Barn Books

Barns and Outbuildings and How to Construct Them First published in 1881, this classic volume presents dozens of practical examples of barns and outbuildings—including floor plans and building instructions—and contains two hundred and fifty-seven engravings, woodcuts, and line drawings illustrating historical and practical designs. Featured designs include cattle barns, pigpens, pigeon houses, self-feeding corncribs, self-closing doors, icehouses, springhouses, granaries, horse barns, dog houses, and much more. Halsted also provides suggestions on the placement of outbuildings and on choosing the cor-rect materials for foundations, walls, and roofs. Order Online

Barns Grayscale Coloring Book Grayscale coloring book for adults. Beautiful images of old farm barns.
Order Online

Building Small Barns, Sheds and Shelters Provides basic, easy-to-follow construction methods for attractive outbuildings. Here's complete information on tools and materials; foundations and floors; framing, sheathing and roofing; windows and doors; wiring and plumbing; and finishing details. Specific plans and how-to-build instructions for popular home and family-farm structures include:
                     -- Multi-purpose barns
                     -- Woodshed, toolshed and carport plans
                     -- Combination small barn/studio
                     -- Barn-style garage
                     -- Smokehouse
                     -- Housing for poultry, rabbits, hogs
Order Online

Low-Cost Pole Building Construction: The Complete How-To BookThis one-of-a-kind book will save you money, labor, time, and materials in building a small home, barn, or other structure. Involves limited grading, no excavation for a foundation, use of sites unsuited for other types of buildings, good wind resistance, and fewer materials. You can build it yourself with this book, illustrated with plans, drawings, and photographs. Construction techniques are carefully explained. Order Online

Barns, Sheds and Outbuildings: Placement, Design and ConstructionAlthough it dates from a time before power tools, electricity, and gasoline, this book abounds in simple ideas that rural householders and farmers find useful today. Barns, poultry houses, piggeries, corn cribs, ice houses, spring houses, granaries, smoke houses, root cellars and even kennels and birdhouses are included in this fascinating compendium from days gone by. Order Online

Historic American Timber Joinery This illustrated catalog discusses the joinery in American traditional timber-framed buildings of the past, showing common examples with variations as well as interesting regional deviations. It was written and drawn by architect and timber framer Jack Sobon under a grant from the National Park Service and the National Center for Preservation Technology. Order Online

American Barns: A Pictorial HistoryRecording traditional American barns in their classic regional styles, a photographic tour highlights such types as Vermont red barns, round Shaker barns, Kentucky horse barns, and the rustic barns of the Plains. Order Online

David Plowden: The American Barn A tribute to the barn by the master documentarian of our time. For most of his life as a photographer, David Plowden has admired and photographed barns. In recent years, as  their disappearance accelerated, he made it his mission to document these beautiful structures, before they too are lost. The result is this beautiful book, his hymn to the American barn. 130 duotone photographs Order Online

Renovating Barns, Sheds, and Outbuildings Barns, sheds, garages, and storage buildings all age as houses do. And, like houses, they will eventually need renovation to save them from disrepair and to restore them to their former glory. And they can even be converted into spaces that are once again useful to their owners, including a storage area, a studio, or a home office. Reviewed in Bookstall. Order Online

Monte Burch's Pole Building Projects: Over 25 Low-Cost PlansWhile many pole building books focus on residential housing, Monte Burch's Pole Building Projects features other structures suitable for rural and suburban areas. More than two dozen attractive, practical, and useful pole building plans are fully presented, projects to improve your yard, farm, or homestead. Over 25 low-cost plans include: garden srtuctures, backyard barns, vactation cabins, and sheds and shelters.. Order Online

Practical Pole Building Construction: With Plans for Barns, Cabins, & OutbuildingsAuthor Leigh Seddon offers original plans for a lean-to barn, horse barn, hillside house, garage/wood shed, mountain pole cabin, and a coastal house. Pole building construction saves money, time, labour, and materials because it involves limited grading, no excavation, flexibility on site, and few materials. Order Online

Barn: Preservation & AdaptationBarn preservationists Elric Endersby and Alexander Greenwood take readers on a tour of barns throughout America. he book discusses the form and function of American barns. It gives their complete history--from Colonial times to the present, the old and the new--and illustrates the incredible range of styles of these structures. Barn explores renovations, interior design options, and structural and cosmetic changes that have kept these traditional farm buildings vital and functional into the twenty-first century. Order Online

Old Barns - New Homes: A Showcase Of Architectural ConversionsThis coffee-table book presents over thirty barn conversion projects by creative architects, developers, and homeowners who have capitalized on the flexible space offered by barns. Over 300 striking photographs provide fresh design ideas for the conversion of barns into residences and business spaces. A wealth of wonderful ideas is offered for maintaining the historic integrity of these structures while providing for today's vastly different needs. This is a design treasure for architects, builders, contractors, and homeowners, to help them visualize the transformation of historic agricultural buildings into new and treasured landmarks.. Order Online

Complete Plans for Building Horse Barns Big and Small This new and completely revised color edition provides even more information to help you bring your dream of a horse barn to reality. Two leading barn design experts present outstanding examples of 22 different barns, from the elaborate to a simple run in shed. Determine the best type of barn to suit your number of horses, climate, function and zoning requirements. Receive sound guidance on site selection and prep, planning, materials, and construction. Whether you are a do-it-yourselfer or hiring an architect, one of these well designed, soundly constructed, attractive and economical barns could be more attainable than you think. Also includes a restoration guide for revitalizing the barn that already exists. Order Online

American Country Building Design Rediscovered Plans for 19th-Century Farmhouses, Cottages, Landscapes, Barns, Carriage Houses & Outbuildings. This classic bestseller contains the finest collection of architectural designs from a bygone era--and it's a boon for anyone hoping to construct that dream house or add charming touches to a modern one. Hundreds of illustrations from actual 19th century building plans feature architects' blueprints and drawings, full-color photos, and more. The buildings range from humble farmers' cabins to summer getaway cottages for the rich, and there's plenty of detail work, including built-in shelves, dormers, and turned balusters. With this information, an architect could easily create anything shown on the pages. Order Online

How to Build Animal Housing
60 Plans for Coops, Hutches, Barns, Sheds, Pens, Nest Boxes, Feeders, Stanchions, and Much MoreAn indispensable guide for small-scale farmers, hobby farmers, and animal lovers, How to Build Animal Housing helps you evaluate the housing needs of your animals and provides dozens of adaptable shelter plans, including sheds, coops, hutches, multi-purpose barns, windbreaks, and shade structures. Carol Ekarius has your animals' best interests in mind and begins with a careful discussion of animal welfare, behavior, and general safety issues. You’ll also get tried-and-true advice on the importance of planning ahead and budgeting adequately. The detailed plans are supplemented with an entire section dedicated to construction techniques. Reviewed in Bookstall. Order Online

Complete Plans for Building Horse Barns Big and Small If you're mechanically inclined, this book may be all you need to build anything from a run-in shed, to a fence, to a six-horse barn with attached cottage. It takes you from bare land (including warnings about neighbors, planning boards and zoning laws) to a full-fledged horse farm. The authors attack their projects with common sense and horse-savvy. From water to tack room to feed room to hay storage, it's all here. Order Online

Horse Housing: How to Plan, Build, and Remodel Barns and ShedsA comprehensive guide that leads horse owners through the maze of designing, building, or remodeling horse barns, featuring 16 plans and 150 color photos.
Order Online

Barns Presents a broad, fresh, and newly informed visual analysis of one of America's fundamental building types. In a nation founded on agrarian principles, with a cultural and physical landscape as vast as it is diverse, the barn has long been recognized as an American icon. Drawn from the vast holdings of the Library of Congress, nearly 1,000 illustrations provide a tour of barns across the United States, from New England to the Great Lakes, the South, the Midwest, and the Far West. Barns traces geographical and chronological continuities of type, design, and construction, and the Dutch, German, French, and Spanish influence. Captions identify each document and building, and all images are included on a CD-ROM (runs on both Windows and Macintosh platforms, requires Internet access) linked to the Library's high-resolution files. Barns is the first comprehensive visual resource of its kind, an invaluable tool for architects, historians, students-and anyone who loves barns. 1,000 illustrations. Order Online

Barns, Sheds and Outbuildings
Plan, Design, BuildWritten with the do-it-yourselfer in mind, Barns, Sheds & Outbuildings gives readers the information they need to plan, build, and finish a utility building. This revised and expanded edition presents a variety of buildings, from the simplest garden shed to a huge gambrel dairy barn, to even a backyard artist's studio. Part One begins with design and planning information to help potential builders locate their building, decide on its design, and decode architectural plans and building codes. Individual chapters detail the basics: building foundations, framing walls and roofs, closing in the framing-which includes all types of roofing- and siding--and window installation. Other chapters cover the basic wiring and plumbing needs of barns, as well as options for interior and exterior finish work. Part Two presents 12 design concepts with photographs and detail views of various buildings that readers can build. Order Online

How to Build Small Barns & Outbuildings

This book takes the mystery out of small-scale construction. Projects are offered with complete plans and instructions. The author takes readers step by step through the fundamentals of general construction -- from planning and laying out a site to do-it-yourself instructions on framing, roofing, wiring, plumbing, and much more.  Order Online

Barns and Backbuildings
Designs for Barns, Carriage Houses, Stables, Garages & Sheds with Sources for Building Plans, Books, Timber Frames, Kits, Hardware, Cupolas & Weather VanesA complete guide to great backyard buildings with ninety four designs of barns, stables, garages, sheds and garden structures; plans that you can purchase directly from their designers; a directory of hard-to-find building products, guide books, kits, timber frames and prefab buildings; and good advice on site planning and construction. Order Online

The Ultimate Book of Historic Barns: History, Legend, Lore, Form, Function, Symbolism, RomanceThe contemporary reawakening of interest in the historic folk buildings of North America has made us see old barns with new eyes, even as many of these simple, dignified structures vanish from the landscape. With spectacular full-color photographs, The Ultimate Book of Historic Barns is a fascinating pictorial essay into the history, geography, symbolism, ethnic roots, design and technology, and lore and legend of these vernacular buildings - - the focal point of the family farm when agriculture was a way of life for most people. Order Online

Building a Shed

Siting and Planning a Shed, Building Shed Foundations, Adding Custom Details This well-illustrated guide offers a range of building options, with complete instructions and plans for four popular projects: saltbox potting shed, garden storage shed, storage barn, and lean-to tool locker. Author Joe Truini walks the reader through each step, from evaluating storage needs to basic construction to putting the finishing touches on the roof. Over 350 color photos and black-and-white illustrations are included. Order Online.

The Old Barn Book: A Field Guide to North American Barns and Other Farm Structures. A guide to features of the North American landscape that reflect the history of each region includes information about all types of barns and farm structures in the United States and Canada, and explains how their designs reflect their purposes. Order Online

Building Backyard Structures: Sheds, Barns, Bins, Gazebos & Other Outdoor ConstructionComplete  instructions cover the basics of small shed building that are common to all the projects, along with  tips on planning, selecting materials, and choosing a style and color that looks good, as well as  technical aspects of selecting a site, dealing with grade levels, and water runoff. Construction techniques come with hundreds of photos that show exactly how to lay foundations, set up framing, put on roofing, install siding, and finish doors and windows. Order Online

Barn: The Art of a Working BuildingA celebration of an ancient symbol of shelter and harvest, with more than 200 full-color photographs and an informed text by two expert practitioners of the art and craft of barn restoration. Here is the barn as history, architecture, heritage, and, finally, as living space, an example of preserving authentic structures to fulfill present needs. Order Online

Building a Multi-Use Barn: For Garage, Animals, Workshop, StudioHow to build an all-purpose 13' x 24' barn with site plans. Plus how to adapt this basic barn for use as a garage, carpenter's shop, artist's studio, apartment, or garden/animal shed. Order Online

Michigan's Heritage Barns During her time as an art student in New York City, Mary Keithan never imagined that one day she would drive the state of Michigan's labyrinthine back roads in search of architectural subjects for her photographs. But, in 1990, shortly after acquiring an 8" x 10" view camera, she began just such an odyssey. In the process she captured on film and preserved images of the rural landscape's most endangered visual treasures, its aging, historic barns. Order Online.

Field Guide to New England Barns and Farm Buildings A recognized authority on historic barn preservation, Visser has combed the New England area for the representative barns and outbuildings featured in this collection. Two hundred of Visser's photographs accompany the text, which includes accounts from 18th- and 19th-century observers, describes key architectural characteristics, historic uses, and special features such as timbers and frames, sheathings, doors, and cupolas. Order Online

Barns and Outbuildings: And How to Build Them Here are time-honored designs for erecting any farm structure from dairy barn to smokehouse. It includes 250 historical and practical illustrations. Order Online

The American Barn This beautiful and nostalgic history of the barn in America features over 200 color photos chronicling "working" barns--those still being used daily on working farms from all regions of the U.S. and Canada. Order Online

Classic Barns From the tobacco fields of Connecticut to the grain fields of the Midwest, barns rise above rural landscapes like cathedrals of the countryside, signposts pointing toward America's agricultural heritage. This book examines  the functional, aesthetic, and almost spiritual appeal of these beloved structures with more than one hundred stunning, full-color photographs. Order Online

Barns of the Midwest Articles and essays tracing the origin of barns in Europe and the development of unique American types.  Several chapters discuss barns meeting the needs of dairying, corn/grain belt and tobacco farmers. Order Online