If you’ve spent any time in rural or semi-rural North Dakota, you’ve probably seen them: buildings that look like a large metal shop or barn on the outside but have a fully finished, comfortable home tucked inside. Some have a garage bay wide enough for a tractor. Others have a workshop, a man cave, or equipment storage. All of them have one thing in common: they were built because the people inside need more than a traditional home could offer.
These buildings have a name: shomes. And they’re becoming one of the most popular custom builds we do at Sparling Construction.
What Exactly Is a Shome?
A shome (short for shop-home) is a structure that combines a functional shop or workspace with a fully livable, comfortable home. Think of it as a barndominium with a North Dakota sensibility built in: heavy-duty enough to handle our winters, flexible enough to accommodate how people here actually live and work.
A shome typically includes:
- A large attached or integrated shop, garage, or workspace
- A full residential living area with a kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, and a living space
- Post-frame or steel construction built to handle North Dakota’s climate demands
- A single footprint that eliminates the need for separate structures on your property
The result is a home that works as hard as the person living in it.
How Is a Shome Different from a Barndominium?
The terms are often used interchangeably, and for good reason, as both involve combining a functional workspace with residential living. The difference is mostly one of emphasis and aesthetic.
A barndominium typically refers to a converted or purpose-built barn-style structure with living quarters. The visual language leans agricultural: metal siding, open floor plans, exposed steel beams.
A shome is similar in structure but tends to place equal weight on the shop or workspace as it does on the living area. The design is often more custom, more intentional, and more tailored to the specific work the owner does, whether that’s woodworking, farming, mechanics, or running a home-based business.
At Sparling Construction’s Homes & Shomes division, we build both, and we help each client figure out which approach fits their land, their lifestyle, and their budget.
Why Are North Dakota Homeowners Choosing Shomes?
There’s a reason shomes are taking off across North Dakota and the broader Midwest. A few reasons, actually.
The Land Supports It
North Dakota homeowners often have acreage. When you own five, ten, or twenty acres, a traditional neighborhood-style home leaves a lot of potential untapped. A shome lets you use your property the way it was meant to be used, with real working space and real living space under one well-built roof.
The Climate Demands It
Our winters are hard on vehicles, equipment, and everything else you’d normally leave outside. A shome gives you a heated, secure place to store what matters, without paying to build and maintain a separate shop building. Everything is connected, everything is protected, and you’re not walking through a blizzard to get from your kitchen to your workspace.
The Cost Efficiency Makes Sense
Building a home and a shop separately means two foundations, two roofs, two sets of utilities, and two contracts. A shome consolidates all of that into a single build. For many North Dakota homeowners, the math works out significantly in favor of the combined structure, especially when both the home and the workspace are being built from scratch anyway.
The Lifestyle Is the Point
For a lot of Bismarck and Mandan homeowners, a shome isn’t just practical. It’s the dream. A space where you can work on your truck, run your small business, store your equipment, and then walk through a door into a beautifully finished home. That’s what we build. No compromise. No choosing between comfort and function. See the kind of projects we’ve completed to get a feel for what’s possible.
What Does a Shome or Barndominium Build Look Like in Practice?
Every shome we build at Sparling Construction is custom. There’s no standard floor plan, no catalog to flip through. Our process starts with understanding how you live, what you need to store or work on, and how the building needs to function across all four seasons.
From there, our in-house design team works with you to design a structure that fits your land and your budget, then produces 3D renderings so you can see the finished project before a single nail is driven. We handle permitting, construction, and finishing: one team, one point of contact, from groundbreaking to move-in.
Here are a few examples of how North Dakota homeowners are configuring their shomes:
The Working Farm Setup: Living quarters on one end, wide shop bays on the other, with enough overhead clearance for full-size farm equipment and a heated floor in the workspace.
The Home Business Build: A clean, professional workspace facing the front of the property, suitable for client visits, with a fully finished home behind it. Separate entries, shared utilities, one roof.
The Hobbyist’s Dream: A three-car garage plus workshop on one side, with a high-end finished home on the other. Built for the person who’s as serious about their weekend projects as they are about coming home to a comfortable space.
The Multi-Generational Property: A shome designed to house an extended family with separate living zones under one structure, combined with shared shop and storage space. This can also work well alongside a home addition if you’re expanding an existing property.
What Does a Shome Cost to Build in North Dakota?
This is one of the first questions we hear, and the honest answer is: it depends. The size of the structure, the ratio of shop space to living space, the finish level of the residential portion, and the complexity of the site all affect the final number.
What we can tell you is that shomes are often more cost-effective per square foot than building a custom home and a separate shop structure, especially when you factor in the cost of two separate foundations, utility hookups, and rooflines.
The best way to get a real number is to have a conversation with our team. We’ll give you an honest assessment based on what you actually want to build, not a ballpark designed to get you in the door. Most of our shop-home projects start in the $500K range and scale up depending on size, finish level, and site conditions, so it’s helpful to come into the conversation with realistic expectations about what a quality build requires. Reach out here to get started.
Is a Shome Right for You?
A shome isn’t the right fit for every homeowner. But if any of the following sounds like you, it might be worth a conversation:
- You own land outside of Bismarck or Mandan and want to build from scratch
- You need a substantial shop, garage, or workspace, and don’t want to build a separate structure
- You work from home, run equipment, or have hobbies that require real space
- You want a home that’s built around how you actually live, not a floor plan designed for the average buyer
- You’re interested in a barndominium aesthetic but want the craftsmanship and finish quality of a custom home
Don’t just take our word for it. Read what our clients have to say about working with Sparling Construction.
Building Shomes and Barndominiums in the Bismarck-Mandan Area
Sparling Construction’s Homes & Shomes division handles shome and barndominium builds in Bismarck, Mandan, and within roughly 90 miles of the Bismarck-Mandan area. Every project is custom-designed, fully project-managed, and built to the same standard we’ve maintained for nearly five decades of construction in this region.
We don’t just build the structure. We help you figure out what you actually want, and then we build it right.
Ready to talk about your shome or custom home project?
Contact our team today or visit Homes & Shomes to learn more about what’s possible. You can also reach us directly at (701) 222-0783.
Sparling Construction | Homes & Shomes | 2011 Lovett Ave, Bismarck, ND 58504 | Licensed & Insured | Remodeling and Building in North Dakota Since 1978