Barndominium Builders in Fayetteville, AR

Barndominium builders serving Fayetteville are working in the middle of one of the fastest-growing parts of Arkansas. Fayetteville is the seat of Washington County and home of the University of Arkansas. The city grew from 73,580 residents in 2010 to 93,949 in 2020, and the three-county Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers metro grew 24.2 percent over the same decade, to 546,725 people. As in-town land fills up, more families are looking to the rural parts of the county for acreage with room for a house and a real shop.

Washington County is big: about 952 square miles, the fourth-largest county in Arkansas by area. In 2020 it had 245,871 residents, 24 percent of them rural. Its incorporated towns include Elkins, Farmington, Greenland, Johnson, Lincoln, Prairie Grove, West Fork and Winslow, along with unincorporated places like Canehill, Evansville, Hogeye and Wedington.

The Code Question Comes First

Whether a building code applies is the first thing to settle for a Washington County barndo, and the answer depends on where your land is.

Outside city limits. A third-party permit summary from Jaspector states that Washington County does not adopt or enforce a building code for residential or agricultural structures in unincorporated areas, and that building permits are not required for single-family homes, agricultural buildings or residential accessory structures. The same summary says conditional use permits apply to commercial uses and other uses not allowed by right, and it tells readers to confirm with the Washington County Planning Office because rules change. We treat that as a starting point and confirm it with the county for your parcel.

Inside a city. Fayetteville and the other incorporated towns have their own rules. We confirm current permit and inspection requirements with the city before design is final.

If the county has no residential code. That would not mean no rules. State septic permits still apply, and the lender and appraiser will look closely at how the home was built. We design and build barndominiums to recognized residential code standards either way, because a sound structure is the point, and because resale and financing both depend on it.

Two Landscapes in One County

Wikipedia describes Washington County as roughly divided in half. The north and west are the Springfield Plateau, nearly level to rolling, where most people live. The south is mostly the Boston Mountains: steeper, forested and much less populated. Fayetteville sits on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, where Mississippian limestone of the Springfield Plateau is exposed and eroded Pennsylvanian layers form the steeper mountains to the south.

Plateau land north and west of town tends to suit a long single-story barndo with a wide shop. Mountain land toward West Fork, Winslow or Devil's Den State Park has views and privacy, but it brings longer drives, steeper pads and shallower soil on the slopes.

Karst: Springs, Sinkholes and Losing Streams

Wikipedia notes that karst features such as springs, losing streams, sinkholes and caves are common in Washington County, and that the USGS recognizes eleven natural springs in the county, including Elkhorn Springs, Elm Springs and Greathouse Spring. For a homesite, karst calls for a few precautions:

• Walk the land for depressions and seeps before choosing the pad.

• Keep the septic system at least 100 feet from any sinkhole, as the state rules require, and 300 feet from a spring used as a public water supply.

• Send roof and driveway runoff to a stable discharge point, not into a low spot that may connect underground.

Septic on Washington County Acreage

Most rural parcels will need an onsite system designed under Arkansas Department of Health rules. Plans must be approved before construction of the residence. A site needs suitable primary and secondary absorption areas, confirmed by at least two soil pits. Fill cannot be used for the absorption area itself. Soil that percolates slower than 75 minutes per inch is unsuitable for a standard system. On sloping mountain land, the 12 percent maximum slope for the absorption area is often the deciding factor.

Water, Rivers and the Lakes

The White River drains the eastern half of the county toward Beaver Lake, the Illinois River drains the west, and a small southern area drains through Lee Creek to the Arkansas River. Fayetteville's water is pumped from the Beaver Water District plant in Lowell. If your land is near Clear Creek, Richland Creek, the West Fork of the White River or the Illinois, a flood map check comes before the site plan.

Climate Numbers at Drake Field

Normals at Fayetteville's Drake Field show about 46.96 inches of precipitation a year, with May the wettest month at 5.89 inches, and about 6.5 inches of snow. The city's record low is minus 24 degrees F, set February 12, 1899. A steel-frame or post-frame barndo here needs a tight thermal envelope and a vapor plan for cold snaps, and a drainage plan for spring storms.

Call (501) 392-9924 or

Get a Free Estimate

to talk through land near Fayetteville, Farmington, Prairie Grove, Elkins or West Fork.