Barn Style Home Architecture
Lately, we’ve become obsessed with barn style home architecture. Since our recent Parade Home is designed in this unique style, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. There is much to love about the barn style of architecture. For one, barn style homes are elegant in their simplicity. Although they can range from the basic barn shape to a more detailed version of the barn style architecture, their simple roof lines and cohesive and balanced look make us say “ahhhhh” every time we see one. Take a look at a couple of examples of actual barns to see where we get our inspiration for this style.
Not in love yet? Well, the real magic happens when we take elements of the style and apply them in a way that really speaks to the client. In our recent Parade Home, we used the barn style architecture in a rather overt way. We took the barn shape and used it with varying heights and positioning. We took 4 basic barn shapes next to each other and created a series of spaces, using the structure to create outdoor rooms as well as indoor rooms. Our design department is constantly learning new techniques and styles, and they surprise us regularly with new ways to approach historical architecture. This was one of them. In this exterior view, you can really see the barn shape and the different “barns” positioned next to each other.
While the exterior of each space is similar in shape, the interior can be configured in a variety of ways. In this one, the far left space was the outdoor kitchen and living space. The next space over to the right was the main Kitchen-Living-Dining space. This space contained the traditional high ceilings with the old-fashioned cupolas to let light into the space. It also had the traditional tall stone fireplace, but with a twist (see below). Moving to the right again, the all-glass link served as an Entry but it is as if you are still outside when you walk into the space. We call it a “link” because it links one barn to another. The ceilings were much lower here. The next space to the right contained the bedrooms and loft area (yes, we love lofts and just had to have one). Then, the final space over was the 3-car garage. The master bedroom is on the first floor, making this a perfect retirement home. In fact, the whole home is all one-story other than the loft. It includes a separate Casita, which is also nice for retiring or couples with family coming to visit.
Barn Styles
While there are just a couple of different barn styles to draw inspiration from, they all take us back to a simpler time. Back in the day of “barn raisings”, communities came together to help one another. It was a time without technology, and life was harder. Yet, it was also very satisfying to be such a necessary and integral part of your neighbor’s livelihood. I guess that’s what we love most about barn style architecture. It reminds us of our history and sometimes even stories we’ve heard from our own family members…and isn’t that what architecture is supposed to be? We as humans often respond best to the architecture that takes us to special place or memory that means something to us individually. That is why we at Jenkins strive so hard to learn more about our clients and what speaks to them individually before designing them a home. We want our designs to be architecturally significant to the homeowner and architecturally accurate for the discerning guests who may visit it. Other than that, it just needs to be exactly what the client wants.
