A homestead is an isolated
dwelling
In law, a dwelling (also known as a residence or an abode) is a self-contained unit of accommodation used by one or more households as a home - such as a house, apartment, mobile home, houseboat, vehicle, or other "substantial" structure. The ...
, especially a
farmhouse
FarmHouse (FH) is a social fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 33 active chapters and four associate chapters (formerly colonies) in the United State ...
, and adjacent outbuildings, typically on a large agricultural holding such as a
ranch
A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most ofte ...
or
station.
In
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...
the word "homestead" historically referred to land claimed by a settler or squatter under the
Homestead Acts (USA) or
Dominion Lands Act (Canada). In
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...
the term was used to mean a
human settlement
In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community in which people live. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of citi ...
, and in
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...
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.
See also
*
Homestead principle
The homestead principle is the principle by which one gains ownership of an unowned natural resource by performing an act of original appropriation. Appropriation could be enacted by putting an unowned resource to active use (as with using it ...
*
Homesteading
Homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. It is characterized by subsistence agriculture, home preservation of food, and may also involve the small scale production of textiles, clothing, and craft work for household use or sale. Pur ...
*
List of homesteads in Western Australia
This list includes all homesteads in Western Australia with a gazetted name.
Currency
This list is complete with respect to the 1996 Gazetteer of Australia.Gazetteer of Australia (1996). Belconnen, ACT: Australian Surveying and Land Information ...
*
List of historic homesteads in Australia
*
Settlement hierarchy
Notes
{{reflist
Farmhouses