But I can't eat gold. I'd rather have a homestead away from population centers than an equivalent in gold, because how likely - government takeover of your home - is that scenario? Where / when has that happened in the communities that HN people are active?

I mean it's happened to Russian oligarchs, but those were investments that they didn't even live in. It's happened to Palestinians, who live under an apartheid regime. But other than that, I can't recall anything like that happening. WW2 Europe maybe, for specific demographics.