Currently I'm renting an apartment and will likely be buying my first real house in the next few years, so I'm probably a bit naive in property ownership.  Tell me if this idea is completely crazy or not.

I've always wanted to get a property with an old barn, something pre-1900, and fix it up to resemble something of a castle.  I grew up on an old farm with barn built in the 1840s, so I know the kind of upkeep that these things need and what to look for in a stable vs. doomed structure I'm not talking about building it from the ground up in 12 months, I'm thinking of this as being a long-term project.  Also, the intent is not to be "modern", I prefer the old 1700s wood and stone rustic look and feel.  Got my inspiration from Stone barn castle (below) here in NY as well as from the old European forts that you can find here in the Northeast.  Old Fort Niagra and the likes.






Ideas include:
-Installing a staircase in the silo and replacing the top with something more like a turret.
-Building rooms and hallways in the open loft areas
-Turning at least a portion into a livable space with beds, fireplace, kitchen, etc.  Don't necessarily need electricity and whatnot, this isn't supposed to be a permanent residency.
-Replacing the usual sliding barn doors with big heavy wooden doors like you think of in a castle.
-Workshop with your basic tools in addition to a forge (Blacksmithing has been a hobby of mine for some time)
-Armory for guns and other weapons (always wanted a black powder cannon)


So what do you all think?  Is this a crazy endeavor doomed to failure?  Would it require a "small loan of a million dollars"?  Should I give up and move into my parents basement?  Is even a fraction of this feasible?

Sure it's crazy.  Don't let that stop you.  



Your first step after acquiring the property is to buy a camper or better yet a used single wide mobile home for the duration of the project.

LOL.  Means: live in said for entire life.

Haha, sounds about right.

Possible?  Sure, but you better have a king's ransom for a budget for your 'castle'.

A more realistic approach would be to convert an old barn into a house that looks like an old barn.  Even that is going to be expensive compared to a conventional house.

Google slip form stone house

A lot of people build stuff like this. End result is sweet. But it's gotta be some backbreaking labor without heavy equipment.

Needs more moat and drawbridge.

That's some pretty cool stuff.  I'm not opposed to building from scratch, especially with the rising industry of pre-fab barns and the like.  I just figured an old barn would be cheaper to build off of.

I'm supposed to break ground on my house in the next month.  You will spend 40% or more, more than you thought.  

That's all j can offer for now.

Moat is probably out of the question, but a drawbridge could be rigged up I think!

The nice way I saw to do this was to move the RV into the barn to reduce your heating/cooling variations while you remake part of the barn into an apartment.

Kharn

Anything is possible, for a price...  Why don't you just build a castle?  We have one here in Boise.

http://www.boisearchitecture.org/structuredetail.php?id=1385

http://boisecastle.com/

Only crazy if barn castle turns to rape dungeon.

That last picture makes me want to take an arrow to the knee