Barnabas wouldn't have approved of one of Mrs Johnson's famous boiled dinners so that wouldn't have worked out.
Oh, I don't know, Barnabas could have slipped it to the dog (there would have to be a dog) and filled himself up on claret cup, Breakfast of Champions.
Laura might have worked out very nicely for him, coming back every hundred years or so to clean up any inconvenient children, and then going off and leaving him free to pursue the latest SYT.
But if he wants an actual live-in wife, Elizabeth would have been perfect for him - beautiful and gracious, but smart enough to see through a lot of guff when she cares to.
That is, if he absolutely refuses to make an honest woman of Julia.