The Many Advantages of the American Barn

When the Americans settled their own version of the Outback, they came up with a few innovations that are still worthwhile today. American pioneers took the traditional styles of European barns and added their own twist, making them bigger and better. The result is an iconic design for a barn, stable, garage or storage shed which combines maximum interior space and structural stability with an attractive silhouette.

Considering an American barn for your land? There are several advantages:

• Maximum space – The essential footprint of an American barn is to take a standard European barn and buttress it with two lower side-sheds. The result is a single structure that is both tall and wide, yet incredibly stable as the side structures take up some of the weight of the high central roof. That means you have nearly triple the floor space of a regular barn of similar height, while also gaining tremendous versatility in terms of how you can use the interior. It can be one big space or three (or more) divided spaces, each for a different purpose.

• Fully enclosed – One major advantage of American barns is how much fully enclosed interior space they give you. Unlike a carport, the American barn design protects your equipment from the wind, rain and dust in all directions. Since it is fully enclosed, many people use at least part of the barn as a recreation space or workshop. It can be as comfortable as your own house, and even have sliding glass and screen doors installed.

• Multifunctional – Because of the dividable space, people put their American barns to all kinds of different uses. We have seen sections of them used as stables, garages, equipment storage units, work spaces, game rooms, boat sheds, caravan storage areas, or general large storage spaces.

• Options for verandah – Although standard American barns come with both side-sheds fully enclosed, you can easily have one built open-sided to use as an open carport or as a verandah for your family.

• Extra tall ceiling space – Perhaps one of the biggest selling points of American barns is how tall the main space is. With all that ceiling height, you can not only park large vehicles, but also hang things overhead for more storage options.

• Mezzanine available – In case you don't want to hang things up, an American barn can also be built with a mezzanine level in the main space, essentially converting it to a two-story barn with a garage below and workspace or storage space above.

Are you considering an American barn? What do you like about it?