A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America , a barn refers to structures that house livestock , including cattle and horses , as well as equipment and fodder , and often grain. As a result, the term barn is often qualified e.g. tobacco barn, dairy barn, cow house, sheep barn, potato barn. In the British Isles , the term barn is restricted mainly to storage structures for unthreshed cereals and fodder , the terms byre or shippon being applied to cow shelters, whereas horses are kept in buildings known as stables . In mainland Europe, however, barns were often part of integrated structures known as byre-dwellings (or housebarns in US literature). In addition, barns may be used for equipment storage, as a covered workplace, and for activities such as threshing .
36-570: A barn is a farm building for livestock and hay storage. Barn may also refer to: Barn The word barn comes from the Old English bere , for barley (or grain in general), and aern , for a storage place—thus, a storehouse for barley. The word bere-ern , also spelled bern and bearn , is attested to at least sixty times in homilies and other Old English prose . The related words bere-tun and bere-flor both meant threshing floor. Bere-tun also meant granary ;
72-636: A shipyard with a considerable floor area on which the lines produced by a naval architect can be laid off in their full dimensions. After that the full-size drawings can be copied with the aid of wooden moulds to which, in turn, the steel frames or, in the case of wooden vessels, the hull moulds, are fashioned (see lofting ). An elevated area or gallery in a shipyard where workers stand while fitting rigging . A large, open, high ceilinged space where parachute riggers re-pack parachutes into parachute containers. A large open space used by sailmakers to make sails . The floor has to be big enough to lay out
108-510: A 12th-century building tradition, also applied in halls and ecclesiastical buildings. In the 15th century several thousands of these huge barns were to be found in Western Europe. In the course of time, its construction method was adopted by normal farms and it gradually spread to simpler buildings and other rural areas. As a rule, the aisled barn had large entrance doors and a passage corridor for loaded wagons. The storage floors between
144-439: A fireplace. Loft apartments are apartments that are generally built from former industrial buildings. When industrial developments are developed into condominiums instead of apartments, they may be called loft condominiums . The general term warehouse-to-loft conversions may sometimes be used for development of industrial buildings into apartments and condominiums. "Loft-style" may also refer simply to developments where
180-425: A loft is an upper room or storey in a building , mainly in a barn, directly under the roof , used for storage (as in most private houses). In this sense it is roughly synonymous with attic , the major difference being that an attic typically constitutes an entire floor of the building, while a loft covers only a few rooms, leaving one or more sides open to the lower floor. In British usage, lofts are usually just
216-399: A loft to create an extra room in order to prevent needing to move to a new house. The most common additions are an extra bedroom or study. The attic area of a building tends to be unused, but when converted can add a large amount of floor space. Housing for domestic pigeons is often called a pigeon loft. Pigeon lofts consist of a large cage or aviary and sometimes a nest box . They were
252-550: A real barn by first generation colonists from the Netherlands and Germany. In the Yorkshire Dales , England, barns, known locally as cowhouses were built from double stone walls with truffs or throughstones acting as wall ties. In the U.S., older barns were built from timbers hewn from trees on the farm and built as a log crib barn or timber frame , although stone barns were sometimes built in areas where stone
288-448: A roof space accessed via a hatch and loft ladder, while attics tend to be rooms immediately under the roof accessed via a staircase. Lofts may have a specific purpose, e.g. an organ loft in a church , or to sleep in (sleeping loft). In barns a hayloft is often larger than the ground floor, since it would store a year's worth of hay. An attic or loft can often be converted to form a functional living accommodation (see Loft conversions in
324-471: A street-level business occupies the first floor while apartment "lofts" are placed above the first floor. Sometimes, loft apartments are one component of municipal urban renewal initiatives that also include renovation of industrial buildings into art galleries and studio space as well as promotion of a new part of the city as an " arts district ". Originally popular with artists , they are now highly sought-after by other bohemians and hipsters, and
360-429: A treated wood frame (old telephone or power poles). By the 1960s it was found that cattle receive sufficient shelter from trees or wind fences (usually wooden slabs 20% open). In older style North American barns, the upper area was used to store hay and sometimes grain. This is called the mow (rhymes with cow) or the hayloft . A large door at the top of the ends of the barn could be opened up so that hay could be put in
396-400: A visual inspection of the building itself, noting (for example) reused timbers, former floors, partitions, doors and windows. The arrangement of the buildings within the farmstead can also yield valuable information on the historical farm usage and landscape value. Linear farmsteads were typical of small farms, where there was an advantage to having cattle and fodder within one building, due to
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#1732790523781432-472: Is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic : a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large adaptable open space, often converted for residential use (a converted loft ) from some other use, often light industrial. Adding to the confusion, some converted lofts themselves include upper open loft areas. In US usage,
468-495: Is a residential unit located in a commercially zoned building that has either been issued a certificate of residential occupancy or meets specific criteria making it eligible for the protection of loft laws, which vary state by state. For example, in New York State a live/work loft must meet the following criteria: Loft Law was designed to protect artists and other entrepreneurs that are remote workers . To qualify for
504-737: Is that ferric oxide acts a preservative and so painting a barn with it would help to protect the structure. The custom of painting barns in red with white trim is widely spread in Scandinavia . Especially in Sweden the Falu red with white trims is the traditional colouring of most wooden buildings. With the popularity of tractors following World War II many barns were taken down or replaced with modern Quonset huts made of plywood or galvanized steel. Beef ranches and dairies began building smaller loftless barns often of Quonset huts or of steel walls on
540-1124: Is the demand for these spaces that real estate developers have taken to creating ready-made "lofts" in urban areas that are gentrifying or that seem primed to do so. While some of these units are created by developers during the renovation of old buildings, a number of them are included in the floor plans of brand new developments. Both types of pre-fab loft offer buyers or renters proximity to urban amenities afforded by traditional lofts, but without perceived safety risks of living in economically depressed formerly industrial areas. Real estate industry distinguishes between two kinds of lofts. "Hard lofts" are former industrial buildings converted to residential or live/work use. Many of these conversions retain open ceilings with exposed beams, electrical wiring, and HVAC ducts, instead of covering them with modern suspended ceilings or sheetrock ceilings. "Soft lofts" are loft-style residential buildings built entirely anew. They are open-concept spaces with high ceilings, large windows, brickwork, and cement ceilings. Soft lofts can look more residential and have modern finishes, but lack
576-695: The Frisian farmhouse or Gulf house and the Black Forest house . Not all, however, evolved from the medieval barn. Other types descended from the prehistoric longhouse or other building traditions. One of the latter was the Low German (hall) house , in which the harvest was stored in the attic. In many cases, the New World colonial barn evolved from the Low German house, which was transformed to
612-646: The gentrification of the former manufacturing sectors of medium to large cities is now a familiar pattern. One such sector is Manhattan 's Meatpacking District . The adoption of the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance (2001) in the City of Los Angeles (primarily the Arts District ) is another example of such legislation to encourage the conversion of no longer economically viable industrial and commercial buildings to residential loft communities. Such
648-512: The 1880s. Many barns had owl holes to allow for access by barn owls, encouraged to aid vermin control. The stable is typically the second-oldest building type on the farm. They were well built and placed near the house due to the value that the horses had as draught animals Modern granaries were built from the 18th century. Complete granary interiors, with plastered walls and wooden partitioning to grain bins, are very rare. Longhouses are an ancient building where people and animals used
684-592: The Jennings Barn claimed his design used less lumber, less work, less time, and less cost to build and were durable and provided more room for hay storage. Mechanization on the farm, better transportation infrastructure, and new technology like a hay fork mounted on a track contributed to a need for larger, more open barns, sawmills using steam power could produce smaller pieces of lumber affordably, and machine cut nails were much less expensive than hand-made (wrought) nails. Concrete block began to be used for barns in
720-731: The Loft Law protection, the unit must be primarily residential with the commercial purpose being clearly incidental to the residential use; utilising no more than 49% of the total space; with no more than 3 employees; and be carried on by the actual occupant of the unit. Historically, loft residents consisted of artists and other artisans taking advantage of cheap rents, large spaces and load-bearing floors. Loft residences were illegal and loft dwellers resided under commercial leases, forgoing basic residential rights such as domestic hot water and sanitation . To relieve their uncertain status, many state legislatures enacted loft laws. A long building at
756-588: The United Kingdom ). In modern Norwegian and in English, "loft" is used for the upper room or the space just under the roof in larger buildings. The word originates from Old Norse lopt, loft which also could mean air or being elevated (as in the related word løfte , English "to lift"). In older Scandinavian usage, loft referred to a two-storey unheated building used for storage and bedroom, in contrast to dwelling buildings that were one-storey with
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#1732790523781792-488: The area. Building methods include earth walling and thatching . Buildings in stone and brick, roofed with tile or slate, increasingly replaced buildings in clay, timber and thatch from the later 18th century. Metal roofs started to be used from the 1850s. The arrival of canals and railways brought about transportation of building materials over greater distances. Clues determining their age and historical use can be found from old maps, sale documents, estate plans, and from
828-515: The cellar or on the main level depending in the type of barn. Other common areas, or features, of an American barn include: The physics term " barn ", which is a subatomic unit of area, 10 m , came from experiments with uranium nuclei during World War II, wherein they were described colloquially as "big as a barn", with the measurement officially adopted to maintain security around nuclear weapons research. Barns have been classified by their function , structure, location, or other features. Sometimes
864-475: The central posts or in the aisles were known as bays or mows (from Middle French moye ). The main types were large barns with sideway passages, compact barns with a central entrance and smaller barns with a transverse passage. The latter also spread to Eastern Europe. Whenever stone walls were applied, the aisled timber frame often gave way to single-naved buildings. A special type were byre-dwellings , which included living quarters, byres and stables, such as
900-515: The character and history of hard lofts. A commercial loft refers to upper storey space, usually in a commercial or industrial building with higher ceilings; a second storey area for storage or offices above may be added within the original space used by a previous business occupant, effectively becoming a mezzanine area within the commercial loft space. Such adaptation of loft space, can result in better operating efficiencies for ongoing light industrial, commercial and work/live use. A Live/work loft
936-469: The colder climate. Dispersed clusters of unplanned groups were more widespread. Loose courtyard plans built around a yard were associated with bigger farms, whereas carefully laid out courtyard plans designed to minimize waste and labour were built in the latter part of the 18th century. The barns are typically the oldest and biggest buildings to be found on the farm. Many barns were converted into cow houses and fodder processing and storage buildings after
972-582: The early 20th century in the U.S. Modern barns are more typically steel buildings. From about 1900 to 1940, many large dairy barns were built in northern USA. These commonly have gambrel or hip roofs to maximize the size of the hay loft above the dairy roof, and have become associated in the popular image of a dairy farm . The barns that were common to the wheatbelt held large numbers of pulling horses such as Clydesdales or Percherons . These large wooden barns, especially when filled with hay , could make spectacular fires that were usually total losses for
1008-489: The farmers. With the advent of balers it became possible to store hay and straw outdoors in stacks surrounded by a plowed fireguard. Many barns in the northern United States are painted barn red with a white trim. One possible reason for this is that ferric oxide , which is used to create red paint, was the cheapest and most readily available chemical for farmers in New England and nearby areas. Another possible reason
1044-616: The literal translation of bere-tun is "grain enclosure". While the only literary attestation of bere-hus (also granary) comes from the Dialogi of Gregory the Great , there are four known mentions of bere-tun and two of bere-flor . A Thesaurus of Old English lists bere-ærn and melu-hudern ("meal-store house") as synonyms for barn. The modern barn largely developed from the three aisled medieval barn, commonly known as tithe barn or monastic barn. This, in turn, originated in
1080-406: The loft. The hay was hoisted into the barn by a system containing pulleys and a trolley that ran along a track attached to the top ridge of the barn. Trap doors in the floor allowed animal feed to be dropped into the mangers for the animals. In New England it is common to find barns attached to the main farmhouse ( connected farm architecture ), allowing for chores to be done while sheltering
1116-407: The sail as the canvas is marked and cut ready for sewing. Some churches have a choir loft , where the singers stand or sit during services. Sometimes the church organ is located in an organ loft, which may or may not have space for musicians apart from the organist. Churches may also contain triforiums with projecting watching-lofts. It is fairly common to convert all or part of a home into
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1152-416: The same building falls into multiple categories. Old farm buildings of the countryside contribute to the landscape, and help define the history of the location, i.e. how farming took place in the past, and how the area has been settled throughout the ages. They also can show the agricultural methods, building materials, and skills that were used. Most were built with materials reflecting the local geology of
1188-981: The same entrance. These can still be seen, for example, in North Germany, where the Low Saxon house occurs. Few interiors of the 19th century cow houses have survived unaltered due to dairy-hygiene regulations in many countries. Old farm buildings may show the following signs of deterioration: rotting in timber-framed constructions due to damp, cracks in the masonry from movement of the walls, e.g. ground movement, roofing problems (e.g. outward thrust of it, deterioration of purlins and gable ends), foundation problems, penetration of tree roots; lime mortar being washed away due to inadequate weather-protection. Walls made of cob , earth mortars or walls with rubble cores are all highly vulnerable to water penetration, and replacement or covering of breathable materials with cement or damp-proofing materials may trap moisture within
1224-413: The walls. In England and Wales some of these historical buildings have been given " listed building " status, which provides them some degree of archaeological protection. Some grant schemes are available to restore Historic Farmland buildings, for example Natural England 's Environmental Stewardship , Countryside Stewardship and Environmentally Sensitive Areas Schemes . Loft A loft
1260-581: The worker from the weather. In the middle of the twentieth century the large broad roof of barns were sometimes painted with slogans in the United States. Most common of these were the 900 barns painted with ads for Rock City . In the past barns were often used for communal gatherings, such as barn dances . A farm may have buildings of varying shapes and sizes used to shelter large and small animals and other uses. The enclosed pens used to shelter large animals are called stalls and may be located in
1296-452: Was a cheaper building material. In the mid to late 19th century in the U.S. barn framing methods began to shift away from traditional timber framing to "truss framed" or "plank framed" buildings. Truss or plank framed barns reduced the number of timbers instead using dimensional lumber for the rafters, joists, and sometimes the trusses. The joints began to become bolted or nailed instead of being mortised and tenoned. The inventor and patentee of
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