Historic Gungahlin Homestead

04/10/2026

A new chapter is beginning for Gungahlin Homestead.

The homestead has been provisionally registered on the ACT Heritage Register, recognising its importance to Canberra’s history.

Crace Holdings sought the listing because we believe protecting the homestead is a vital part of securing its future. Registration provides a strong foundation for progressing the estate’s Conservation Management Plan, which we lodged with the Heritage Council in December 2025, setting out how the homestead will be managed, funded and conserved for generations to come.

Since 1865, Gungahlin Homestead has evolved with the times and found new purpose. We look forward to continuing that story while preserving the heritage values that make it special.

Read the story in Canberra CityNews: https://citynews.com.au/2026/four-sites-recognised-for-canberra-heritage/

Four Canberra places spanning the city's pastoral beginnings, architectural development and growth of the public service have been recognised in new ACT Heritage Council decisions.

23/09/2026

Projects like this one attract people who take them personally. That tends to be a good sign.

Crace director Clare Gilligan on why the Gungahlin Homestead Estate became more than a job.

Thirty years of estates and masterplanned communities across the ACT and NSW sit behind this project. This one is different, and here is why.

21/09/2026

From 1953, these paddocks were the CSIRO's national wildlife research station.

The research has finished. The wildlife stayed.

Spring is the loudest time of year here. Ninety per cent of the original canopy is being retained, and the estate still sits between the Gungaderra and Crace grasslands.

16/09/2026

The question that comes up most often is what happens to the homestead.

The short answer is that it stays, and it stays in use. A place kept behind glass stops being part of the city it sits in. The intention here is the opposite of that, which is a working estate that people live in, walk through and grow old in, with the heritage still doing its job rather than being looked at.

Ninety per cent of the original tree canopy is being retained. The homestead remains the centre of it.

We acknowledge the Ngunnawal People as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which Gungahlin Homestead Estate sits, and pay our respects to Elders past and present.

14/09/2026

Somebody planted this tree generations ago, knowing they would never see it full grown.

That is the whole idea of a garden at this scale, which is that you do the work for people you will not meet.

Ninety per cent of the original canopy on the estate is being retained. The trees were here long before us, and the intention is that they outlast us too.

09/09/2026

Most people in Canberra have driven past Gungahlin Homestead without knowing it was there.

Two hundred years of pastoral history sitting quietly behind the trees, a pre-Federation homestead, and ninety per cent of the original canopy still standing.

07/09/2026

The elms along the driveway are coming back into leaf.

It happens quickly once it starts. A fortnight ago you could see the shape of every branch, and now the light coming through the canopy is going green again.

Spring on the estate.

We acknowledge the Ngunnawal People as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which Gungahlin Homestead Estate sits, and pay our respects to Elders past and present.

05/09/2026

For older Australians, a home that feels alive, connected with nature and community, is a home that supports healthier, happier ageing.

Orlando Harrison, urban designer with UrbanFold, reflects on the opportunity ahead at Gungahlin Homestead Estate and why regenerative design is so well suited to creating homes and a continuum of care for the second half of our lives.

Read the full interview: https://www.craceholdings.com.au/stories/orlando-harrison-regenerative-design-interview

Orlando is an urban designer with UrbanFold, the boutique design and master planning practice working on the Gungahlin Homestead Estate. The firm came to Canberra because of what is happening here around custodianship of land. For Orlando, regenerative design is not a technique applied at the end of...

17/08/2026

A smoko shed with a difference. One of Canberra’s iconic mid-century bus shelters is getting a facelift, thanks to our Director and heritage buff Ian Oliver.

First installed in 1975, the orange and cream concrete shelters are one of the city's most recognisable sights. This month, the ACT Heritage Council added the whole collection, more than 460 shelters, to the ACT Heritage Register.

Ian saved this shelter from the scrap heap and he's been bringing it back to life.

Heritage isn’t just about the big landmarks. It’s also about the little things that make a place unique.

18/06/2026

This week at the PIA National Retirement Living Summit, the industry is asking how we deliver better outcomes for older Australians.

We asked Crace Holdings Director Ian Oliver the same question. For him, it started with a personal experience and a passionate belief that Canberrans deserve a better offering.

See the interview here https://www.craceholdings.com.au/stories/hidden-gem-director-interview