Barndominium porch ideas: wraparound, front and rear porches

For a barndominium porch, plan on at least 6 ft of depth for a few chairs, about 8 ft for a swing or a full seating group, and 10 ft or more if you want a dining table. Choose a wraparound porch for shade and views on two sides, a full-width front porch for a classic look, or a covered rear lanai for living outdoors. The posts, beam and roof connection hold up real weight and wind, so your engineer sizes them for your site.

A note on our plans. Our plan sets show each porch on the floor plan, roof plan and elevations, and each home's page notes porch-post footings with uplift ties in its typical foundation. The sets do not size posts, beams or footings. A plan set costs $149, is unstamped and is drawn for conventional wood framing, and your local team completes structure, engineering and permits. See what a plan set includes.

Why porches belong in the plan

Buyers ask for them. In the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) survey What Home Buyers Really Want, 2024 Edition, 86% of buyers rated a patio essential or desirable, 82% exterior lighting, 81% a front porch and 81% ceiling fans. NAHB's tabulation of Census Bureau data found that 67.2% of the roughly 1.0 million single-family homes started in 2024 had a porch, more than had patios or decks. These are national figures for all kinds of homes, not barndominiums.

How deep and how wide

Depth is what makes a porch usable. This Old House says a porch needs to be at least 6 ft deep for comfortable seating and at least 10 ft deep for a table for outside dining. Pro Builder, citing Housing Design Matters, says 6 ft suits a set of small chairs and 8 ft fits a full outdoor setup or a porch swing. For scale, NAHB reports that a porch on the front of a new home averages roughly 100 sq ft, and HomeGuide says most front porches are 6 to 10 ft deep.

Width follows the house. This Old House notes that a porch can cover part of the front, run the width of the house or wrap around it. Keep the entry landing roomy: an architect it quotes advises at least 6 ft wide and 4 ft deep so an outswinging storm door does not push visitors off the steps. The model code asks for a landing at least as wide as the door and at least 36 in deep at each exterior door, with an exception for small balconies (R311.3).

Front, wraparound or rear: choosing a porch type

Each type trades shade, privacy and cost differently. The last column shows where our plans draw it.

Wraparound porches

A wraparound porch runs along the front and at least one side. Three of our plans draw one. The Lone Star Wrap wraps its porch around the front and side on cedar posts with stone bases, so there is always a shady seat, and French doors connect the primary bedroom to it. The Wren Hollow puts a wraparound porch on a two-story farmhouse with a loft and a main-floor primary suite. The Mulberry wraps an 8-ft cedar porch around the front and left side of a compact two-bedroom house, with its garage under the same roof.

HomeGuide says a wraparound porch helps deflect sun and heat from a home's windows in hot climates but can form ice dams in cold ones, so ask your builder how the porch roof sheds snow where you live. It also prices wraparound porches above plain covered ones (see the cost table below). More porch means more roof, more corners and more posts to flash, size and keep dry.

Rear porches, lanais and outdoor rooms

A rear porch is where many of our plans put their outdoor living. The Palmetto Lanai has a covered lanai across the back, with a stone fireplace, a lounge, a dining set and three sets of glass doors from the great room. The Gathering Barn puts a covered outdoor kitchen with a stone fireplace and a long bar under its main roof. The Pedernales extends its great room with a cedar pergola patio and an outdoor fireplace, the Timberline covers a rear deck with room for a hot tub, and the Whitfield screens its rear porch.

An outdoor fireplace or kitchen has its own requirements, so ask your builder and building department what applies before you fall for the picture. Browse more outdoor-living layouts in our farmhouse plans and large plans.

Posts, beams and the roof

A porch roof carries its own weight, snow and wind down through the posts to the footings. This Old House describes the posts as structural: they have to line up with the footings below so the load has a continuous path, they have to tie the roof framing to those footings so the roof cannot blow off, and they should be detailed to discourage rot. It adds that porch footings must be larger than deck footings because they also carry the roof.

Your engineer decides the post size and spacing, the beam, the footing size and depth, the uplift connections and how the roof attaches to the house wall. Our drawings give them the layout to work from, and the roof form varies by home.

• A low-slope shed roof against the wall. Most of our porches use this form, as on the Meadowlark, with the roof carried on a beam over the posts.
• The main roof continues over the porch. On the Loon Lake Retreat, the main gable roof runs on over the lake porch.
• A deck as the roof. On the Brazos Estate, the balcony deck above is the roof of the two-level front porch.

The 2021 model code adds a few points worth knowing, though your state or county may use another edition.

• Flashing goes wherever a roof meets a wall (R903.2.1), which is where a lean-to porch roof meets the house.
• Metal roof panels have minimum slopes: 3:12 for lapped panels without sealant, 1/2:12 with applied lap sealant and 1/4:12 for standing seam (R905.10.2). A low-slope porch roof needs a panel that suits its slope, so ask the panel maker.
• A deck attached to a house wall must be positively anchored to it and designed for vertical and lateral loads, and toenails do not count (R507.8). This Old House says a porch ledger faces the same rules and must be flashed.

Rails, steps, screens and fans

• Rails. A walking surface more than 30 in above the floor or grade below needs a guard at least 36 in high, with no opening a 4-in sphere can pass through (R312.1). Insect screening does not count as a guard. The Brazos Estate's upper balcony is drawn with a guard rail, and the Overlook's wraparound cedar deck has cable railing.
• Steps. A flight with 4 or more risers needs a handrail (R311.7.8).
• Screens. This Old House calls a screened porch a smart option in mosquito or black fly country and suggests removable panels that swap for glass in a three-season room.
• Fans and light. Choose fans rated for outdoor use, since interior fans often have fiberboard blades that can sag when exposed to moisture, according to This Old House.

Light and escape windows behind a porch

A deep porch shades the rooms behind it, so check how much daylight they keep. The model code lets required windows face a roofed porch where the porch abuts a yard or court, its longer side is at least 65% unobstructed and its ceiling is at least 7 ft high (R303.9). An escape window under a porch must open fully and leave a path at least 36 in high and 36 in wide to the yard (R310.2.4). Where a bedroom opens onto a porch, as the Lone Star Wrap's primary bedroom does, check both points with your builder.

What porches cost, from published guides

The two guides print the same figures for covered and wraparound porches, so read those rows as one widely repeated range. They cover porches in general, not barndominiums. Ask builders to price your porch as its own line, and see our cost guide for how to compare bids.

A porch planning checklist

1. Choose the depth for your furniture, using the table above.
2. Face the porch for sun and wind. Our site-first guide covers reading the land.
3. Line the posts up with the divisions between windows and doors, as an architect quoted by This Old House advises, so they do not block views from inside. Keep them clear of door swings and steps too.
4. Plan the entry landing and the steps before you place furniture.
5. Pick the ceiling and fan. Wood, beadboard or soffit panels all work, and the fan needs an outdoor rating.
6. Add lights and outlets where you will sit and cook.
7. Ask about the roof: panel type and slope, flashing at the wall, and how snow and rain leave the roof.
8. Ask about the posts: footing depth, uplift connections and rot protection.
9. Check zoning and covenants for setbacks and color or material rules that apply to a covered porch.

For colors that suit a porch with cedar posts, see our guide to black and white exteriors, and for how the great room meets the porch, see barndominium interior ideas. Browse every BarndoVista floor plan to compare porches side by side.