houses with barns attached (Milo, Wayne: big house, neighborhood, taxes)

[starwalker]

I continue to be amazed by the number and size of buildings I see, especially in the rural areas. I am (being a midwesterner by birth) used to seeing farms, barns and other outbuildings and houses, but by far the most common set up here -- be the small (though few are) or large is the "barn connected to the house." setup.

In some cases it looks like multiple barns, outbuildings all grafted together and joined to the house. I can understand in a way, in the winter it is easier to get around... but this is not the only part of the northlands where I have been, and this set up seems much more common here... like they pretty much ALL are...

Which got me to thinking... frugal Mainers, and the taxes everyone likes to complain about... is there a tax advantage to having one -- as opposed to multiple -- buildings on the place? Or were the old timers just fighting back against winters like the past one (or worse)?

Any knowledge/speculation here?

[K-Luv]

My speculation is that it was probably easier and cheaper to build the living quarters onto the barn. I am sure that the winters had something to do with it as well. Also, maybe, it would be easier to protect from enemy attack if the buildings were huddled together.

Interesting subject. I bet the Yankee Workshop would have the answer. You sparked some curiosity in me; now I have to look it up

[Mainer61]

My parents lived in a large victorian house with a large barn attached by a breezeway. It is intown, not out in the country. It's a great set up...no trudging around in the snow. There is no tax benefit for it in that particular town.

[Coaster]

There's a book: "Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn" by Thomas C. Hubka, about the New England tradition of connected houses and barns. Basically connecting all the barns and sheds to the house made it much easier to access them during the winter -- and back in the old days winters were long, rather like the one we just came through. Farmers didn't have to go outside to get to the cattle pens or the chickens.

I grew up on a Maine farm, and the usual arrangement was the main house (big house), ell (little house), woodshed with privy in the far corner (back house, a phrase you still hear among old Mainers even with indoor plumbing), shop or garage, and then the barn or barns.

[dmyankee]

And along those lines, you might have a summer kitchen, a sick room etc.

[RMoore007]

I took these photos last year when driving around the Dover area.

I know several people that live in these big type houses. Often, just two people. I'll bet they close off some of the rooms in winter. But it certainly makes sense not to have a bunch of seperate outbuildings when you can link them all together for easy accessability.

[starwalker]

Originally Posted by RMoore007

I took these photos last year when driving around the Dover area.

I know several people that live in these big type houses. Often, just two people. I'll bet they close off some of the rooms in winter. But it certainly makes sense not to have a bunch of seperate outbuildings when you can link them all together for easy accessability.

I think I have seen some of those... we were just out in that neck of the woods earlier today!

[RMoore007]

Yes, you're in the neighborhood for sure. I just went to the Milo Webcam. It says 61 degrees? It's about the same out here. You guys have it too good. I don't see any snow around there either. Mid Maine's the bomb.

[7th generation]

With a barn connected to the house, you eliminate one wall. In the winter, you don't have to go outside to feed the critters.

[Submariner]

I am not aware of any tax advantage, to doing that.

Only the advantage in terms of getting around in wintah.

I have been asked a number of times if we were living in the barn, and where is the house going to be built.