On the property at ‘Our House’ we have a shed, so to speak.

About 10 or 15 years ago we had a local carpenter and his crew, build it for us.

Some people tried to talk me into putting a pole shed up, said that it would be fast and have good storage. Trust me, no way was I doing that. I wanted something that had character and looked charming, and I just felt that I didn’t need to compromise on the ‘charm factor’ to get great storage and workspace needs.

However, back then it was very difficult to find plans for a reproduction style barn… so I drove around and studied details of vintage and antique barns, sheds and outbuildings, and took lots of notes.

This is what I came up with for a plan, and my carpenter executed:

Our reproduction style shed/barn/garage/workshop does have 3 bays for automobiles, but there is tons more space inside and outside and in the attic too!

The whole 2^nd floor of the shed is easily accessible, full height walking space with tons of storage space.

In the back of the shed we built it with this ‘lean-to’ style… a very common element I noticed in a lot of the outbuildings I looked at.

Over the years we’ve used this space to store lots of things from outside dog kennels to tractors and lawn equipment to oversized garden pots and firewood… very convenient space.

Some of the details that I noticed on the vintage sheds I took note of, were things like the tin roofs and exposed rafter tails.

This picture I took last week when I was walking on the trail down by the river, even from here, I love the way the shed looks, and the board and batten siding has great shadow lines and texture.

But one of my favorite looks about this shed is in the night…

Inside the cupola, we installed a light with a light-dark sensor timer on it. When dusk falls, the cupola light automatically turns on, and is a glowing beacon through the night til dawn.

And speaking of the cupola, it is accessible by a ladder inside the 2^nd floor of the shed… what a view from up there! (hard to tell from the ground, or especially from these pictures, but the cupola alone is well over 6 feet tall!)

Maybe depending on where you’re from, the city or the country, you would call this a garage, barn, shed, workshop or outbuilding… but whatever you call it, it can offer solutions to all those needs, and still be charming!

I’m linking up here:

Under the Table and Dreaming

Between Naps on the Porch

Home Stories A to Z

Savvy Southern Style