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Discover our range of quality Dutch barn sheds from 1st Choice Leisure Buildings, a family business with over 45 years of experience helping customers choose the right garden building.
Unlike many online-only retailers, you can visit our extensive show site to see the quality for yourself and get friendly, knowledgeable advice.
Better still, our Dutch barn sheds include **FREE assembly**, giving you the reassurance that your new shed will be professionally installed and ready to use without the hassle of putting it together yourself.
A Dutch barn is a timber garden building with a distinctive multi-pitch roof which gives it considerably more character than a conventional apex shed and creates useful additional internal headroom. If you want practical storage and a building that looks a little different in the garden, a barn style shed can be an excellent choice.
This page forms part of our wider garden sheds range but concentrates specifically on the two Dutch barns we currently offer: the Diamond Durrington Dutch Barn and the upgraded Diamond Ditchling Dutch Barn.
The Diamond Durrington Dutch Barn is the more straightforward of the two buildings. It gives you the characteristic raised barn-style roof, practical double-door access, toughened-glass window options and generous internal height without automatically adding features you may not need.
The Diamond Ditchling Dutch Barn is the upgraded version. It keeps the same basic Dutch Barn concept but adds particularly heavy-duty joinery-made doors, a useful rear shelf or loft for extra storage and an attractive feature window above the doors.
I would choose according to how you intend to use the building. If you mainly need substantial garden storage and like the Dutch Barn appearance, the Durrington may give you everything you need. If the heavier doors, extra overhead storage and more decorative frontage are useful to you, the Ditchling justifies a closer look.
I would not automatically recommend the more expensive option. After working with sheds for many years, I have learnt that paying for features you will genuinely use makes sense; paying for them simply because they are available does not.
Both Dutch Barn models are currently available from 8ft x 8ft through to 14ft x 8ft. That gives you a choice from a useful medium-sized storage building through to a considerably longer shed capable of accommodating garden machinery, bicycles, tools, shelving and a workbench.
All shed sizes are nominal, so I recommend checking the precise external measurements for the size you choose before preparing the base. Allow room around the building for installation, roof overhangs and future timber maintenance as well.
The biggest practical difference is the roof profile. A conventional apex shed reaches its highest point along a single ridge, while the Dutch Barn roof changes angle and creates more useful volume towards the upper part of the building.
That additional height can be particularly useful for long-handled tools, taller equipment and high shelving. On the Ditchling, part of that upper space is put to practical use with its rear storage loft or shelf.
Yes. Their combination of floor space, double-door access, and generous internal height makes these buildings particularly practical for lawnmowers, bicycles, garden furniture, tools, machinery, and household items you don’t want taking up space indoors.
I would plan the storage before ordering. Group the largest items together, measure them, and think about where the shelving will go. A building which is full as soon as it is installed is usually a building which should have been a little larger.
Yes. The larger sizes provide useful space for a workbench, plus tools and storage. The additional roof height also makes the interior feel less confined than some conventional sheds of a similar footprint.
If workshop use is important, think about window position, natural light and how much uninterrupted wall space you need for shelving or benches. The Ditchling and Durrington offer different window choices, including the option to have no windows where privacy or wall space matters more.
The Diamond Dutch Barns use substantial timber construction with strong vertical framing and tongue-and-groove timber cladding choices. They have proper timber-boarded roofs, toughened glass where windows are specified and substantial flooring designed for normal garden-building use.
The Ditchling, for example, uses sturdy 47mm x 47mm nominal vertical framework with tongue-and-groove shiplap or loglap options. This is the sort of specification I look at before being impressed by photographs or headline prices.
Yes. A factory-applied colour paint finish is available on both Dutch Barn models. A coloured finish can help the building blend with fencing, planting or your house, or turn the shed into more of a feature in the garden.
Remember that screen colours and photographs are only approximate. Natural light changes the appearance considerably, so if an exact shade matters, I recommend checking a physical colour sample before ordering.
Yes. Professional assembly is included with the Ditchling and Durrington within the applicable Diamond delivery area and subject to suitable access and site conditions. That saves you the considerable job of erecting a large sectional timber building yourself.
You will still need a suitable firm and level base ready before installation. The floor, doors and complete structure depend on the foundation being right, so I would never regard the base as an afterthought.
I’m Robin Antill, founder of 1st Choice Leisure Buildings. I left school at 15 and started my own business in 1979 trading as Marina Sheds. I learnt about timber buildings hands-on by making sheds, selling them, delivering them and dealing directly with customers, so my knowledge comes from practical experience rather than simply looking at manufacturers’ brochures.
I sold Marina Sheds in 1990, although unfortunately I did not receive all the money which was due from the sale. It was a difficult business lesson, but I stayed in the garden-building industry and carried on.
In 1992 we expanded beyond sheds and added summerhouses, garages, garden rooms and log cabins. As the business was no longer simply about sheds, that wider direction led to the name Titan Garden Buildings. My son Craig joined me in 1992 after studying carpentry at Guildford College from 1990, bringing his own practical carpentry and timber-building knowledge into the business.
We sold Titan Garden Buildings in 1998 and in 2000 formed 1st Choice Leisure Buildings. Rather than being tied to one manufacturer’s products, Craig and I wanted to use our experience to compare quality buildings from different manufacturers and give customers a genuine choice.
Craig now runs the day-to-day business, and I remain involved to support him and the team whenever required. You can read more about our history on the About 1st Choice Leisure Buildings page.
Having manufactured timber sheds myself, I tend to look past the unusual roof shape and examine the building underneath it. I look at the framing, cladding, floor, roof, doors, and glazing and ask whether those specifications suit what the customer wants to store.
That is why I see a clear place for both Dutch Barns. The Durrington offers a distinctive shape and useful storage without unnecessary extras. At the same time, the Ditchling adds genuinely useful features for customers who value heavier doors, extra high-level storage and a more decorative frontage.
Start by deciding what needs to go inside and measure your largest equipment. Then choose the size, decide whether the Ditchling upgrades are useful, and consider windows, colour, and any shelving requirements.
If you are comparing Dutch barns for sale and are unsure whether the Durrington or Ditchling suits you better, please ask us. Between Craig, myself, and the team, we have a great deal of practical garden-building experience, and I would rather help you choose the right specification before ordering than see you pay for features you don’t need.
Whenever practical, I strongly recommend seeing garden buildings before making a final decision. You can visit our Surrey garden building display site at Sutton Green, near Guildford and Woking, to inspect representative buildings and compare timber, floors, doors, glazing and construction in person.
Photographs are useful, but a Dutch Barn is a particularly good example of a building which is easier to understand when you stand inside it and experience the extra roof height for yourself. I started selling sheds in 1979 and still believe seeing the quality before buying is one of the best ways to make an informed decision.
