Counterintuitive as it may seem, there is something very urban about a barn. The wide-open spaces of industrial real estatefind their country equivalent in sheds, stables, and lean-tos. When the New Jersey Barn Company beganrescuing farm buildings around 1980, its first clientswere New Yorkers with property in East Hampton. “They saw the opportunity tocreate something like a rural loft,” says co-founder Elric Endersby.At the same time, the barn offers instant ruralauthenticity. “It’s like living outsideunder a big roof,” says interior-designconsultant Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan of hisfamily’s 1850s structure on Long Island, whichwas trucked out from Princeton—and then rebuiltpeg by peg.