A PIONEER family is being kicked out of its home amid a sweeping ban on private homes on crown land.

Parks Victoria is evicting Robert Masters from his family's two Gunbower homes, one of which his great-grandfather, Fredrick Masters, built in 1863 on the banks of the Murray River.

"They (Parks Victoria) offered me nothing in writing, just $30,000 towards moving costs," Robert said.

The houses sit on a 2ha crown land site, named Masters Landing, which was the main port for the Gunbower paddle-steamer trade in the 1860s.

"My great-grandfather cut and supplied the steamers with red gum as well as making a living catching cod here," Robert said.

Robert said three generations of the Masters family had reared 28 children in the old house.

Those generations have turned their ancestral home into an oasis surrounded by a lush garden containing 150 rose varieties, ancient fruit trees and neat rows of chook pens and well-maintained buildings.

The site is so well preserved the Department of Sustainability and Environment has decided to list the buildings on its heritage register, despite kicking the family off the site.

"The old place is still liveable," Robert said. "We've always looked after it."

However, he lives in the site's second house, which his father built in 1953.

Parks Victoria managers want to take over the site, arguing there is no place for private homes on crown land.

Parks Victoria regional manager Chris McCormack said Masters Landing was part of the Gunbower State Forest.

"It's public land," Mr McCormack said. "There's no authority for people to occupy public land."

Parks Victoria claims Robert's parents signed a lease agreement in 1987 that the site would return to the public once they died.

But that clause contradicts the conditions in the family's copy of the 1987 agreement, which states the lease can be transferred to the next generation with the approval of the minister.

Mr Masters said he had been given three years to move out, but had gained enormous support from locals, who believed the family should have the right to stay.

Nationals Member for Rodney Paul Weller has urged the public to sign a petition supporting the Masters family, which he will take to Parliament.

"This is yet another example of the Brumby Labor Government on a power-trip, riding roughshod over country families," Mr Weller said.