Everyone was so great last time I posted a question I thought I might ask this one.  I am very seriously thinking about constructing a pole building and making a 4 stall horse area, garage, and 800-1000 sq. ft. house inside of the same building.  First off what do you call such a thing?  Has anyone you know done it?  What are the problems with it?  Insurance, zoning, etc.  I think it would be so neat having a cowboy interior and be able to step out the back door and see the horses without getting wet or cold..........  thanks

House / barn combos are fairly common in Europe.  I saw a tv program once that showed them and I thought it was a terrific idea.  However, I'm sure the zoning and insurance would be a headache.  Let us know if you actually pull this off.

RIDE ON!

We built a 20'x20' Living area in our 80x120' pole  barn w/5 Stalls. My wife, 2 kids & I lived there for almost a year while I built the house we are now in. The problems I ran in to were 1. Getting a good airtight seal arround the 2 exterior walls we had, which when it got too far below zero would start freezing up pipes. 2. With the slab on grade, the floor got kind of cold in the winter. I wouldn't do a frost free footing on a living space again. 3. Had an F5 tornado that was a mile and a half wide pass by 3 miles south and we had no where to go, SCARY when sitting in a pole barn! 4. mice! Over all I didn't mind it and I think if you add all the +'s & -'s it's not a bad way too go.

It was nice to just be right there though.

Let me know if I can help you out with anything else though.

I designed one a few years back but things changed and my plans were never built.  You'll want a "T" shaped hallway, dividing the living quarters from the barn with a huge breezeway or hall.  Which could double really nicely for parking your truck in if hail comes your way!  Laying heating in the floor is almost a must, as is a fly system, proper cleaning and waste disposal.  With just a few bad choices you can watch your investment become a liability.

I do know that the resale on these set-ups can be very difficult, so plan well and over plan...then over build and keep the flies under control!

I wouldn't build a home inside a pole barn...you'll have poles in the middle of rooms or your rooms will be really tiny and very boxy.  A freespan building gives you so many more options both inside the living area and the horse part!

???

Most "pole" barns are freespan - up to 100' now in WI, and that's with considerations for snowload.  Anyway, there has been one for sale near Manitowoc for some time that is having difficulty finding a buyer.  I hear the banks won't do a traditional mortgage because it's not considered a primary dwelling.  This place is 80' x 240' with a 24' addition off one gable end for the stalls and feed storage.  I think the living area is about 1000 sq. ft.  While I think the idea is neat, be concerned about resale.  We looked at a unique house for sale a few years back that was new const. built with a hip roof like an old barn.  Stalls, storage, and garage in lower level, house all above.  Kinda neat if you like stairs, mice, and flies.

Difference in regional lingo...down around Texas and Oklahoma a "pole barn" is a barn that is not freespan and has poles about every 12-20' inside the structure to support each section.  A pole barn isn't a metal freespan building in these parts.

Pole barn is term used to describe structures like this:  http://www.rodeobarns.com/

We kept an eye on one such combo near friends we visited. It went up for sale, and was on the market a very LONG time. I, too, understand that financing is a problem, as well as insurance.

Good Luck!

Brenda

Check out this barn below with house above http://www.threeriversstable.com/The_Main_Stable.php

This one is a pole barn according to huntseats definition except the poles are steel and not wood.

Best idea I ever saw was 30+ years ago. Builder put all of the poles in place for a 60 foot long barn with a 16 foot alley way. They then filled up the area in the alleyway with dirt to the top of the poles (10 feet). Got the dirt from a new stock tank. Then they drove a house trailer (back then they were house trailers, not mobile homes) up on top of the dirt  and set it down on the tope of the poles. Then they took the dirt out from under the trailer. They then built stairs upto the door of the trailer. The bottom of the stairs were inside the tack room area. Worked really well. Obviously out in the country.

Where was that....West Virginie???? 

Tune up tha banjo, maw, we gonna have us a barn building, dirt piling, trailer-raising party!

guk, guk guk....

I have seen 3 combos. One in PA with an old barn (you can get to 2 levels from the ground). The horse stalls were on the bottom level. The living area was on the 2nd level with a long shed roof for parking vehicles and storing hay. The 3rd level were the bedrooms. The second combo was a large barn with stalls on the bottom level and living area overhead. One side was set up for foaling stalls and there were plexiglass windows over each stall against the walls. Over these windows was a mirror on the wall that you could glance at from the center of the room to see the horse.  It was a full 2 bdrm 1 bath apartment. The third combo was all one level. It was a 40 X 60 barn with 12X12 stalls on one side, 12 ft aisle, 12X16 on the other. The middle 3 stalls on the 16' size was converted to a living area. 1 bdrm, 1 full bath and a nice LR Kitchen open area. They were all nice and clean inside.