A two-story-house-plan makes financial sense. It uses less property and materials.The barn house is a sensible two-story-house-plan. By utilizing the house design space of the gambrel roof design, you get a second floor without the material expense of building walls. Plus, it's a fairly simple design to build. It also saves a lot of money on materials and heating and cooling bills because of its design. 
Traditional two story homes have extended walls which equals more plywood, sheathing, vinyl siding, insulation and sheetrock.The building of a barn house is basically the same as any other home construction. Once the framing structure is finished, the windows and doors can go in. The exterior and roof construction is also basically the same as in most homes. The roof material depends on the local climate though. Metal roofs are much stronger than asphalt shingles and they greatly add to the value of the home. If the climate is one of heavy snow, then a metal roof is important, but if the climate is more forgiving, then an expensive metal roof would probably be a waste of money.
These days, it's all about energy efficiency. It's only wise to build a home that won't require a huge sacrifice on your part each month to pay the utility bill. Well that is really all we need to cover for barn type homes. The design is easy and inexpensive.
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When building a gambrel roof, you can get a more energy efficient home if you provide extra space in the roof and upper walls for added insulation. You can do this by making the ceilings a little lower on the inside and the walls a little narrower in the living space so you can add more insulation to the roof and walls.