Small Farm Makeover: Will the Barn You Build Be Good for the Neighborhood?

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Sensitivity in Barn Design as a Steward of the Land

Land development comes with responsibilities that go beyond paying taxes and keeping the grass, cover crop, or woods maintained. Ideally, when property owners seek to construct permanent structures, such as houses and barns, consideration for all aspects of environmental impact should be addressed.

There are times when you want to build something that stands out, but there is also a moral obligation to consider the short- and long-term consequences of building an architecturally startling structure. 

You don’t want to be “that neighbor”—the one who moves into an area of natural beauty or buys a heritage plot of land and proceeds to develop a home or barn that is a blot on the existing landscape. Would you have a conscience about blocking a neighbor’s view with a multi-level, brightly colored house? Or constructing a horse barn that looked out of place among a scenic valley of Dutch influenced gambrel-roofed farm buildings? Would you think twice about whether your barn design blends into the landscape or stands out announcing your presence in the neighborhood for everyone to notice and perhaps admire?

Whatever you choose to build will likely survive long after you’ve either moved away or passed on. Consideration for the quality and longevity of the building as well as the design, style, size, and color of the structure and how it integrates into an existing view isn’t on everyone’s to do list, but it’s important to acknowledge the permanence of a decision and its environmental impact. Don’t overlook respect for history and sensitivity to a heritage site, nor that that stewardship of the land is temporary and a moral obligation exists to consider the relevance of a roof material or engineering method.

While deed restrictions such as view protections, heights, and locations of new builds exist, there are many cases where no such preservation methods prevail at the time of the land sale.

In most cases, no compromise to the efficiency or low-maintenance needs of a modern barn design needs to be made if you seek to honor the style of a traditional horse barn. Mortise and tenon engineered timber-frame barns can mirror the bygone days of historical estate builds when land is inevitably sold off. 

In farming areas, the familiar red oxide paint that spoke to the legacy of farmers’ innovative ideas in the 1700s, was indeed a brilliant notion. There’s no reason a modern-day barn can’t also be innovative without compromising the inherent natural beauty of an area or adding a pleasing aesthetic to its surroundings.

Consider siting a monitor-style barn in the sandy scenery of the Southwest that identifies with the cowboy lifestyles and barns built in that era as the homesteaders of New England traveled west. The great ventilation a monitor style barn offers is the perfect solution for regions where high temperatures are common.

Do you live in an area where tobacco farming was common? Why not give a nostalgic nod to the Kentucky tobacco industry and color the siding of your new center aisle barn (replete with an overhang and gable roof) with a black stain? Low-maintenance stains can offer protection for 15 years and can keep labor and material costs down in future years. 

When it comes to barn design and colors, there’s much inspiration to be found in history. And when it comes to implementing those designs and updating them to this century, there are myriad products that a modular barn-building company can offer that honor the past while satisfying contemporary concerns and needs.

There are times when you want to stand out. But there are also times when you want to stand up and preserve the traditional architectural appeal of the area that you have just moved into. After all, you probably moved into the region because that’s what you liked about the place in the first place.

About Horizon Structures:

All horse owners need to provide safe and secure shelter for their equine partners. At Horizon Structures, we combine expert craftsmanship; top-of-the-line materials; and smart, horse-friendly design to create a full line of sheds and barns. For additional information about the company or their product line, please visit www.horizonstructures.com

See all Colorado Horse Source Magazine articles by Nikki Alvin-Smith

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