of any farm.

The larger barns in our inventory average 30' x 50', 40' x 60', or 40' x 80' and tend to be two to three levels tall. These are most often utilized for commercial developments or large homes. On a number of occasions we have shortened the length by simply deleting a section or two. We have also cut the bottoms of the posts to shorten the height of these barns.

Our inventory changes every few weeks. We have some people on waiting lists who have requested a specific size or shape who are then contacted and informed of recent acquisitions. On a number of occasions we have also fabricated structures, utilizing antique timbers to specific sizes or shapes to meet various client's needs. Our own "office" barn was built this way.

The sizes and shapes of barns vary considerably. The above categories also contain many odd sizes both larger and smaller. No two are alike.