In October that year they secured the run officially, taking out the second pastoral licence issued for the Upper Brisbane Valley.

In the New South Wales Government Gazette of 11 May 1848, Kilcoy was described as comprising over 35,000 acres (14,000 ha), bounded on the south by Frederic and Francis Bigge's Mt Brisbane Station, on the east by the Archers' Durundur Station, on the west by John Balfour's Colinton run, and to the north by the mountains separating Wide Bay from the Brisbane Valley.

Establishment of Kilcoy station was resisted by the indigenous population, and the run is infamous for the mass poisoning of Aborigines that occurred there in February 1842.

Whether Ramsay ever worked the station is not clear; Hope was running it with the assistance of a superintendent by October 1857, when bricks were being fired on the property in preparation for the construction of his new residence, the present homestead.

In the 1850s he purchased and/or leased extensive landholdings in the Moreton region, including Kilcoy Station in 1853, Shafston House at Kangaroo Point in 1854, and land at Cleveland, 1852-55.

[1] Louis Hope died in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1894, but Kilcoy Homestead remained the property of his heirs until 1908, when the house on 524-acre (212 ha) freehold was purchased by William Butler.

[1] The building, L-shaped in plan, is constructed of English Bond brickwork and is surrounded by verandahs with the southern side being enclosed.

French doors with shutters open onto verandahs which have unlined corrugated iron skillion roofs and timber posts.

The main entry is positioned centrally on the northeast, with a set of brick steps accessing the verandah to a flat arched doorway with double cedar panelled doors with fanlight and sidelights opening to the entrance hall.

This consists of two side walls, the northern one housing a fireplace, with a freestanding gable roof supported on metal posts.

A former railway station building, titled WINYA and constructed of weatherboard with a corrugated iron gable roof, has been moved onto the site and is located between the homestead and the brick shed.

[1] A dairy and stables, constructed of brick and timber with a corrugated iron gable roof, is located further to the southwest alongside the driveway.

Kilcoy Homestead, a fine example of an 1850s residence reflecting a strong Georgian design influence, together with its dramatic siting and stand of mature trees, imbues a sense of landmark in the surrounding landscape.

[1] The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history.