Barndominium Builders in Rogersville, TN

Barndominium builders looking at land around Rogersville find a county seat that is small, very old and surrounded by farm country. Rogersville is the seat of Hawkins County. The area was settled in 1775, the town was chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1789 and it was incorporated in 1903. It covers only about 3.76 square miles and counted 4,671 residents in 2020, up from 4,420 in 2010. Most people who want a barndo with real acreage end up just outside that small footprint, in the hills and hollows of a county with 487 square miles of land.

We plan, design and build barndominiums, shop houses and steel-frame homes for owners in and around Rogersville. Instead of a general overview, here are the five questions we work through with every landowner here, in the order they come up.

Question 1: Is the parcel inside town limits?

This one decides who reviews your plans. The Town of Rogersville publishes a zoning map, so land inside the town has zoning districts to check before a design is drawn. The town's department list does not show a separate building or codes office, so we confirm with City Hall which inspection office covers a lot inside the limits and what the town's zoning allows for a metal-sided home or a large accessory shop.

Outside the limits, the picture changes completely. Hawkins County's website says the county does not issue building permits, that all building permits are issued through the State of Tennessee, and that the county has no zoning restrictions or code enforcement. For a lot of barndo buyers, that is the appeal of rural Hawkins County.

Question 2: What does the state permit actually require?

No county zoning does not mean no inspections. On county land, a new home falls under the State Fire Marshal's Office residential permit program, which covers one- and two-family dwellings in places that have not been exempted or opted out. The state has adopted the 2018 International Residential Code and the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code. Inspections happen at three points:

• The foundation, before concrete is poured
• Framing and rough-in, with plumbing and mechanical checked at rough-in
• Final construction

One free re-inspection is allowed if a required inspection fails the first time. Permits are bought online or through a local issue agent, and inspections are requested through the state's CORE system. Two details matter for barndo owners. First, a detached garage, shed or barn that is not used for living does not need a state residential permit, so a stand-alone shop can sometimes go up before the house. Second, an owner can act as the builder only if the home will be their own residence and they have not had a homeowner permit in the prior 24 months.

Question 3: Where does the water and sewer come from?

Rogersville's Water Department serves about 4,000 water customers and 2,500 sewer customers over a service area of more than 50 square miles, so public water can reach well beyond the town itself. Sewer covers fewer homes than water does, which means many rural lots with a water tap still need a septic system. We ask the department about a tap and about sewer before a site plan is final.

Where sewer is not available, the septic permit comes from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. A TDEC Environmental Scientist evaluates the site, decides the system type and may ask for a soils map from a private soil consultant. Before the visit, stake the corners of the barndominium, including porches, the shop and any garage, mark property lines, and mow the house site and test areas. Do not cut or fill the ground during the process. A complete application can take up to 45 days.

Question 4: What is under the grass?

Rogersville sits in the valley of Crockett Creek, a southwest-flowing tributary of the Holston River, inside the Ridge and Valley region of the Appalachians. Upland soils in this part of Tennessee include the Talbott series, which the USDA describes as clayey residuum weathered from limestone, with bedrock at 20 to 40 inches, moderately slow permeability and a very firm, plastic clay subsoil. Some Talbott areas have karst topography.

For a barndominium, that combination shapes three decisions. Shallow limestone can change footing depth and how much rock work the pad needs. Firm clay drains slowly, which can push a drainfield to a larger or different design. Karst means we look for sinks and low spots before setting the slab and keep roof water from gutters and shop doors moving away from the building, not into the ground beside it.

Question 5: What weather does the building have to handle?

NOAA normals for 1991 to 2020 put Rogersville's average yearly precipitation at 48.84 inches and average snowfall at 6.3 inches. Recorded extremes run from a high of 104 degrees to a low of minus 23. A metal-skinned home in that range needs a continuous air and vapor barrier, insulation that keeps the inside face of the steel above dew point, and an HVAC system sized for both July heat and a hard January cold snap. Spray foam on the roof deck and walls is the usual answer, and we size equipment from a load calculation rather than square footage alone.

Living with history next door

Rogersville is easy to recognize from the road. The Rogersville Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places, the Hawkins County Courthouse, built around 1836, is among the oldest in Tennessee, and Crockett Spring Park preserves the tavern and home of founder Joseph Rogers. Davy Crockett's grandparents settled near that spring in 1775. A barndo with board-and-batten siding, a standing-seam roof and a deep front porch sits comfortably in that setting.

Getting here

US Route 11W is the main road. Rogersville is about 28 miles southwest of Kingsport and 65 miles northeast of Knoxville along it, and the county-owned Hawkins County Airport is about six nautical miles northeast of downtown. Steel, trusses and concrete trucks come in on 11W, so the last question on any rural lot is whether a long truck can make the turn into your drive.

Call (423) 607-8447 or

Get a Free Estimate

and we will walk through these five questions for your Rogersville land.