‘THE HOMESTEAD: A RIVERINA ANTHOLOGY’, 1982, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS MELBOURNE
‘…The preparation of ‘The Homestead involved architect Peter Freeman in many hours of travel, discussion and archival research. The result is an exciting companion to his earlier study, and a valuable contribution to the literature of Australia’s vernacular building. But this is not merely a catalogue of the most representative, or most spectacular, or most picturesque Riverina homesteads. II is a documentation of thirty vastly different Riverina homesteads using historical text, photography, architectural and other contemporary records. It also includes analysis of the patterns of settlement throughout the Riverina; the legislation that governed the operations of squatter, selector, and farmer; the economic and climatic milieu that raised or lowered wool and cattle prices; and the characters of the men and women themselves who settled the land and fashioned their own lives there.’‘…The homestead complexes documented here were not, of course, randomly situated. Homesteads especially threatened with disuse, decay and vandalism have been the given preference. As well homesteads representative of a particular area within the Riverina region have been given priority as have those which demonstrate unique building techniques or were built or inhabited by extraordinary Riverina people.’
