Gulf Station is a well-preserved example of a 19th-century rural property in Australia.
John Dickson (1815-1878) took up a 25,000 acre pastoral lease in the Yarra Valley as early as 1843. He rented part of this land to the Bell family of Kangaroo Ground in 1851 and by 1856 the Bell and Armstrong families had taken over Dicksons pastoral lease. In 1860 William Bell (1831-1877) married Mary Ann Little (1834-1916) and they made their home at Gulf Station. In 1871 William borrowed £600 from his wife’s uncle and bought Thomas and Simon Armstrong’s share in the property which then comprised about 1300 acres. By the mid-1870s he had enlarged Gulf Station to 1400 acres.
The earliest buildings date from the 1850s, using local timber in split slab construction
The Bell family owned Gulf Station until 1951 when the last of William and Mary Ann’s children died. The property was purchased by John Burgess Wilson (Jack) Smedley (1905-1969) whose family had a close association with the Bells. His sister Ivy and her husband Jack Jewson managed the property for him until he suffered a fatal heart attack in 1969.
His daughter Mavis and her husband Don Fellowes ran beef cattle and a plant nursery at Gulf Station for the next few years
The Victorian Government purchased the property in 1976 and it has been managed by the National Trust since then.
This property is one of the oldest and most intact examples of a pioneer farm complex in Australia. It hosts regular events and activities including talks, workshops and lost tradition days where you can see working horses, sheep being shorn, butter being made in traditional churns and wood being worked without using power tools.
The property consists of several original buildings, including the homestead, woolshed, barn, and stables, which showcase the architectural style and construction techniques of the era.
