Vittorio Campagnolo's hotel-keeping days were over but he quickly moved on and became involved in farming, perhaps fulfilling a pre-migration aspiration to own land. This was not an unusual feature for Italians in the study, as many had emigrated, not only for basic economic reasons, but also to advance their family status through the acquisition of land back home. Campagnolo never returned to his home community but he may have applied this landowning desire in an Australian and local context.

The land that Campagnolo leased in 1892, and later purchased, from the Crown Lands Department had been previously, but unsuccessfully, taken up by two of his compatriots.⁴⁵

 

His Land Selection File shows that, in March that year, he took over a Crown Land lease from Giovanni Valli, an Italian, of approximately 64.40 hectares (159 acres) at Ostlers Creek, a small farming settlement approximately sixteen kilometres (ten miles) south of Walhalla, on the Walhalla-Toongabbie Road.⁴⁶

The terrain was very steep and only some of the land was suitable for cultivation. When Vittorio took possession of the farm, it was not fully fenced, only partly cleared, and improvements included an area of ringed timber and cut and burnt scrub. Cultivation, totalling 8.05 hectares (twenty acres), included crops of oats, peas and potatoes. The previous owners had planted an orchard of 100 fruit trees together with a vineyard and vines, continuing a home tradition of wine-making. The dwelling was of log, slab and bark construction and outbuildings included a stable, cowshed, pigsties and sheds.

Between 1892 and early 1894, Vittorio and Anna Campagnolo settled their family at Ostlers Creek but, for reasons that are not entirely clear, returned to live closer to the Walhalla township in 1894. The farm's previous history suggests that it was not overly productive, but the land was not abandoned and, when the family left, an employee was engaged to work and reside on the property.

After his seemingly short attempt at farming, Vittorio Campagnolo resumed work as a timber contractor. It is possible that he had not ceased his involvement in woodcutting and associated industries during his time at Ostlers Creek, but there are no extant records on that account. In February 1894, and further expanding his interests, he was a co-applicant for a tramway licence of four acres located at Marsdens Creek to the east of the Old Walhalla Road. The land was to be used as a narrow-gauge timber tramway with an estimated building cost of £600 ($65,400).⁴⁷ The tramway was 1.6 kilometres in length, was horse-driven and hand-operated, and was commonly known as 'Campagnolo's firewood tramway'. It may have been an extension of the one in operation in 1891.⁴⁸ During the next five years or so, Campagnolo operated the tramway to transport and supply cut timber to the Long Tunnel Gold Mining Co.⁴⁹ Records show that Vittorio employed both Italian and non-Italian men. The size of his overall operations and number of employees are not known, but Long Tunnel Gold Mine was not the only mine Vittorio supplied: in 1895 he was referred to in the Walhalla Chronicle as 'a firewood contractor for several of the mines'.⁵⁰

Bad luck continued to follow Campagnolo. In September 1895 he suffered a compound fracture of the right leg. He was starting the flywheel of the steam-operated engine, used for hauling wood up the tramway to the top of the hill, when he placed his foot on the wheel and was injured.⁵¹ The bone in his leg was shattered and he was conveyed, with great difficulty, to his home along a rugged downhill track. The leg was saved, but in June 1897, nearly two years later, he suffered a further break to the same leg. On this occasion he had gone into Walhalla to have a horse shod. While at the blacksmith he had climbed onto a bench to mount his horse, but the horse swerved and he fell to the ground. The leg was later amputated.⁵²

In 1900, perhaps due to failing health, Vittorio Campagnolo and his family again returned to live at Ostlers Creek. The Crown Lands Department file shows that, in the summer of 1897-98, a bushfire had burnt through the property and destroyed everything in its path.⁵³ The house, outbuildings and fences were totally rebuilt and, in 1901, Vittorio made an application to transfer his lease of the land into a Crown Grant. While the land was not totally enclosed, it had 120 chains (2415m) of post-and-rail fencing and 70 chains (1408m) of post, rail and slab fencing.⁵⁴ There were now thirty acres under cultivation with a fruit garden enclosed by a picket fence of eight chains. Erected on the land was a five-roomed dwelling house constructed of hardwood outside and pine lining inside; the five rooms were all twelve feet square. The house had a zinc roof and stone chimneys. There was also a stable built of slabs with a bark roof. The purchase price was £160 ($15,500), being the total rental paid for the lease over its term. The value of improvements to the farm totalled £693 ($67,500). Vittorio had difficulty in paying the outstanding rental and the costs of transfer. He was forced to write to the Crown Lands Department for leniency, acknowledging that 'I am behind with my rent' and 'I lost one of my legs three years ago. I am living on the land with my wife and ten children, [but the] land is not mortgaged'.⁵⁵