The listing approved by Planning Minister Tony Kelly last Monday puts the mid-Victorian house in the same league as Orielton at Harrington Park, Camelot at Kirkham, and John Macarthur's Camden Park Estate.

A change of ownership midway through negotiations and a dispute over how much of the estate to include on the register meant that the listing was approved six years after it had first been recommended by the NSW Heritage Council.

Mr Kelly accepted the recommendation of the Planning Assessment Commission a state body charged with advising him on an appropriate curtilage (an area attached to a dwelling house) and found that Raby had ``significant historic value as a farming property'' and should be included on the register.

Raby played an important role in the pioneering of the merino wool industry in Australia. But the house built in the 1870s by the Moore family was said to be in a poor state of repair in late 2003, when the Heritage Branch assessed its significance.

Raby's owner, Les Dzwonnik, said he planned to develop part of the 70-hectare estate to pay for the house's restoration, which would cost $3 million.

The Planning Assessment Commission recommended that the minister list part of the estate and leave the western half free to be developed.

Camden Council had called for the entire estate to be listed.

The council's strategic planning manager Kylie Powell said: ``The council supported the listing and looks forward to working with the owner to achieve conservation of the property''.

Heritage campaigner Pam Browne said she had hoped the entire property would have been listed, but ``it's still a good outcome that will trigger a conservation management plan being prepared''.