But generations on and Paul, now 62, and son David, 33, at the helm, it's almost a livestock-free property after the family's diversification into tulip growing.
"We've been growing tulips for 30 years and pretty much moved completely out of sheep a decade ago, so these days the shed is mainly just used to store stuff," Paul told AAP.
It's a common tale across rural Australia, with unused sheds dotting numerous landscapes, well past their heyday.
In these sheds, now most appealing to spiders and rodents, Melbourne-based musician and producer Andrew Viney saw potential during a visit to his home town of Burnie.
And so the Acoustic Life of Sheds was born.
Held over the last two weekends in March, the event aims to bring to life agricultural ruins, turning them into performance venues as part of a progressive concert.
As part of the project, musicians spend a couple of days getting to know the property owners and visit the sheds before composing pieces for a 20-minute performance to be played eight times across both weekends.
The free event asks visitors to follow a map linking five sheds and hear productions from 10 composers.
"It's a chance for the audience to be at each location for about 45 minutes, including the performance, and then they jump back in their cars and head to the next shed," Viney said.
The genres vary, from chamber opera, to jazz, swing and country.
At the Roberts-Thomson shed, Lucky Oceans will perform his blend of pedal and lap steel guitars.
Farmer Paul quite likes the music on offer and champions the event, co-ordinated by arts and social-justice outfit, Big hART.
"The digitalised economic framework we live in these days can be isolating and to be able to participate in the arts scene is effectively about building a sense of community and broadening peoples' ideas."
