Home Tours

This barn-style home is a bohemian sanctuary

Article by Your Home and Garden

Building a house on your own isn’t for the faint of heart, but this eight-month project resulted in a home made with love for a young Gisborne family

meet & greet

Joseph (construction company owner/director) and Angelique Gloistein (hair salon owner and entrepreneur), Dublin, eight, Atlas, seven, and Texas, three.

the property

Three-bedroom, barn-style home in Gisborne.

When walking around Angelique and Joseph Gloistein’s Gisborne home, you could be forgiven for thinking you’re at a chic Byron Bay resort, complete with poolside cabana. However, the relaxing vibe belies the hard work it took to get to this point. Builder Joseph (Joe) spent eight months working full-time on building this dream home for his family.

At the time, five years ago, the couple had two toddlers, so life was busy and living on a dusty, dirty building site wasn’t really an option. “We were super lucky with the timing – my mum had just downsized so we were able to live in my family home,” Angelique says.

“This really took the stress off and is what made it possible for Joe to work on the house. We initially thought Joe would work on the build on weekends and after work, but we soon realised it was going to be a mammoth job and we would have zero family time. We made the call to bite the bullet and commit.”

Family members came to the rescue with child-minding so Angelique could go back to work as a hairdresser at a local salon, allowing Joe to focus solely on the build.

“Building a house on your own is not for the faint-hearted, particularly if you have a young growing family added to the mix,” says Joe. “Installing the Gib on the 5.4m-high vaulted ceilings was a hugely daunting task for a one-man band. Thankfully, a few close friends stepped up so that I didn’t have to deal with it alone. It’s amazing the motivation that comes with beer and barbecues.”

Two other b-words come to mind when you look at the Gloistein’s home: bohemian and barn. “We decided on a barn-style house early on – it was our best option to get the size and span we wanted, as well as the high-vaulted ceilings we had our hearts set on,” says Angelique. “We loved being able to design our own home and spent hours looking for inspiration on Pinterest and Instagram.”

What they settled on was a three-bedroom barn-style home with two living spaces downstairs and a mezzanine upstairs, which will in time become two more bedrooms and an office space.

“The mezzanine floor overlooking the main living area was always at the back of my mind when I was planning the build. Even now, I often pause and look down at our boys playing in the lounge. It’s almost surreal how lucky I feel in those moments,” says Joe.

The location

Angelique and Joe weren’t constrained by space when it came to designing their home. Their section is a little over 2100sqm. “We absolutely fell in love with this section when we found it,” Angelique says. “It has the most beautiful country views and we feel like we live rurally, but we’re just a five-minute walk to the beach and surf. We get the best of both worlds.”

The large section also gave them enough space to build home workspaces: a workshop for Joe and a holistic hair salon for Angelique, both of which are housed in a white barn at the rear of their section.

The vibe

Angelique drew inspiration from Bali, Byron Bay and the Mediterranean when deciding on the interior style. “I wanted our home to feel like a sanctuary, with that calm, always-on-holiday feel. I love earthy elements and colour palettes,” she says. “My style used to be a lot more eclectic but now I’m enjoying more of a minimalist vibe to bring a sense of calm to our busy household – my three boys are the big, shiny vibrant pieces. I’d say that I ended up with a look that’s a little earthy with a touch of Morocco.”

Angelique’s need for calm spreads to the bedrooms. She kept the decor in the rooms to a minimum, creating soothing spaces conducive to sleep. “I’ve realised that how my home feels is how I feel, so I’ve purposely made the bedrooms calm and restful. The boys have the usual amount of toys but I keep most of them in the other lounge and use baskets and storage in their bedrooms so the room doesn’t feel cluttered.”

Angelique says she enjoys using her home to tell a story, showing moods and emotions through her interior choices. “I’m mindful with what I bring into this home. Where possible, I try to support local artists and small stores who don’t mass produce. I also love upcycling and recycling things to give them a longer life.”

Some of her favourite purchases include the cabinet in the entranceway and the striking entrance doors, which were a secondhand find. “I love that they would tell a thousand stories if they could.”

Open-plan living

The large, open communal living space also lends itself to the holiday vibe, with its touches of rattan in the lighting and furnishings. The couple often entertain here, fitting up to 20-plus guests comfortably inside.

“It’s so nice having so much space,” says Angelique. “When it’s just us, it’s great being able to organise meals in the kitchen and still feeling connected with the family in the living space. The kids even get inspired to help out with cooking sometimes.”

It didn’t take the Gloisteins long to realise that while they loved their large living area, they needed a separate space for the children at times. They turned what was a fourth bedroom downstairs into a second living room.

The decision to use concrete for the flooring in the open-plan area was driven as much by practicality as it was by aesthetics. “It’s hard wearing and fairly indestructible, which is awesome with young boys,” says Angelique. “The floor also holds the heat from the day right through into the night; I have often got up to get a drink during the night and the concrete is still warm. People will ask what heating we have on, but it’s just warmed from the sun hitting the concrete. We built the house to be north-facing to take advantage of the sun for a more energy-efficient home.”

Future plans

After all their hard work, the Gloisteins celebrated – by getting married at home earlier this year. It was the perfect way to share their special day – and dream home – with their loved ones.

But that’s not to say they’re done – in fact, they’re already planning their next projects. “The old saying that a builder’s house is never finished is so true. Nothing is ever static for long; we have plans to create a studio space above the workshop and salon as well as completing the boys’ bedrooms on the mezzanine. In the meantime, it is so good to sit back, relax, take it all in, and enjoy this sanctuary we’ve created.”