Barndominium Builders in Sherman, TX

Barndominium builders in Sherman work under some of the simplest rural rules in North Texas, which makes it worth knowing exactly what the rules are. Sherman is the county seat of Grayson County, in the Texoma region along the Oklahoma border. It sits at about 686 feet, roughly 70 miles north of Dallas, between Denison to the north and Howe to the south. This is its own region, not a Dallas suburb, but it is changing fast.

Why so many people are looking at land here

Sherman grew 13.3 percent from 2010 to 2020, to 43,645, and the 2024 estimate is 50,229. Grayson County went from 120,877 to 135,543 over the same decade, with a 2025 estimate of 153,613. Big employers are part of the reason. Texas Instruments broke ground on a semiconductor fab campus in 2022 and began operations at a 300-millimeter wafer plant near the city's southern limits in late 2025, with about 3,000 jobs. GlobalWafers has opened a wafer factory nearby. As towns and subdivisions spread, rural acreage farther out becomes the place to build something with space.

Step 1: city, ETJ or county?

Inside Sherman, Denison, Van Alstyne, Whitesboro, Pottsboro, Howe or another Grayson County city, that city's permits, inspections and zoning apply, and a city code adopted for its extraterritorial jurisdiction controls there too. City zoning and subdivision deed restrictions can limit metal-sided homes, so this is the first thing we check on any parcel near town.

Step 2: what the county does and does not require

According to Grayson County Development Services, the county does not require building permits or issue certificates of occupancy for single-family homes in unincorporated areas. The Fire Marshal's Office requires building permits only for new commercial, public or multifamily buildings of four or more units. That matches state law: Texas Local Government Code Section 233.153 sets the International Residential Code as the standard for new homes in unincorporated areas but does not require county approval before construction. Building to that code is still the standard, so we build to it and keep the records.

Step 3: the permits the county does require

Grayson County Development Services handles several approvals that a rural barndominium will almost certainly need:

• OSSF permit: required for any new or replacement septic system
• Development Certificate: required for a new E911 address and for new culvert installations
• Access documentation: if the lot uses an access easement instead of frontage on a county-maintained road, all recorded documents must be presented for review
• Floodplain Development Permit and Elevation Certificate: required for development in a Special Flood Hazard Area
• Right-of-Way Permit: for work in county right-of-way, including road bores for utilities
• Subdivision regulations: any division of property must follow the Grayson County Subdivision Regulations, which matters if you are splitting a tract off family land

We line these up at the start so the address, the driveway culvert and the septic approval are ready when the slab goes in.

Step 4: water, rain and the lake

Sherman averages about 44.29 inches of precipitation a year, much wetter than West Texas, with about 78.6 days of measurable rain. Grayson County covers 979 square miles, and 4.7 percent of it is water, much of it Lake Texoma, created by Denison Dam, finished in 1944. The lake's flood-control pool extends to 645 feet, and it reached a record 645.72 feet on June 1, 2015. Lakeside and creek-side lots get a flood map check and, where needed, a floodplain permit and elevation certificate before design.

Step 5: design for storms and heat

On May 15, 1896, an F5 tornado cut a 28-mile path through Sherman and killed 73 people. A storm shelter or reinforced safe room is worth planning into a barndo here, along with wind-rated shop doors and strong frame anchorage. The record high is 113 degrees F and the record low minus 3, and with the humidity that comes with 44 inches of rain, closed-cell spray foam and an HVAC system with good dehumidification keep a metal building dry inside.

Have land in Grayson County? Call (254) 401-5175 or

Get a Free Estimate

and we will start with the county checklist.