The mountain stable is a barn type found in the mountainous parts of the upland South, but rarely in Missouri's Little Dixie, an area more like the Piedmont and Bluegrass than the high mountains. Generally a small frame barn, the floorplan of the mountain stable is reminiscent of the transverse-crib barn [transverse frame barn], but the ridge of the roof runs parallel to the long sides and the main openings. In its layout it also resembles the double-crib plan.The Morton barn, in the [Little Dixie] region's western transitional zone, is a good example of the frame mountain stable occurring Little Dixie. This barn measures 24'1" x 17'9" and has a shed added to the rear to shelter farm equipment. Too small to include cribs or granaries, it only has room for horse stalls and milk-cow stanchions.
In West Virginia and and southwestern Ohio, a small barn occurs widely which has not received any study. It seems to be something of a cross between the English barn [type] and a small Transverse Frame barn. The small door is usually on the gable end. The building is rectangular, vertical sided, and unpainted. Its function varies from structure to structure, but includes stabling, equipment storage, and hay storage. Some of these barns which perform that latter function occupy isolated meadow locations.
A number of small, narrow barns of quite distinctive form are scattered over an area between Keyser, West Virginia and Coshocton, Ohio. Not much can be said about this barn, but it appears to be a distinctive type.
