Tourist farm operator Craig Starr woke early on Easter Sunday morning to find flames and grey smoke billowing from the Gold Creek Station's function centre at Hall.
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Tired from recovering from a virus, and a wedding at the function centre on Saturday, Mr Starr doesn't know what prompted him to look outside the bedroom window about 6.30am. The timber-framed corrugated iron function centre about 500 metres away was well alight.
"I was staying with my parents, there was smoke coming out the roof," Mr Starr said. He rang 000, only to hear the blaze had already been reported and fire brigades were on their way.
ACT Emergency Services commander Mark Phillips said the fire seemed to have been raging for some time before firefighters arrived.
Three ACT Fire and Rescue crews and support teams from the ACT Rural Fire Service, fought the fire. At its peak smoke could be seen across Canberra's northern suburbs.
"From the information we were able to gather there was a function there last night with a couple of open fires going."
Firefighters were now carrying out the "slow, laborious process" of making sure the scene was completely blacked out.
He said nothing could be salvaged from the building's charred remains.
Mr Starr designed and built the function centre, which has toilet and bar facilities, with the help of friends four years ago. The business had to be re-located from Gold Creek Station as the ACT Government sought more land for a retirement village. He said the re-built centre would be worth about $600,000.
Much of the sheep and cattle farm is on a 20-year-lease with a three-month withdrawal clause, which leaves the Starr family with little long-term security. They have diversified into tourism, and the function centre drew consistent bookings, with a wedding booked for next weekend, a birthday party and several other group bookings.
When they became aware of the fire on Sunday, a couple due to marry at Gold Creek on Saturday morning next week publicly passed on their sympathy to Mr Starr. Devastated to hear of the destruction of this "beautiful country venue" they are hopeful of a solution and will be meeting with Mr Starr on Monday.
The Starrs have nurtured the bushland which harbours significant wildlife, and provide their sheep for the National Sheep Dog Trials each year at Hall showground.
"The Hall community are all here, they have offered to help," Mr Starr said on Sunday morning, trying to work out financially what to do next. He said he would likely re-build the function centre. Because of the Easter holiday, he would have to wait until next week to meet insurance assessors.
He is still unsure what caused the fire, and knew little could have done to extinguish it.
"When there is flame coming out of the roof it is like, my hose isn't going to do much," he said. "Even when fieries got here it was a pile of tin lying on the ground. A couple of poles sticking up in the air."
