Warrock Homestead

Warrock Homestead is a unique collection of 36 hand-built Gothic and Colonial style buildings, 33 of which are classified 'A' by the National Trust.

It was built by a Glaswegian cabinet maker George Robertson in 1843. Warrock Homestead was constructed in
classic Gothic Revival style and presents one of Victoria's best examples of self-sufficient homestead life in the 19th Century. 'Warrock' is named after the Aboriginal word for 'Silver Banksia', which grew in the area.

The Homestead is preserved as it was and is open to the public, as are most of the buildings on the station.

The licence to graze Warrock Homestead was taken up by George Robertson in 1843. With a depression gripping the region at the time, Robertson took up the "right of station" for only 300 pounds - a price which included 2,500 sheep, a team of bullocks and all improvements.

Warrock consisted of 11,696 acres of land, an area which was reduced to a mere 2,000 acres by the 1950's, after the land was compulsorily acquired for closer settlement.

The original cottage was constructed during George's first year on the station and set the pattern for construction of the homestead over the following eighteen years. A cabinet maker by trade, George Robertson showed extraordinary attention to detail on the construction of the buildings which grace the property. The buildings, in the Gothic revival style, feature hand sawn timbers from Tasmania, hand split Blackwood shingles
and studs and rafters from locally grown red and manna gum. The hand-made bricks were made from clay taken from the nearby Glenelg River. The gables and finials on all the buildings were hand-crafted by Robertson on a treadle lathe, which is still in the property's workshop.

Robertson married his cousin Mary in 1852 but with no children, the property was willed to his nephew, George Robertson Patterson. Warrock remained in the Patterson family up until 1992. Warrock Homestead is now owned by the Farquharson family. The "Kelpie" breed of Australian working dog has its origins at Warrock Homestead.

Warrock Homestead

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