118 years of history: Inside Victoria’s newest over-50s community

Advertorial for GemLife

Jaymie Hooper

November 5, 2026 — 9:32am

A 118-year-old homestead, century-old gardens and sweeping views of the Macedon Ranges are shaping the design of one of Victoria’s newest over-50s lifestyle communities, where heritage architecture and contemporary living are being brought together.

At GemLife New Gisborne, the restoration of the historic Westport Homestead is central to an architectural approach that draws inspiration from the landscape, history and character of its surroundings.

“We look at the landscape, climate, history and local character, but importantly, also how people will live and connect there,” explains Phillip Nielsen, general manager of architecture and design at GemLife.

With its beautifully restored heritage buildings and expansive green spaces, GemLife New Gisborne, which is currently under construction, provides a compelling example of this place-led approach to design.

“Our objective is for each community to feel as though it belongs to its setting,” Nielsen says. “At New Gisborne, the Westport Homestead, established gardens, mature trees and the Macedon Ranges provide a very strong sense of place, so those elements become the foundation of the design rather than simply a backdrop to it.”

It’s a similar case at GemLife Kilcoy Greens, where the natural beauty of Queensland’s Somerset region is celebrated through floor-to-ceiling glazing, native-spotted gum timber, shaded verandahs and landscaped breezeways.

“[Both locations] demonstrate how the same philosophy can lead to very different architectural outcomes,” Nielsen says. “The common thread isn’t a particular style it’s designing something that feels appropriate to its place and the people who will live there.”

Respecting the past, designing for the future

Set across 23 hectares in Victorian wine country, GemLife New Gisborne combines contemporary living with the character of its semi-rural setting. At the heart of the community is the Westport Homestead, a circa-1908 bungalow being restored by Melbourne-based architecture studio Taylor Knights.

“The Homestead was always going to be at the heart of the project,” says James Taylor, director and architect at Taylor Knights. “It has such a strong presence, with a level of craftsmanship and character that we wanted to celebrate rather than compete with.”

The historic estate forms part of the luxurious Country Club precinct, which includes two additional buildings linked by a shared roofline.

“The new buildings are deliberately separated from the homestead and are entirely single storey, sitting low within the landscape so the original building retains its prominence,” Taylor explains.

While the homestead reflects the region’s history, the additional buildings sit comfortably beside it, taking cues from the natural environment.

“We were conscious that respecting heritage didn’t mean replicating it,” Taylor says. “Instead, we drew from the qualities that make the homestead so successful – its domestic scale, pitched roofs, deep verandahs, materiality and relationship with the garden – and reinterpreted them in a contemporary way.”

A connected community

Beyond its architectural significance, the Westport Homestead will also play an important role in the community’s social life, with a library, meeting room and traditional billiards room providing welcoming spaces for residents to gather.

“These intimate heritage spaces sit alongside contemporary social, dining, recreation and wellness facilities, giving residents the best of both worlds,” Nielsen says.

Within the Country Club precinct, residents will enjoy access to a cafe, gym, sauna, indoor pool, creative arts studio, cinema, golf simulator and more. A central courtyard and sculptural fireplace help connect the spaces, while the wide verandah offers uninterrupted views of the century-old gardens.

“We wanted to create more than a collection of facilities,” Taylor explains. “We thought carefully about how people move between these spaces, because the moments between destinations can be just as important as the destinations themselves.

“You might be on your way to swim, see a neighbour, stop for a conversation and end up having a coffee together. Those small, incidental encounters are often how relationships begin, and we wanted the architecture to make room for them.”

Where the landscape leads

Located less than an hour from Melbourne, GemLife New Gisborne will feature 247 energy-efficient homes designed to complement their natural surroundings.

“At New Gisborne, landscape isn’t something added around the architecture – it’s fundamental to it,” Nielsen notes. “The established gardens, orchard and mature trees are being retained and rejuvenated, and the buildings have been conceived around their relationship with those landscapes and the wider Macedon Ranges.”

Across the community, weatherboard, pitched metal roofs, chimneys and locally sourced stone and timber echo the region’s character, while garden pathways, pocket parks and walking trails connect homeowners with the surrounding landscape.

“At times, the buildings frame the landscape. At others, they recede and allow the landscape to become the experience,” Taylor says. “The result is intentionally very specific to New Gisborne. It feels difficult to imagine these buildings belonging anywhere else.”

GemLife creates vibrant lifestyle communities for Australians over 50 in sought-after tree change and sea change locations across Australia, including the newly launched GemLife New Gisborne in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges.

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