Shells, shop-houses, turnkey homes and finish-outs
A shell you finish. Posts, trusses, metal roof and walls, doors and windows set — engineered for this ground, not copied from a catalog. $45–$65 per square foot of footprint. → Barndominium shells
A shop with a home. Tall doors, a slab that takes a lift, and a real house on the other side of a fire wall — with the zoning, tax and insurance questions a big shop raises answered first. → Shop-houses
Keys. One contract from county check to certificate of occupancy: septic, well, driveway, electric, shell, slab, interior. $160–$230 per square foot of living area, plus the site. → Custom barndominiums
A shell already standing. Someone else put up the building; we finish it, starting with whether it will pass. → Shell finish-out
Five counties, five rulebooks
| Code | Permit | Min. lot | What's different | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin | 2021 IRC since Apr 2024 | Yes, $350 escrow | confirm | Inspected; wood foundations banned |
| Jefferson | 2015 IRC (published) | Yes, fee on $120/sq ft | 5 acres | Arnold bans metal-sided homes |
| Warren | None | Yes, $150 — septic first | 3 acres | No inspections, no CO |
| Lincoln | None | None | none | Fastest growth: +11.9% |
| St. Charles | 2021 county code | Yes | 5 acres | 800 sq ft minimum dwelling |
All counties and the Metro East note · The full permits and codes guide
Cost ranges, county requirements and building guidance
- Prices. No St. Louis-area barndominium builder we checked publishes one. Ours are on the cost guide and in the instant estimate, with the county's fees and the ground's cost built in.
- The county's actual rules, read from the county's own code or packet, with the rows we could not verify marked as such.
- Engineering for here. Seismic Design Category C, 105–115 mph wind, 20 psf snow, 30-inch frost — the numbers in the Franklin and St. Charles code tables, applied in all five counties.
- The three-acre septic rule explained, the ten-acre Farm Credit rule, USDA's income limits for the St. Louis area, and what the appraiser needs. → Financing and appraisal
- The soil, before you buy the land. Union, Winfield, Menfro, Hobson — what each does to a septic system and a slab. → Land, septic and well
How we build
- County and parcel check — zoning, city limits, covenants, floodplain.
- Soil evaluation — before you close on land.
- Written estimate — itemized, fixed price, every allowance a line.
- Permits — whichever the county requires, or the fire district where the county requires none.
- Site, slab, shell, interior — one schedule.
- Final — certificate of occupancy where the county issues one; fire-district sign-off and lender's completion where it doesn't.
The complete St. Louis barndominium guide
County, land, soil, structure, cost, financing, insurance, tax, timeline — one page, in the order the decisions come up. Read the complete guide · All guides
About St. Louis Barndominium Builders — who we are and how the work is delivered.
Estimate your barndominium cost
Instant estimate — living and shop square footage, scope, county and site in; a range out; no email required. Or get a quote.
