Northern Willamette Valley farmland under low cloud, with rows of young Christmas trees, an orchard, a spreading oak and Douglas-fir woodlots on the hills.
Washington County, Oregon Portland Metro & the Northern Willamette Valley

Barndominium Builders in Hillsboro, Oregon

Hillsboro is one of the larger cities on the west side of the metro, and most of its land is already subdivided or planned for urban use. A barndominium inside the city limits is possible, but it has to meet the same zoning as any detached house, and lots big enough for a real shop bay are the exception. The farm country beyond the city edge is where acreage is, and that ground sits under county rules rather than city ones: our Washington County page explains who decides there. Inside Hillsboro we can supply barndominium kits for an owner-built shell, prepare custom plans sized to the lot's setbacks and height limit, or carry the project from site work to finish as a turnkey build. A clear-span pole barn home or a steel frame both suit a larger city parcel, and a shop-house layout keeps the garage and living space under one roof. Tell us the address through the survey and we will check the zone, whether the lot touches the regulatory floodplain, and the sewer connection before any design work.

Hillsboro at a glance

Principal county
Washington County
Building permit
City building program
Land use
City zoning, inside a UGB
Wastewater
Public sewer
Tell us about your land

Barndominium Kits and Plans for Hillsboro

The parcel decides the budget more than the floor area does, so each option is priced against your land rather than a rate card.

Barndominium Kits

Barndominium kits and shell kits for Oregon land, sized to the snow, wind and seismic values the state's design hub gives for your exact site.

Custom Plans

Custom barndominium plans drawn for Oregon's residential code, your site's snow and seismic values, and the energy chapter a steel shell must meet.

Pole Barn Homes near Hillsboro

A pole barn home sets its frame on posts and trusses (the engineering term is post-frame), which often suits a simple, wide layout with a shop bay under the same roof. Whether it fits your parcel comes down to the zoning and the site, set out below.

Pole Barn Homes

Pole barn homes and pole barn home kits for Oregon land, built as dwellings under the state residential code, not as farm buildings.

Permits, Zoning and Septic in Hillsboro

In Oregon the land-use answer often comes before the building answer. Here is who decides each part in Hillsboro, taken from the office or document that publishes it. Rules change, so check them again against your parcel before anything is drawn.

Who issues the building permit City building program

OpenHillsboro: Development & Permit Center, City of Hillsboro (Hillsboro Civic Center)

Hillsboro's Development & Permit Center at the Civic Center on East Main Street handles residential building and construction permits, inspections and land use approvals, with applications submitted and tracked through the city's online permit portal. A barndominium lived in as a home is permitted as a new dwelling. Unincorporated land outside the city is a county matter.

Source: OpenHillsboro: Development & Permit Center, City of Hillsboro (hillsboro-oregon.gov)

Who decides the land use Inside an urban growth boundary

City of Hillsboro Community Development (Hillsboro Community Development Code, Chapter 12)

Hillsboro's Community Development Code holds the city's land use and zoning rules, and the city lists recent ordinances not yet folded into the online code. The city lies inside the regional urban growth boundary, so its land is planned for urban housing and jobs rather than farm use; the zone on your lot sets the house rules.

Source: Codes & Standards, City of Hillsboro (hillsboro-oregon.gov)

Sewer or septic Public sewer

Clean Water Services (sewer district for urban Washington County, with Hillsboro as a partner city)

Sewer in Hillsboro is provided by Clean Water Services, which works with 12 partner cities including Hillsboro across the urban part of the Tualatin River watershed, an area that closely follows the growth boundary. A new home inside the city connects to that system rather than a septic field.

Source: Who & Where We Serve, Clean Water Services (cleanwaterservices.org)

Floodplain overlay updated in 2025
Hillsboro's Ordinance 6500, effective 17 July 2025, incorporated the 2020 DLCD model ordinance into the Regulatory Floodplain Overlay section of the city's Community Development Code (listed on the city's Codes & Standards page, read 26 September 2026).

Source: Codes & Standards, City of Hillsboro (hillsboro-oregon.gov)

Recent growth boundary expansion
Metro's list of recent urban growth boundary expansions includes a 2018 decision covering Beaverton, Hillsboro, King City and Wilsonville. Land brought inside the boundary is planned for urban development rather than rural homesites.

Source: Urban growth boundary, Metro (oregonmetro.gov)

Building on land near Hillsboro

Hillsboro parcels sit on the flat floor of the Tualatin Valley, so slope is rarely the constraint; water is. The Tualatin River and its tributary creeks run through and beside the city, and a lot near any of them should be checked against the regulatory floodplain overlay before you commit. Expansion areas brought into the boundary are being planned for neighbourhoods and employment, not rural homesteads. Outside the city much of the valley is working farmland, and on land zoned for exclusive farm use a new house has to qualify under state tests and county review. If you want a shop, a few animals and room to park equipment, plan the land search with that zoning in mind.

Other places in this part of Oregon

Portland Metro & the Northern Willamette Valley

See every service

Have land in or near Hillsboro? Tell us about the parcel and what you want on it, and we will check it against the local rules before anything is drawn.

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Building in Hillsboro: questions

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How much does it cost to build a barndominium in Hillsboro?
The building itself is only part of it. On a Hillsboro lot, sewer and water connection charges, any floodplain work, and the finish level inside the living quarters all shift the total, as does choosing a kit you erect yourself versus a finished build. Our barndominium cost guide breaks down third-party per-square-foot ranges and what pushes a project up or down.
Do I need a building permit for a barndominium in Hillsboro?
Yes. The OpenHillsboro Development & Permit Center issues residential building permits inside the city and schedules the inspections. A barndominium used as a home is a dwelling, so it is reviewed like any new house. For land just outside the city limits, the county building department applies instead.
Can I build a barndominium on farmland near Hillsboro?
Only if the county's zoning allows a dwelling on that parcel. On exclusive farm use land around Hillsboro, a house has to qualify under state tests and a non-farm home can end the land's farm tax deferral. Check zoning with Washington County planning before you buy; our legal guide walks through the questions to ask.

Keep reading

What usually comes next once you know what Hillsboro allows.

Barndominium Cost Guide

Sourced per-square-foot ranges by tier and size, and what moves the number on your land.

Read it

Is a Barndominium Legal in Oregon?

Zoning, farm and forest land, septic and who inspects, before you buy the land.

Read it

How Long Does It Take?

From parcel to move-in, and which steps set the clock.

Read it

Sources for this page

The published pages behind the Hillsboro facts above. Rules change, so check the current version with the office before you rely on it.

Other places near Hillsboro

Nearby places with their own pages. Across a city limit or a county line the permit office, the zoning and the septic rules can change, so each is covered separately.

Beaverton

Washington County, Oregon

Washington County

Oregon county

Portland

Multnomah County, Oregon

McMinnville

Yamhill County, Oregon

Building in Hillsboro?

Start with the survey. Tell us where the land is and what you want on it, and we will come back with which offices decide it, what the zoning allows, and a plan to fit.

Start the survey