Barndominium floor plan and elevation drawings laid out on a drafting table with a scale rule.

Custom Barndominium Plans in Colorado

Our custom barndominium plans start with the parcel, not the catalogue. In Colorado that matters more than most places: the snow load can change with a few hundred feet of elevation, the Front Range sits on clays that swell when wet, and the well permit on a small parcel can limit water to indoor use. We draw the floor plan, elevations and building layout around those facts, and where your jurisdiction wants sealed structural drawings, a Colorado-licensed professional engineer provides them.

Stamped drawings where your jurisdiction requires them
Drawn to your jurisdiction's snow, wind and frost values
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Custom Plans: how the work runs

Four stages, in this order. The sequence matters more than it looks: getting the design values, the water and septic answers and any permits settled before anything is fabricated is what keeps a Colorado build from stalling.

1

The land, then the layout

We start with where the building sits: slope, view, access, the likely septic field and well location, and setbacks. On a mountain lot the building often has to follow the contour; on the plains it has to turn its back to the wind. How much is living space and how much is shop comes next, because that split sets the eave height, the roof pitch and where the heavy doors go.

2

Floor plan and elevations

You get a floor plan, exterior elevations and a building section you can mark up. We revise until the layout works: bedrooms away from the shop, mudroom where the snow and the dog come in, a basement stair if you want one. Plans for a one- to four-family dwelling do not need an architect under Colorado law, which is why a barndominium can go from sketch to drawing set this way.

3

Structural design to your jurisdiction's figures

The plan is then carried into a structural drawing set to the snow load, wind speed and frost depth your county or city publishes. Where those figures fall outside the prescriptive code, or your building department asks for a seal, a Colorado-licensed professional engineer designs and stamps the structure. The foundation follows the soils report, not a stock detail.

4

A permit-ready set

The finished set is what your building department, if you have one, reviews: plans, elevations, sections, foundation, framing and the energy-code information your jurisdiction asks for. The same set supports the septic application to the local public health agency and the electrical and plumbing permits your licensed trades will pull. Where the county has no building code, you still get a complete set to build from.

Overhead view of floor plan and structural elevation drawings spread on a workbench with a scale ruler and pencil.
A plan drawn for a place

A stock plan does not know your elevation, your clay or your well permit

Three Colorado facts decide a barndominium plan before the owner does. The design snow load is set locally and in the mountain counties climbs with elevation — Mesa County prints 30 lb around Grand Junction and 100 lb at Mesa Lakes. The Colorado Geological Survey calls swelling soil the state's most significant geologic hazard, and it decides whether a basement floor can sit on the ground. And a new well on a parcel under 35 acres may be limited to in-house use, which changes how much garden and livestock the plan can promise.

Where we deliver custom plans

In Colorado the lines that matter are city limits, county lines and contour lines. Inside a city or town you have its zoning and its building department; out in the county, some counties enforce a building code and some rural ones do not; and in the mountain counties the snow load climbs with elevation, so two parcels in the same county can be drawn to very different roofs. Cross one of those lines and what changes is whether the build is inspected, who reviews the drawings and whose snow, wind and frost values they answer to. The septic permit from the local public health agency and the well permit from the Division of Water Resources go with you almost everywhere.

Barndominium builders across Colorado.

Every city and county we build in has its own answer on permits, septic, water and design values. The service area pages set out what each one publishes.

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Before you commit

What actually decides the price

Square footage is the number everyone leads with, and it is rarely the one that moves a barndominium budget. These four do.

  • Roof shape at your snow load

    Snow is the Colorado number that shapes a roof. A tall shop roof that sheds onto a lower living wing, or drifts against a high sidewall, puts far more load on part of the frame than the ground figure suggests. Larimer County sets a floor of 35 psf on the design roof snow load whatever the calculation says. Simple roofs are cheaper to frame and easier to keep dry; valleys and step-downs cost money twice.

  • Basement, crawl space or slab

    A basement adds the most usable space for the money in many Colorado plans, and it is also where the soils report has the most to say. On expansive clay a basement may need a structural floor over a void rather than a slab on grade. On a hillside it may become a walkout. That decision is made at the plan stage because it moves the stair, the mechanical room and the foundation cost.

  • Water you can actually use

    The plan should match the water. The Division of Water Resources issues household-use-only well permits for use inside one single-family dwelling with no outside watering or livestock, and that limit may apply on a new well where the parcel is under 35 acres. On 35 acres or more a domestic well may serve up to three homes and an acre of lawn and garden. A guest apartment, a big garden or horses all depend on which one you can get.

  • Glazing, orientation and the energy code

    Big glass toward a view is the first thing buyers ask for and the first thing the energy calculation pushes back on. Where your jurisdiction has a building code it must also carry an energy code, and some counties now publish Colorado's model electric-ready and solar-ready code language alongside it. Orientation, overhangs and window sizes are cheapest to change on paper.

Barndominium floor plan and elevation drawings laid out on a drafting table with a scale rule.

Custom Plans in Colorado: common questions

8 questions we get asked most often about building in Colorado. If yours is not on the list, ask it directly.

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Do I need an architect to design a barndominium in Colorado?
Not under state law for a house. Colorado's architect licensing statute exempts plans for one- to four-family dwellings. Your building department may still require the structure to be sealed by a Colorado-licensed professional engineer, especially for a steel or post-frame building or a site with a heavy snow load, and where it does, that engineer stamps the structural drawings.
Can you start from a floor plan I already like?
Yes. Bring a sketch, a photo or a plan from a catalogue and we use it as the starting point. The layout usually survives; what changes is the structure under it, which has to be drawn to your jurisdiction's snow load, wind speed and frost depth, and the foundation, which has to follow your soils report.
Why does my snow load matter so much for the plan?
Because in Colorado it can vary several-fold across one county. Jefferson County's table keys the ground snow load to elevation, reaching 70 psf at 7,875 feet and 143 psf at 10,000 feet, and requires design by a registered design professional above 70 psf. The roof pitch, the frame spacing and whether a wide open shop span is affordable all follow from that figure.
Should my barndominium have a basement?
Many Colorado homes do, and a barndominium can. The questions are soils, slope and water table. The Colorado Geological Survey warns that building without allowance for basement floor movement in expansive-soil areas is a very common source of damage, so on Front Range clay the soils report may call for a structural floor. On a slope a walkout is often the natural answer.
How do the plans handle a shop and living space under one roof?
The shop usually sets the eave height and the big door openings; the living side sets the roof pitch and the window pattern. The plan separates them with a fire-rated wall where the jurisdiction requires it, puts the mudroom between them and keeps plumbing runs short. A shop may also need its own electrical permit if it ends up as a separate detached building.
What does the finished drawing set include?
Floor plans, exterior elevations, building sections, a foundation plan, framing and the energy-code information your jurisdiction asks for, plus a site plan showing the building, the septic area and the well. Where the building department wants sealed structural drawings, a Colorado-licensed professional engineer's seal is part of the set.
Does the plan cover wildfire requirements?
Where they apply to your parcel, yes. Colorado's Wildfire Resiliency Code Board established a statewide wildfire resiliency code in 2025, and a local government with land in the mapped wildland-urban interface that can adopt building or fire codes has to adopt a code that meets it. Whether that reaches your parcel is a question for your county or fire district, and we ask it before the exterior materials are chosen.
How do I start?
Tell us where the land is, roughly what you want on it and whether you want a basement. From the location we find who has jurisdiction, what snow load, wind speed and frost depth apply, and what the well and septic picture looks like. Start the survey and we will come back with those answers before any drawing begins.

Keep reading

The pages that answer the next question this one raises.

Barndominium Laws in Colorado

Whether a city, a county or nobody reviews your plans, and when an engineer's seal comes in.

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Barndominium With Basement

A starting point for the basement decision many Colorado buyers face.

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Permitting & Approvals

What the finished set has to support: building, septic, well and trade permits.

Read it

Ready to put custom plans against a real plan? Start there and the rest follows.

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Tell us about the land

Tell us where the parcel is and what you want on it, and we will come back with who has jurisdiction, what the land needs before it can be built on, and a realistic budget range. Starting the survey costs nothing.

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