Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Starr.
Hi Jessica, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ve always wanted to design homes, even going back to my childhood. I received my bachelor’s degree in Environmental Design from Texas A&M in 1999 and finished my Masters in Architecture at UTA in 2002. In 2006 my husband and I self-contracted a home I designed out on 81 acres in Farmersville, TX. We lived there for 5-years before selling and moving back into the metroplex with a family of three young children. After living in Carrollton for 7 years, we bought a 2 acre property on Lake Granbury, 5 minutes from Cody’s (my husband) parents. We decided to build a home again – I designed our home and we did all the self-contracting. This time, I began posting our build journey to Instagram and picked up a following (we have close to 100K followers now). Before I knew it, my followers were asking me if they could buy the floor plan to our new home. Old Barn Company was born in the spring of 2020. We started off with just one plan, the Century Oak Farmhouse, but soon clients started requesting small changes here and there, and pretty soon we had added new plans that we could sell. It’s now 2026 and I’ve designed 250+ homes across 25 states! My husband left his corporate job in 2024 and now we work as a husband-wife duo, not only designing dream homes for families, but also teaching them how to be their own general contractor through our Bootstrap Builders program. Our heart is for creating beautiful, functional homes for families to thrive and make wonderful memories in.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We’ve steadily grown each year, but after COVID changed everything and construction prices skyrocketed along with interest rates, many of our clients came back asking if we could cut off parts of their house and redesign it smaller so they could afford to build. That is painful for both me and the devastated clients. I hated to see their dreams shrink, so I began telling them about how Cody and I had built 2 homes by being the general contractor ourselves and how it saved us well over 25%. That kind of savings allowed many to move forward with their original plans, not an amputated version! We wanted to make sure they had guidance and a good system so they could avoid major problems that are so easy to make in construction. So, we developed the Bootstrap Builders Program, which takes families through the process of self-contracting their own home. We start with budgeting and getting a construction loan and take them all the way through the construction process. Our clients are able to build their homes within 6 months to a year, stay in control of the budget, and they truly enjoy the process. We’ve even had one or two want to make a career change to becoming a home builder.
We’ve been impressed with Old Barn Company, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Old Barn Company consists of two businesses – Old Barn Design which sells residential stock plans off our website. We are able to do modifications on those existing plans OR we can design a completely custom home from scratch to meet your family’s needs. Our customers love all the ways we can help them visualize their future home with 3D views, walkthroughs, and realistic renderings.
The second wing of our business is Bootstrap Builders. We help families make their dream home a reality whether they use our floor plans or not through various educational materials, consulting and resources. We have resources for how to pick out lighting for your new build, what to look for when shopping for that perfect piece of property to build on, and design consultation. The Bootstrap Builders is our program that teaches families how to save 25% on their build by being their own general contractor.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
The first time we designed and general contracted our own house, we had a baby in a stroller, and the second child on the way. That second child was actually born during the build. Cody was travelling about 50% of the time for his job, so Jessica, babies and Jessica’s mom would do most of the site visits to check in and answer questions the subcontractors had.
Jessica has been designing house plans since she was 7 years old, using graph paper and old school plastic templates. When her grandmother noticed her interest in the floor plans in her Southern Living magazines, she stocked her up with every kind of drafting supply she could find in her small town.
Cody left a career in software to join Jessica and he has brought his engineering acumen to the business and makes it run smoothly and efficiently while helping to ensure excellent quality.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.oldbarncompany.com
- Instagram: @the.old.barn
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oldbarncompany
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@oldbarncompany
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-old-barn-granbury-5
