A homestead is an isolated dwelling, especially a farmhouse, and adjacent outbuildings, [1] typically on a large agricultural holding such as a ranch or station. [2]
In North America the word "homestead" historically referred to land claimed by a settler or squatter under the Homestead Acts (United States) or the Dominion Lands Act (Canada). In Old English, the term was used to mean a human settlement, and in Southern Africa the term is used for a cluster of several houses normally occupied by a single extended family.
In Australia, it refers to the owner's house and the associated outbuildings of a pastoral property, known as a station. [3] [4] Some large and historic homesteads, especially those that resemble a mansion with large tracts of farmland, are often called "estates", and can be analogous to the English country house, châteaux, or a schloss, but are much younger and modest compared to their European counterparts. Examples include Booloominbah and Iandra Castle .
