ZEB Modern Barn
The farm-style buildings that dot the landscape around Queenstown in New Zealand were the inspiration for this striking modern barn built on a hillside in Northern NSW.
Photography Coastpark Creative / Words Casey Hutton / Interior design Christal Alexander
Building designer Jardine Design Space / Build JDC
From the outside, the dark frame and pitched roofline of this home offer a dramatic counterpoint to the lush greenery that surrounds it. From the inside, huge expanses of glass beckon the eye outward to the forest treeline and an ever-changing sky. “Day and night, it’s a beautiful reminder of how lucky our family is,” says homeowner Christal Alexander.
Family is at the heart of this home. The seeds for its design, Christal explains, were planted over holidays to Queenstown with her husband Luke and their three children. “We’ve spent hours driving and exploring their rolling green hills and all these stunning black, high-pitched, single-level barns with timber detailing – the five of us falling more and more in love with the area each time we visit.”
The couple resolved to build a similar home in the Tweed region of New South Wales where they both grew up.
The house would be Luke and Christal’s fourth build and third renovation together. Nevertheless, it wasn’t smooth sailing. Christal recounts their initial impressions of the block of land in Nunderi: “It was bad! Hilly, with weeds and grass taller than a double-storey house. We couldn’t even get to the land to see it! There was a road, but it was so overgrown it wasn’t viewable.”
The location, however – ten minutes from Cabarita Beach and within easy reach of the highway to Byron Bay – was perfect, and Christal’s vision for a Queenstown-style home held strong. She sketched out her own plan – a modern barn with a central living zone between an adults’ and a children’s wing – then handed it over to Josh Jardine at Jardine Design Space. “He transformed my layout into a masterpiece, creating all the finer details,” she says.
“The property had a one-bedroom, fully off-grid shed that we lived in for the two years it took to clear the land and build. My husband purchased a 23-tonne excavator and, with every spare minute he had, he cleared, dug, and moved a lot of dirt.”
Then, when the build was due to begin in early 2022, torrential rain drenched the region and caused widespread flooding. “Although our land wasn’t directly affected by the floods, our town, friends, and family were. The land was too wet to even walk on,” Christal recalls. The build was delayed another six months.
After a nine-month build, the home – named ‘ZEB’ after their three children, Zayd, Eva and Brax – was finally completed.
Its dark silhouette and the scale of its windows give it a luxurious and contemporary edge, which has been balanced beautifully with rustic elements and organic textures and materials. The design prioritises connection with the outdoors via large sliding doors from all the rooms.
Christal’s favourite space is the main bedroom, with its luxe ensuite and 180-degree views of the property, including the pool and sauna. “Our first morning in the house, my three children all came in and lay on the bed with us, and I thought, ‘This is just heavenly’,” says Christal. “Picture-perfect it was.”
