Barndominium with a Wrap-Around Porch in Illinois

A wrap-around porch is the feature that turns a metal building into a farmhouse. It softens the long sidewalls, shades the windows, gives you outdoor rooms on two or more sides, and makes a barndominium look settled on its land. Porch plans come down to a few decisions: how deep the porch is, which sides it wraps, whether its roof ties into the main roof or hangs below it, and whether any part is screened. The structure matters as much as the look, because a wrap-around porch has its own posts, footings and roof, and your county treats those as part of the house.

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What actually changes with this feature

The look is the easy part. These are the decisions that follow from it.

8 to 12 feet deep is the useful range

An 8-foot porch holds a pair of rocking chairs and a walkway. A 10-foot porch fits a table and chairs or a porch swing without blocking the path. Twelve feet or more makes an outdoor living room on the side where you spend the most time. Many owners mix depths: 8 feet on the front and a gable end, and 12 to 14 feet on the back where the grill and dining table go.

Tie into the main roof or hang below it

The porch roof can continue the main roof plane down to a lower eave, which gives a classic farmhouse look and one continuous roof line, or it can be a separate shed roof attached below the main eave, which keeps the main sidewall tall and lets more light into the house. The first is usually simpler on a post-frame building; the second suits tall steel sidewalls and clerestory windows. Either way, the metal roof is installed by a licensed Illinois roofing contractor.

Porches shade the glass and cut summer heat

A deep porch on the south and west sides shades windows from high summer sun while letting low winter sun reach them. That is real comfort and energy value, and it lets you use larger windows behind the porch. Porches are not conditioned space, so they do not add to the insulated floor area the Illinois Energy Conservation Code applies to.

Porch size is a zoning question too

Zoning codes often count a covered porch in the building's footprint for setbacks and lot coverage, even though it is not living space. On a narrow lot or near a road setback, the porch is often the part of the plan that runs into the line first. Check the setback from each property line before deciding which sides the porch wraps.

Posts, footings and the seal

A wrap-around porch has its own foundation, and some counties want it sealed

Every porch post stands on a footing, and that footing goes below the frost depth your jurisdiction publishes. McHenry, Kane, Will, DeKalb, Winnebago, Rock Island and Peoria counties each publish 42 inches for unincorporated areas; Tazewell County's garage handout gives 36 inches. A wrap-around porch on piers is also exactly the kind of structure some counties single out. McHenry and DeKalb counties' building codes require roofed structures supported by something other than a continuous footing and attached to a primary structure to be signed and sealed by a design professional licensed in the State of Illinois. A covered porch on piers attached to your barndominium fits that description, so in those counties the porch piers and beams are designed and sealed along with the rest of the drawings. Rock Island County's proposed 2021-code amendments, scheduled for 1 October 2026, say residential wood columns shall not be encased or embedded in concrete, which would put porch posts there on piers or brackets rather than set in concrete. The porch roof carries snow like the main roof does and is designed to your county's published snow load: 30 pounds in McHenry and Kane counties and 20 in Peoria County.

Common ways to build this

Common configurations we see. Yours does not have to match one exactly — this is a starting point for the conversation, not a catalog.

Full wrap on three sides

10 ft deep on the front and both gable ends

A porch across the front sidewall and around both gable ends, with posts on regular bays that line up with the building frame. It gives shade and outdoor space on three sides and the most traditional farmhouse look. The back stays open for a patio, a shop door or a future addition.

Front and one side, with a deep back porch

8 ft front and side wrap / 12 ft covered back porch

The front porch wraps around the gable end nearest the driveway, and a separate, deeper covered porch on the back makes an outdoor kitchen and dining room. It puts the porch depth where people actually sit. A screened section on the back porch keeps summer insects out.

Porch under the main roof line

Continuous roof plane to a lower porch eave

The main roof continues down over the porch on the front and one side, giving one unbroken roof line and a cozy, low eave. It works best on a post-frame barndominium with a moderate roof pitch. Inside, the main room keeps its full wall height, and windows under the porch stay shaded most of the day.

Ways to build this size

A footprint can go together several ways. These are the service lines most relevant to it.

Custom Plans

Custom and modified barndominium plans drawn for your Illinois lot, your county's code and the kit or build we quote — sealed where your county requires.

Pole Barn Homes (Post-Frame)

Pole barn homes built post-frame for Illinois acreage: wide clear spans, fewer footings, and posts and footings set to your county's rules.

Turnkey Builds

One contract from land to keys. We coordinate permits, septic, well, site work, shell and finish for your barndominium anywhere in Illinois.

Barndominium Kits

Barndominium kits for Illinois land: shell kits or fuller packages, sized to your county's snow load and frost line, delivered and put up by our crew.

Barndominium with a Wrap-Around Porch: common questions

6 questions we get asked most often about this footprint. If yours is not on the list, ask it directly.

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How deep should a barndominium wrap-around porch be?

At least 8 feet for a walkway and chairs, 10 feet for a table or swing, and 12 feet or more for a true outdoor living room. Many owners use different depths on different sides: a standard depth on the front and gable end, and a deeper porch on the back where they cook and eat. Deeper porches shade more of the wall, which keeps rooms cooler in summer.

Does a wrap-around porch need its own footings?

Yes. Each porch post sits on a footing below the frost depth your jurisdiction publishes: 42 inches in McHenry, Kane, Will, DeKalb, Winnebago, Rock Island and Peoria counties, and 36 inches in Tazewell County's garage handout. In McHenry and DeKalb counties, a roofed structure on piers attached to the house must be signed and sealed by a design professional licensed in the State of Illinois, so porch piers there are part of the sealed design.

Can I add a wrap-around porch to a barndominium kit?

Yes. Many barndominium kits include porch packages, and a post-frame or steel building takes a porch well because the frame bays give natural post locations. The porch should be on the drawings from the start so the footings, beam sizes and roof tie-in are designed together. Adding one later is possible but usually costs more than building it with the house.

Does a porch count as square footage?

Not as living area. A porch is not heated or cooled, so it is not counted in the home's conditioned floor area and is not part of what the energy code insulates. It does usually count toward the building footprint for zoning setbacks and lot coverage, so check those limits before settling on a full wrap.

Should part of the porch be screened?

A screened section on the back or side you use in the evening is one of the most valued upgrades in a wrap-around porch plan. Screening can be framed between the porch posts on one section while the rest stays open. If you think you may enclose it as a sunroom later, say so at the design stage, because a room that becomes conditioned space is then insulated and glazed to the energy code.

What does a wrap-around porch add to the cost?

It depends on depth, length, the roof tie-in and the decking or slab you choose, plus the footings under every post. Concrete porch slabs, stained wood or composite decking, tongue-and-groove ceilings and ceiling fans each change the total. We price the porch as its own line in your quote so you can compare a full wrap with a front-and-back plan on the same house.

Want this drawn for your program and your parcel? That is where a build actually starts.

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Tell us what you want to build and we will draw this for your program, then confirm what it looks like on your parcel, who issues the permit, and a realistic budget range. That conversation costs nothing.

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