Barndominium with a Wrap-Around Porch in Indiana

A wrap-around porch is what turns a steel or post-frame shell into a farmhouse, and it is one of the most requested features on the barndominiums we build in Indiana. It is also a structure in its own right: a roof that carries snow, posts that need footings below the frost line, and a footprint that zoning measures. The good news is that most Indiana county zoning ordinances treat an open, one-storey porch generously — it is left out of "building area" and "ground floor area," and it may reach a few feet into a required yard. Screen it in, glaze it or put a room over it, and it starts counting. We design the porch with the house, not as an add-on, so the setbacks, the roof load and the footing depth are right the first time.

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What actually changes with this feature

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

How far the porch may reach into a setback

Setbacks are measured to the building, and a porch that wraps three sides reaches toward three property lines. Boone County's ordinance lets open platforms, porches or landings extend into a required side or rear yard by not more than two feet and into a required front yard by not more than three feet. Jackson County's ordinance, Section 9-4, lets unenclosed porches and decks encroach no more than three feet on side and rear property lines and no more than five feet on the front, and requires gutters on any roof overhang that encroaches into the setback. On a narrow lot, the porch depth is set by those numbers before it is set by taste.

The porch roof carries its county's snow load

A porch roof is a roof, and the 2020 Indiana Residential Code sets its ground snow load by county in 675 IAC 14-4.4, Table R301.2(1): 20 psf in Marion, Boone, Randolph, Brown and Jackson counties, and 30 psf in 16 northern counties including Lake County and St. Joseph County. A long, low porch roof tucked under the main eave also catches what slides off the steel roof above it, so we size the porch rafters, beam and posts for the location, not from a catalogue span. The same table lists wind at 115 mph in every county row, and a porch roof is open underneath — its connections are designed for uplift, not only for weight.

Porch posts go below the frost line

Indiana's frost-protection rule, 675 IAC 14-4.4-43, requires foundation walls, piers "and other permanent supports of buildings and structures" to be protected from frost, most often by extending them below the frost line in the county table. Its exception for shallow footings covers "decks not supported by a dwelling" — a porch roof tied into the house is supported by it. Under the county table that means porch post footings at least 24 inches deep in Brown, Jackson and Harrison counties, 30 inches in Marion, Boone and Randolph counties, and 36 inches in Lake, St. Joseph and Allen counties.

Guards once the floor is more than 30 inches up

IRC R312.1.1 requires a guard on open-sided walking surfaces — porches included — located more than 30 inches above the floor or grade below at any point within 36 inches horizontally of the edge, and R312.1.2 sets the guard at 36 inches high on porches, with openings that will not pass a 4-inch sphere. On a sloping lot the porch can be at grade on one side and well above it on the other, so the guard often runs only part of the way around. Insect screening does not count as a guard under R312.1.1, which matters if the porch will be screened.

Open or enclosed changes how it counts

County ordinances leave an open, one-storey porch out of the building's footprint — until it is enclosed

Boone County, Brown County and Randolph County all define "building area" — the figure lot coverage is measured against — as the horizontal projected area of buildings on a lot excluding "unenclosed porches not more than one story high." That matters where coverage is tight: Brown County limits residential buildings in its Forest Reserve (FR) district to 10 percent of the lot, and 30 percent in its R1, R2 and LR districts; Boone County's residential table allows 50 percent in AG. Randolph County separately defines an open porch as a roof structure attached to the principal building "open on one or more side(s) or enclosed on the sides with screens," and an enclosed porch as one "enclosed on the sides forming a heated or an unheated area," and leaves open porches out of ground floor area. The practical line for a wrap-around porch: keep it open and one storey, and it is treated as a porch; enclose it, and it is treated as house.

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.

Front and two sides

1,800 sq ft house / 8 ft deep porch on three sides

The classic farmhouse wrap. Eight feet of depth is enough for chairs and a walkway. Check it against the front and side setbacks: an open porch may reach three feet into a required front yard in Boone County and five feet in Jackson County, and two or three feet into the side yard — beyond that it has to sit inside the building line.

Full wrap with a screened section

2,200 sq ft house / 10 ft porch on four sides, one side screened

The screened corner is where people actually sit in an Indiana summer. Randolph County's definitions still count a screened porch as an open porch; a glazed or heated one is an enclosed porch. Screening does not count as a guard under IRC R312.1.1, so any part of the screened section more than 30 inches above grade needs a proper 36-inch guard behind the screen.

Deep front porch with an outdoor kitchen

2,000 sq ft house / 12 ft front porch, 6 ft side returns

A deep front porch with a covered cooking area at one end. The depth pushes the roof beam span and the post footings, and where a lot is shallow it pushes against the front setback. A grill or fireplace under the porch roof brings clearances of its own — decide where it goes before the roof framing is drawn.

Ways to build this size

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

Custom Plans

Custom barndominium floor plans drawn for your Indiana lot, county and budget — shop bays, lofts and porches included. Start with a free plan survey.

Post-Frame Homes

Post-frame and pole barn homes for Indiana land — posts, trusses and girts designed to your county's frost and snow row. Start with a free project survey.

Turnkey Builds

One contract from bare land to move-in: parcel checks, zoning, septic and well, plans, the permits your county issues, construction, inspections and handover.

Barndominium with a Wrap-Around Porch: common questions

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

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Does a wrap-around porch count toward lot coverage?

Under several Indiana county ordinances, not while it is open and one storey. Boone County, Brown County and Randolph County each define building area, which is what lot coverage measures, as excluding unenclosed porches not more than one story high. That can decide a design on a small parcel: Brown County's FR district allows residential buildings to cover 10 percent of the lot. Enclosing the porch, or building a second-floor room over it, brings it back into the calculation.

How close to the property line can the porch be?

That depends on the ordinance and the district. Boone County lets open porches extend two feet into a required side or rear yard and three feet into a required front yard. Jackson County lets unenclosed porches and decks encroach up to three feet on side and rear lines and five feet on the front, and requires gutters on any roof overhang that encroaches. Read the definitions section of your county's ordinance to see what the setback is measured to before fixing the porch depth.

What snow load is a porch roof designed for?

The ground snow load in your county's row of the 2020 Indiana Residential Code table (675 IAC 14-4.4, Table R301.2(1)) — 20 psf for most of the state's counties, including Marion County, and 30 psf for 16 northern counties such as Lake County, Porter County, LaPorte County, St. Joseph County and Elkhart County. The porch roof also sits below the main roof, where snow sliding off steel panels lands on it, so the framing is sized for the location rather than a standard span table. Indiana also deletes the model code's Appendix H on patio covers (675 IAC 14-4.4-233), so an attached porch roof is framed to the body of the residential code like the rest of the house.

How deep do the porch post footings go?

To your county's footing depth in the state table, because a porch roof attached to the house is a permanent support of the building under 675 IAC 14-4.4-43. The shallow-footing exception in that section covers decks not supported by a dwelling, not porch roofs. The table sets 24 inches in southern counties such as Brown County and Jackson County, 30 inches in central counties such as Marion County and Randolph County, and 36 inches in northern counties such as Allen County and Lake County.

Can I screen in part of the porch later?

Usually, and planning for it now is cheaper. Randolph County's definition treats a porch enclosed with screens as an open porch, while one enclosed to form a heated or unheated area is an enclosed porch — and an enclosed porch is part of the building for coverage and setbacks. Screening is not a guard under IRC R312.1.1, so wherever the floor is more than 30 inches above grade the guard goes in first. If you may glaze it later, we frame the posts and header for windows now.

Does the porch count toward the house's minimum floor area?

Generally no. Brown County and Randolph County define ground floor area as excluding open porches, and it is ground floor area that their minimum dwelling sizes are measured in. If a county sets a minimum house size, the enclosed, heated part of the barndominium has to meet it by itself — a large porch does not make up the difference.

How do we start a barndominium with a wrap-around porch?

Send us the parcel through the project survey on this site. The county and zoning district tell us the setbacks, the porch encroachment allowance and the lot-coverage limit; the county's row in the state code table tells us the snow load and footing depth. We draw the porch into the first plan with the house, so its roof, posts and footings are part of the same structural design.

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

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Sources

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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, which office permits it, and a realistic budget range. That conversation costs nothing.

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