The Mesa - Barndominium House Plan
A one-bedroom home on one half of the roof, a garage and shop on the other.
Front elevation (South): the 30 foot front porch.
Exterior renders show the steel version of this plan; the wood-framed set's windows and doors are as drawn on its own elevations.
The overhead door comes down; the bed is under the same roof. The Mesa is a single-story 1-bedroom, 1-bath barndominium, about 950 square feet on a 30×60 footprint: a vaulted living and dining room with an open kitchen, a walk-in pantry, a walk-in closet, and porches front and back. The house takes one half of the roof; a 1-car garage and shop take the other. Sized for one person on purpose, every foot of it yours.
The Floor Plan
Key Features
- A 30′ × 11′ shop with its own outside door, open to the garage across a dashed line, with a 22′ × 5′ storage room off its back wall
- A 1-car garage behind a 10 foot wide overhead door on the gable end
- An 8′ × 5′ mechanical room off the shop, so a service call never comes through the house
- A vaulted living and dining room with the front door on one wall and a sliding glass door on the end wall
- A kitchen open to the living room, vaulted, with a window over the counter and a walk-in pantry behind a barn door (a door that slides on a track outside the wall)
- A 14′ × 13′ bedroom with a sliding door onto the rear porch, and an 8′ × 13′ walk-in closet with hanging on three walls
- A full 8′ × 13′ bath with a window on the back wall, reached from the hallway, not the bedroom
- A mud room between the garage and the house, with the laundry behind its own door
- A window in the pantry, the laundry, the bath and the walk-in closet, and a tubular skylight over the mud room
- Porches front and back, 30 feet each, 480 square feet in all
- A 3:12 gable roof over a 12 foot eave
Is This Plan Right for You?
A great fit if you want
- a home for one on the west half of the building, with the garage, shop and storage room on the east half
- a vaulted living and dining room with the kitchen open to it, and a bedroom with its own sliding door onto the rear porch
- a bath off the hallway, so a guest never walks through your bedroom
- a shop with its own outside door, open to the garage, not to the house
- about 950 square feet of conditioned space with porches front and back
View our other plans if you need
- a second bedroom: see the 2 bedroom plans 2 Bedroom Barndominium Floor Plans
- a two-car garage: see plans with a 2-car garage The Timber
- more living space at the same 30 foot width: the 30×70, 30×80 and 30×90 plans The Ridge
- a bigger work bay with two overhead doors: the 30×70 plan The Hollow
Tour The Mesa
The Heart of the Home
Step in from the front porch and the 12′ × 13′ living and dining room opens under a vaulted ceiling, a sliding door on its end wall. The 8′ × 13′ kitchen opens off it, vaulted too, a window over the counter and the walk-in pantry behind a barn door. Supper gets cooked and eaten with no door in between.
The Shop
Roll in through the 10 foot wide overhead door and the 30′ × 14′ garage opens into the 30′ × 11′ shop across a dashed line, not a wall. The shop has its own walk door outside and a 22′ × 5′ storage room off its back wall. Whoever works on the car rolls it bay to bay.
The Bedroom
Walk down the hall to the 14′ × 13′ bedroom, vaulted, windows on two walls, a sliding door onto the rear porch. The 8′ × 13′ walk-in closet off it has hanging space on three walls. The bath opens off the hallway, so a guest never crosses the bedroom. Lights out, the shop on the other half of the roof.
Work & Service
Step in from the garage through the 6′ × 6′ mud room under a tubular skylight, into the hallway rather than the kitchen. The 6′ × 7′ laundry has its own door and its own window. The pantry sits between the kitchen and the mud room. The boots come off here, not in the kitchen.
Outdoor Living
Step out the front door onto the 8′ × 30′ front porch, deep enough for a table, or out the bedroom's sliding door onto the matching 8′ × 30′ rear porch. Each runs 30 feet along the house half; that is 480 square feet under cover. Whoever finishes late in the shop takes the last of the day out back.
Plan Specifications
Square footage
| Conditioned living area | 948 sq ft (heated and cooled space; the garage, shop and porches are counted separately) |
|---|---|
| Garage | 384 sq ft |
| Shop | 321 sq ft |
| Covered porches (front 240 sq ft + rear 240 sq ft) | 480 sq ft |
| Total under roof | 2,133 sq ft |
Building
| Span × length | 30′ × 60′ (30 ft clear span, 60 ft long) |
|---|---|
| Eave height | 12′ (where the roof meets the wall) |
| Ridge height | 15′-9″ |
| Roof | Gable, 3:12 (3 inches of rise per foot) |
| Stories | 1 |
| Ceiling height (flat areas) | 9′-0″ |
| Vaulted ceilings | Master Bedroom, Kitchen, Living / Dining |
Construction
| System | Designed for standard pre-engineered metal building (PEMB) construction |
|---|---|
| Interior walls | 4-1/2 in thick (2x4 framed) |
| Foundation | Not included; designed by your local structural engineer for your site, using the anchor bolt plan and loads from your building supplier |
Openings
| Doors | 14 (one 10′ × 8′ overhead, one entry, one exterior walk door from the shop, two patio sliding doors, one fire-rated, self-closing door from the garage into the mud room) |
|---|---|
| Windows | 11 (the bedroom has an egress window, big enough to climb out of in an emergency) |
| Skylights | 1 tubular (a small roof dome that pipes daylight down a reflective tube), in the mud room |
Rooms
| Master bedroom | 14′ × 13′ |
|---|---|
| Living / dining | 12′ × 13′ |
| Kitchen | 8′ × 13′ |
| Bath | 8′ × 13′ |
| Walk-in closet | 8′ × 13′ |
| Pantry | 4′ × 13′ |
| Hallway | 4′ wide (3′-7½″ clear) |
Room sizes here are before the outside wall is taken off. The floor plans print finished sizes, a little smaller along an outside wall, and the presentation floor plan notes any corner a room gives up to a closet or a notch.
Service & extras
| Shop | 30′ × 11′, with its own walk door outside |
|---|---|
| 1-car garage | 30′ × 14′, one 10 foot wide overhead door on the gable end |
| Storage (off the shop) | 22′ × 5′ |
| Mechanical (off the shop) | 8′ × 5′ |
| Mud room | 6′ × 6′ |
| Laundry | 6′ × 7′ |
| Front porch | 8′ × 30′ |
| Rear porch | 8′ × 30′ |
Square footage
| Conditioned living area | 978 sq ft (heated and cooled space; the garage, shop and porches are counted separately) |
|---|---|
| Garage | 395 sq ft |
| Shop | 324 sq ft |
| Covered porches (front 240 sq ft + rear 240 sq ft) | 480 sq ft |
| Total under roof | 2,176 sq ft |
Building
| Span × length | 30′ × 60′ (30 ft clear span, 60 ft long) |
|---|---|
| Eave height | 12′ (where the roof meets the wall) |
| Ridge height | 15′-9″ |
| Roof | Gable, 3:12 (3 inches of rise per foot) |
| Stories | 1 |
| Ceiling height (flat areas) | 9′-0″ |
| Vaulted ceilings | Master Bedroom, Kitchen, Living / Dining |
Construction
| System | Designed for standard wood-frame construction |
|---|---|
| Exterior walls | 2×6 studs with continuous sheathing and braced wall panels, shown on the detail floor plan |
| Interior walls | 4-1/2 in thick (2x4 framed) |
| Foundation | Not included; designed by your local structural engineer for your site |
Openings
| Doors | 15 |
|---|---|
| Windows | 11 (the bedroom has an egress window, big enough to climb out of in an emergency) |
| Skylights | 1 tubular (a small roof dome that pipes daylight down a reflective tube), in the mud room |
Rooms
| Master bedroom | 14′ × 13′ |
|---|---|
| Living / dining | 12′ × 13′ |
| Kitchen | 8′ × 13′ |
| Bath | 8′ × 13′ |
| Walk-in closet | 8′ × 13′ |
| Pantry | 4′ × 13′ |
| Hallway | 4′ wide (3′-7½″ clear) |
Room sizes here are before the outside wall is taken off. The floor plans print finished sizes, a little smaller along an outside wall, and the presentation floor plan notes any corner a room gives up to a closet or a notch.
Service & extras
| Shop | 30′ × 11′, with its own walk door outside |
|---|---|
| 1-car garage | 30′ × 14′, one 10 foot wide overhead door on the gable end |
| Storage (off the shop) | 22′ × 5′ |
| Mechanical (off the shop) | 8′ × 5′ |
| Mud room | 6′ × 6′ |
| Laundry | 6′ × 7′ |
| Front porch | 8′ × 30′ |
| Rear porch | 8′ × 30′ |
Included in This Plan Set
The Design Plan Set is eight pages in one PDF, sized to print at 24 × 36 inches (ARCH D). It is the set you send out for quotes and estimates; each page is listed below. One home, one license.
Included Pages
- A-001Cover sheet and legend
- A-100Presentation floor plan
- A-101Detail floor plan
- A-102Schedules
- A-111Roof plan
- A-201Exterior elevations
- A-202Exterior elevations
- L-001License and terms
Not included, handled by local professionals
- Foundation design: by your local structural engineer for your site, using the anchor bolt plan and loads from your building supplier
- Engineering drawings for the structure (provided by your chosen supplier)
- Plumbing, electrical and HVAC layouts, by your local trades to local code
The Design Plan Set is eight pages, delivered as a single PDF sized to print at ARCH D (24 × 36 in). It carries the detail a framing contractor and a truss manufacturer need to quote this exact home, enough for local contractors to price the slab foundation and the interior fit-out, and enough to take a real number to your lender.
Included Pages
- A-001Cover sheet and legend
- A-100Presentation floor plan
- A-101Detail floor plan
- A-102Schedules
- A-111Roof plan
- A-201Exterior elevations
- A-202Exterior elevations
- L-001License and terms
Not included, handled by local professionals
- Foundation design: by your local structural engineer for your site
- Roof truss engineering: the sealed truss drawings and layout from your truss manufacturer
- Plumbing, electrical and HVAC layouts, by your local trades to local code
Can I Build This?
Yes: every page is designed for standard pre-engineered metal building (PEMB) construction. Stamped structural drawings come from your building supplier's engineer, and permit review is with your local building department.
Why a pre-engineered metal building?
A PEMB encloses more home for the money than a wood-framed building and goes up in weeks. Its steel frames carry the roof, so no inside wall has to hold it up: the living room, kitchen and bedroom can be vaulted. The frame layout on these pages follows standard metal building practice, so a supplier can quote it as drawn.
Who does what
We design the home: the rooms, where the doors and windows go, the elevations and the roof. Your building supplier engineers the steel frame for your site and confirms the vaulted ceilings against it. That is the usual split on a metal building project, and our pages are drawn to it.
Yes: every page is designed for standard wood-frame construction. The sealed truss drawings come from your truss manufacturer's engineer, the foundation design from your local structural engineer, and permit review is with your local building department.
Why wood framing?
A 2×6 wood frame is the construction framing crews work in and lumber yards stock, with a deeper wall cavity for insulation than a 2×4 wall. The roof is carried on trusses, engineered by your truss manufacturer for the spans these pages draw, and the kitchen, living room and master bedroom are designed with vaulted ceilings that follow the roof trusses. The braced wall panels on these pages follow the US building code's standard method; the header framing comes with the construction plan set, and any beam too large for the code's tables is marked there for an engineer to size.
Who does what
We design the home: the rooms, where the doors and windows go, the elevations and the roof, and the braced wall panels the US building code asks for. Your chosen truss manufacturer's engineer designs the trusses: the sealed truss drawings and layout for your exact roof, and they confirm the vaulted ceilings against the trusses they supply. Your local structural engineer designs the foundation, including any thickened footings under interior bearing walls. That is the usual split on a wood-framed project, and our pages are drawn to it.
What Will It Cost to Build?
$225,000 to $275,000
A home like The Mesa is estimated to complete for $225,000 to $275,000 with you as your own general contractor, hiring the trades yourself. That covers the steel building and putting it up, the foundation, the inside finish, and an allowance for site work, utilities, driveway and septic.
It leaves out land, financing, sales tax, payroll taxes and insurance on labor, appliances beyond a standard allowance, landscaping and window coverings. Hiring a general contractor adds about 15 percent.
This is a rough estimate, not a quote. Costs vary by region by 15 to 25 percent, and your building supplier and local contractors will price it for your area. Our barndominium buying guide walks through what moves the number.
$275,000 to $325,000
A home like The Mesa is estimated to complete for $275,000 to $325,000 with the owner acting as general contractor, including framing materials and labor, roof trusses, metal roofing and wall panels, the foundation, interior finish, and an allowance for site work, utilities, driveway and septic.
It excludes land, financing, sales tax, labor burden, appliances beyond a standard allowance, landscaping and window coverings, and hiring a general contractor typically adds about 15 percent.
This is a rough estimate, not a quote: costs vary by region by 15 to 25 percent, and your framing contractor and local trades will price for your chosen building location. Our barndominium buying guide walks through what moves the number.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is about 950 square feet enough house?
For one person, yes. It has a vaulted living and dining room, an open kitchen, a 14′ × 13′ bedroom with an 8′ × 13′ walk-in closet, a bath off the hallway, a walk-in pantry, a mud room and laundry. The other half of the roof is garage and shop, never meant to be living space.
Is the shop separate from the garage?
It is its own 30′ × 11′ room with its own walk door outside. There is no wall between it and the 30′ × 14′ garage, only a dashed line on the drawing, so a car being worked on can roll from one bay to the other. The 8′ × 5′ mechanical room opens off the shop.
Can I build The Mesa with any metal building supplier?
Yes. Every page is designed for standard pre-engineered metal building (PEMB) construction, so any steel building supplier can quote this home as drawn. Their engineer then provides the stamped engineering drawings for the steel building, along with an anchor bolt plan and the loads for your site, and your local structural engineer designs the foundation from them.
Is the plan stamped, engineered, or permit-ready?
No. No plan set is a permit. This design set is for quotes, budgeting, and financing; permit review comes later, on a construction plan set (ours is launching soon) with the engineering your building department requires. The Mesa is designed and informed by the IRC (USA) and NBC Part 9 (Canada). Local permit review is between you, your builder and your building department.
Is a steel barndominium a good choice in a wildfire zone?
Yes, with the rest done right. The steel frame and the metal wall and roof panels do not burn, the kind of construction wildfire rules favor. A metal roof also carries the top fire rating, Class A. Ember-resistant vents, boxed eaves, tempered windows and cleared ground around the house decide the rest. No home is fireproof.
Is a steel barndominium a good choice on the coast?
Yes. Your building supplier's engineer designs the frame, its bracing and its anchor bolts for your site's wind speed, and the stamped drawings say so. The windows, doors and panel fasteners decide the rest. Buy windows and doors rated for your wind zone, and fasten the panels to the engineer's schedule, which says how many fasteners go where.
Is about 950 square feet enough house?
For one person, yes. It has a vaulted living and dining room, an open kitchen, a 14′ × 13′ bedroom with an 8′ × 13′ walk-in closet, a bath off the hallway, a walk-in pantry, a mud room and laundry. The other half of the roof is garage and shop, never meant to be living space.
Is the shop separate from the garage?
It is its own 30′ × 11′ room with its own walk door outside. There is no wall between it and the 30′ × 14′ garage, only a dashed line on the drawing, so a car being worked on can roll from one bay to the other. The 8′ × 5′ mechanical room opens off the shop.
Can I build The Mesa with any framing contractor?
Yes. Every page is designed for standard wood-frame construction: 2×6 exterior walls with continuous sheathing, braced wall panels drawn to the US building code's standard method, and roof trusses. A framing contractor and a truss manufacturer can quote the home from this set; the sealed truss drawings and layout come from the truss manufacturer's engineer when you order with the construction plan set, and your local structural engineer designs the foundation for your site from that set and the loads from your truss manufacturer.
Is the plan stamped, engineered, or permit-ready?
No. No plan set is a permit. This design set is for quotes, budgeting, and financing; permit review comes later, on a construction plan set (ours is launching soon) with the engineering your building department requires. The Mesa is designed and informed by the IRC (USA) and NBC Part 9 (Canada). The sealed truss drawings come from your truss manufacturer's engineer, the foundation design from your local structural engineer, and local permit review is between you, your builder and your building department.
Is a wood-framed barndominium a good choice in a wildfire zone?
It can be. The metal roof and metal wall panels help with the exterior rules wildfire codes set, and the wood framing behind them stays protected only while that skin holds. Ember-resistant vents, boxed eaves, tempered windows and cleared ground around the house decide the rest; ask your insurer how they rate a wood frame under metal.
Is a wood-framed barndominium a good choice on the coast?
Yes, built to the high-wind rules. In high-wind regions the code asks for engineered connections: uplift straps from the trusses to the walls and anchor bolts from the walls to the slab, a continuous path from roof to ground. Your framer and truss company build to it; rated windows and doors do the rest.
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The Brazos, Barndominium Plan Set, 3 Bed 2 Bath, 2-Car Garage, Shop and Office, 1,640 Sq Ft, 40x70 Single-Story, Front and Rear Porches, 8-Page PDFUS$ 149.00Three bedrooms that share no wall, a shop and a home office off the garage.
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- With Shop
- 1-Car Garage
- Under 2,000 sq ft
- Front Porch
- Rear Porch
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