This week's theme at Snapshots Around the World is 'Barn'. Sue was saying the German barn looked too nice for animals. The barns in this part of Germany DO look similar to the homes. In fact, many of them are connected to the farmhouses and form one long unit. I dug through my phone and files to see how many I had pictures of and came up with a few.
In the picture above the farmhouse actually is just offscreen to the left coming out at a 90 degree angle from the barn section.

The older barns are made of crude bricks like the ones above and below.

They are usually covered over in stucco and whitewashed or painted to match the house. (the house is off left of this pic below as well)

Many are used as garages today though others still house livestock. In fact the place two doors down from us has a little herd of goats in the paddock right now mowing their lawn. : )

This farm below has a separate barn (shown) which was huge but the same brick/stucco construction as the others. Unlike the others it is in the country. Darned if I wasn't happy to see those Oberhasli's that day. : )

Just over the border in France the farms look entirely different. Whereas here the farmhouses and barns are right in the villages and the farmers commute to the cropland and pastures, in eastern France little farmsteads dot the countryside much like rural communities in the states. They also have pole sheds there which are largely absent from this area. It is fascinating how different the world is.
Check out the other barns around the world linked at the Snapshots blog and leave us a link to one in your part of the world.