Customer Reviews (1)

This Book Covers It All
From easements to structural renovation, this book covers all the pitfalls and joys of building your own barn house-- either from scratch or renovation.The author uses actual case histories to show the reader how it actually goes for the intrepid who dare to dream of a big ole barn house... which I do...someday... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

round barns a hit with my dad
This book was bought for my dad.We live in the area of an old round barn and being a retired farmer, he likes farm history.On Christmas he passed it around and we all enjoyed looking through it and hearing old stories of the barns he'd been in and the farmers he knew.Very nostalgic and informative read.

Enhanced with more than 70 photographs and line drawings
Unique and very highly recommended reading, Round Barns Of New York by freelance writer and columnist Richard Triumpho is an historical survey and celebration of the first five "round barns" build across the American rural landscape. These barns were an architectural innovation engaged in by farmers and were, in fact, octagonal in shape. The first one was erected in New York state in 1874 by Elliott Stewart. Then after a dozen similar structures were created, John McArthur constructed a polygonal (sixteen-sided, double octagon) barn was built and, at the time, was the largest barn in the state and the second largest in the entire country. Enhanced with more than 70 photographs and line drawings, historical data, and anecdotal stories by present owners, Round Barns Of New York showcases the history of the basic and innovative idea behind round barns. ... Read more

Product Description
All farm work eventually comes back to the barn. Whether they're round or octagonal, grandiose and imposing, or diminutive and plain; whether they shelter livestock or provide storage for equipment and hay, barns are great symbols of the farmstead and of days gone by, when family farms were a way of life--not a corporate consideration.

Like our enormously successful anthologies "This Old Tractor" and "This Old Farm," "This Old Barn" is an endearing nostalgic anthology. It includes "down home" tales of barns and their role in farming by such familiar writers as Patricia Penton Leimbach and Justin Isherwood, contributions from the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Barn Again! program, and more. Fabulous artwork from Eric Sloane, Bob Artley, Grant Wood, Warren Kimble, Currier & Ives, and Bob Pettes (including color photographs, historical images, and vintage ads and brochures) complements the entertaining and inviting text. ... Read more

Product Description
Returning to the subject of their bestselling book Barn (1992), David Larkin, with barn preservationists Elric Endersby and Alexander Greenwood, takes the reader on a tour of barns throughout America. Featuring all-new sites and structures, Barn is a perfect introduction for those not yet initiated into the world of barns as well as a definitive resource for all barn owners and architecture enthusiasts.

The 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. From rural villages in New England to the farmlands of the Midwest, from the Deep South to the Southwest, and up and down the West Coast, Barn: Preservation & Adaptation fully demonstrates the adaptability and enduring charm of one of the most iconic forms of American vernacular architecture.

Today there is great activity restoring and converting barns. No longer used just for farming, barns have been converted into bookstores, theaters, restaurants, garages, and even houses. 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.

This highly engaging history and the profound beauty of these handcrafted structures will enchant all barn aficionados interested in their architecture and their historic preservation.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Recommended if you're into traditional stlye
Excellent book, if the other book, Barns: Living in Converted and Reinvented Spaces is the "ying", then this book is the "yang". A good inspirational design book if you're interested in reusing an old barn for modern day use and staying within the original design. The text is interesting and informative with the accompanying photos following along with the text. The pictures are overall excellent, sharp, clear, in detail and professionally done, with very very few exceptions. Some buildings are shown with structuraldrawings that help visualize the internal timber frame or stone structure with the accompanying photogaphs. The authors seems to be a die hard traditionalist, very critical and at times mildly insulting to designers that chose to remodel the old barns in the modern way and deviating from what the original builders did. But at times understanding that the modern styleis a better fate than total destruction of a old old structure. ... Read more

Product Description
SMALL BARN PLANS FOR OWNER-BUILDERS is a both a book of barn plans and an owner-builder guide to managing your own barn building project in just four easy steps.

First step...learn how to design your own barn or adapt one of the 12 barn plans in the book.

Step 2...Estimate the cost of your barn and get competitive bids and save thousands of dollars.

Step 3...Learn how to manage your building project like a pro to save time and money. The book includes checklists and schedules to make it easy.

Last step...learn how to successfully work with subcontractors and suppliers to save up to 20%!

SMALL BARN PLANS FOR OWNER-BUILDERS includes professional construction plans, including floor plans, elevations, cross-sections, floor framing plans, roof framing plans,structural details and a cupola plan for 12 popular barn plans.

There are six gable-roofed barn plans, ranging from a 300 square foot "backyard barn" to a 1500 square foot six stall horse barn. Most have full lofts. The book also includes 4 gambrel-roofed barns, from 384 to 864 square feet, with multi-purpose floor plans and full second-story lofts. Two monitor-roofed barns are also included. The smaller is 864 square feet, plus a 400 square foot loft. The larger has 1296 square feet, plus a 600 square foot loft for storage or living space. Many of these barns have been built as affordable "barnhouses". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Small Barns Book
It was a good book to prepare for a small barn building project.

Not what was expected
Only basic info on planning a project and included plans are just a teaser to get you to purchase complete plans. There are much better general barn/shed books.

Small Barn Plans
It's marginally useful with hand drawn, black & white diagrams. You do get a sense of what building a horse barn or shed is all about. There are other reference books out there that deal with the subject in a more polished way though.

Small Barn Plans for Owner-Builders
I found this book to be an excellent source of information.It has greatly helped me do the planning for the construction of my barn.

not necessarily what the cover says...
The cover bills it as 'complete' plans for 12 different barns- actually, to get complete plans that would be needed to get building permitdo construction or buy materials, you have to order a set form the authors website. The book has nice practical ideas about working with subcontactors, and the designs and sources are quite useful. ... Read more

Product Description
A pictoral volume of not only old time barns of all shapes and sizes, but also a few pages each of windmills, bridges, outhouses, odd mail boxes, stores, places of worship, and schoolhouses. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A fun book
This book is a pictorial look at the barns of Illinois. Organizing Illinois into five districts, and then by county, the author presents many colorful pictures of barns from every county in Illinois, and many communities. This is a fun book, with lots of great pictures. If you like driving across Illinois, then you will find a familiar friend in this book. Get this book to see sights you have already seen, and sights you will want to see for yourself! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

It's not only great pictures!
The narration shows a lot of skill and patience on the author's part. This is a very professional and high quality book. It is a wonderful trip to the past. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great history & great pictures!
My husband and I had the great opportunity to attend a slide presentation by the author of this book, Robert Marsh.He certainly was well qualified and very interested in doing this work.Barns in Kansas and all around the world are falling everyday to people who are either not interested or cannot afford their upkeep.This is a wonderful tribute to those fantastic structures in our state.Hats off to Marshall who, along with his wife, drove 11,000 miles all over the state to gather interviews, pictures and priceless history from a bygone time.Great reading.Well researched.Wonderful pictures. ... Read more

Product Description
Barns strike a sentimental chord among the populace, perhaps as reminder of our nation's agricultural heritage, most definitely as symbols of solid and imposing timber frame forms. While many of these architecturally significant buildings are succumbing to neglect and development, others are getting a new lease on life. This 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. You will see a Pennsylvania stone bank barn converted into a stunning residence, an abandoned dairy barn made livable complete with office space in the old silo, and a Victorian era barn which now links the old farmhouse to the new living space. In addition to stunning homes, you will see barns utilized for office space, retail, and even a non-denominational chapel. 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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Spend your money elsewhere
Since I own a barn and I want to convert it into a house I've scrutinized every text and every picture in this book for ideas. I expected to be amazed and inspired at what architects and designers have done to the old barns but this book left me confused and disappointed. But if you are looking for a book to occupy your coffee table, at the bottom, then this is the book for you. I felt cheated because it lacked the overall quality and professionalism expected in a design book. It seems like this book was hastily put together with limited resources and wasn't carefully edited. For example several captions of the pictures are misplaced or don't correspond to any picture shown on the facing pages. The books title is, Old Barns-New Homes: A Showcase of Architectural Conversions. So why is there an entire chapter about new construction (Chapter 6)?The only thing they converted was a new metal warehouse into a house. About half of the pictures are worth printing and the rest of them are dark, grainy, reused or just plain confusing. I'd expect old before pictures to be faulty but the after pictures should be clear and sharp. Cropping out a portion of previously used picture, then blowing it up to a bigger grainy picture andthe caption tells me to see the details left me feeling cheated. Or even the "cut and paste" picture on pg 108 looks cheap, what no photo-stitch? Confused about picture on page 19? Turn the book sideways.

A must read for barn lovers....
I was enchanted with this fascinating book on barn conversions. Barns are great relics from our past, conveying a sense of history, but many have been ruined by weather, time, and neglect. I didn't realize how many creative architects and owners have made barns useful for both residential and commercial use through renovation and restoration. The intrinsic character of these old barns brings an integrity and charm rarely seen in new construction. In many gorgeous illustrations, Rooney describes the history of barns, their adornment (who knew that it was all because of a 9th century pope that there are so many roosters on weathervanes?), and their use as gorgeous residences and fascinating commercial and establishments - including an architectural office, inns, and even a funeral chapel. One entrepreneur even used several to develop an office complex. If you love barns and if you like to see the past preserved in the present, you will love this book.

A fantastic trip through beautiful barns, both old and new!
I must confess that I have always harbored a deep love of barns; maybe it simply out of a longing for a simpler time, and all that farms and their barns represent, or maybe because I am a habitual packrat and I'd love to have all that storage!Regardless of the reason, when I saw this book as soon-to-be-released, I got in touch with the publisher and was able to see an advance copy.The photographs took my breath away, and the wide array of barns and geographical regions of the USA that it showcased really drove home that these historic buildings not only need to be preserved, but that in doing so, we can truly enrich our architectural lexicon.It features every kind of barn known to man, from round barns and dairy barns to onion and tobacco barns, all of which have been loving reclaimed and restored into warm and inviting spaces for a new generation.This book should not only graxe your coffee table, it should be read cover to cover by anybody with a love for historic structures and Americana. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (8)

Beautiful Book
This book does a good job of showing us newer and older barns that have an architectural significance.I really enjoyed it.

Barns to make you envious
This is a wonderful book I highly recommend for those of you who like to dream of having a beautiful barn yourself some day. The pictures and narratives are generally very thorough and the featured barns are all over the US, not lmiited to any particular region. As an architect, the only thing I felt was missing were site plans and floor plans or even a section to help understand the buildings better. Otherwise, I really enjoyed browsing through this book and will pick it up any time I need to dream about what someday I too can have for my horses.

The architecture of the stable.
Randy Leffingwell, Ultimate Horse Barns (Voyageur, 2006)

Funny how things work out. Ihad originally planned on Ultimate Horse Barns being among the first books I read in 2008; it turns out it's the first book I finished in 2009. Still, it doesn't matter when you read this book, only that, if you're interested in architecture and that sort of thing, that you do.

Leffingwell profiles fourteen of America's institutions' horse barns, ranging from the stately and classical (George Vanderbilt's Biltmore, in North Carolina) to the ultra-modern (California's Lucky Dog Ranch, whose barn wins architecture and design awards). Not just a book of photographs, this (which I have to admit is what I expected); Leffingwell offers us 8-10 pages of mixed photographs and text, giving us a quick overview of the barn's history, quotes from the people presently working there, a look at life in a working horse barn. And each one is different, which the reader might not expect.

But really, it's Randy Leffingwell. You're here for the pictures, and a fine lot they are. Leffingwell spent some quality time at each of the institutions, and it's obvious in the wide range of shots on display here. This is gorgeous work, and well worth browsing on a rainy afternoon. I do wish the book had been a bit wider-ranging; fourteen barns seems a bit small a number to really give an idea of the breadth of what's out there. But what's here is excellent, and deserves your attention. ****

Horse Enthusiasts Will Love it!
This pictorial gem makes a great gift for the horse-lover in your life.The photographs are absolutely breathtaking.

Wow
This book has some pretty great pictures! Definitely a great gift for any horse lover that dreams of having their own barn. ... Read more

Product Description
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. Highlights include blueprints, an Amish barn raising, and some of the oldest barns in the country. 240 photos, 200 in color. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great Picture Book, but so Much More
This book is one of the best picture books on the subject of American Barns, but it is so much more. The author has written some interesting
and informative material following the evolution of the barn throughout American history,and as barns changed to meet new needs as settlement moved westward, but again, this book is so much more. Randy Leffingwell, the author, claims that he spent over three years working on this book. It shows.

Omniubus barn book
This is the ultimate compendium of barn information. As a writer of a published barn book myself (Barn in the USA), I have seen my share of similar works. Most, however, fall short by showcasing old barns withoutplacing them in context, or telling you more than you want to know about architectural considerations. Randy Leffingwell's book covers the historical and practical aspects of these rural structures,also presenting beautiful images without turning the book into a beauty contest. It is a treasure for historians and barnlovers alike.

Outstanding
As usual Randy's books are tops. His photography, sidebars and careful attention to details are unsurpassed. You can almost hear the hammers falling in the barn raising chapters.Recommended to all lovers of the vanishing scene. ... Read more