Australian homestead. Philip Cox and Wesley Stacey. 1974.

Rural homesteads were once both the source and the symbols of an almost feudal authority in the Australian pastoral era. From them emanated the direction, the power and resource that kept alive the great empires of wool and beef; and into them flowed the riches of reward - massive extensions or new buildings of vernacular or high style architecture; paintings, rich tapestries and furnishings; lavishly arranged grounds and gardens that could, in some instances, have been almost transplanted from an English country estate.

The squatter, in fact, often aligned himself and his affairs with the English rural aristocracy. Although his first homestead may have been a bark or slab hut, and his personal labours in establishing his run arduous and dangerous, he made the transition to gentleman landowner with ease and distinction.

Australian Homestead  is a study of both the style and function of these rural enclaves of power and prestige, of architectural influences and adaptation and, in the homesteads represented, of the personalities and achievements of the landowners who lived in them.