Need to Build a Barn? 3 Barn Types to Know

So you’ve just purchased farm land, but your property doesn’t have a barn. You plan to build one. So what are your options?

The more you understand about each of the different barn styles available to you the better you’ll be able to express your vision and intentions to your builder to get a barn that’s tailored to the specific needs of your farm operation.

The gable, monitor, and gambrel are three classic barn roof styles, and each style has a distinctly different barn structure. Here’s a primer on what you need to know about each.

Gable, Monitor & Gambrel Barns

Also called an A-frame roof, the gable is a triangular-shaped roof similar in shape to the letter A, and has a single slope on each side. The pitch of the roof can be customized to suit your needs, including a 9:12 pitch to help decrease snow load, or a shallower 4:12 roof pitch. Usually, gable barns have a flow-through breezeway with horse stalls and storage and wash spaces on either side.

Monitor roofs have a raised center aisle (RCA) which is a center section of the roof that’s “pushed up” from the main roof and is supported by short walls. The higher roof lines of monitor barns can allow for increased natural light and ventilation, or the creation of a large loft space or finished living quarters. The barn’s outer wings work well as horse stalls, and their dimensions tend to be flexible.

Gambrel roofs have double slopes on each side, with the lower slope having a steeper pitch than the upper slope. This helps to maximize internal storage space while still offering the benefit of the sloped roof’s ability to shed snow and water. Gambrel barns are sometimes referred to as Dutch Style Barns.

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