Gerry Harvey's Ardgour homestead for rent on the Liverpool Range
Retailing businessman Gerry Harvey has bought Ardgour at Bundella, 435km northwest of Sydney.
The 1750ha farm, Ardgour comes with about 500 Angus cattle across 18 paddocks - originally part of Bundella Station.
Ardgour is a very well known and well respected grazing property, situated in the sought after foothills of the Liverpool ranges, west of the townships of Willow Tree and Quirindi, southwest of the regional city of Tamworth, and south of the township of Gunnedah.
Chris Meares of Meares & Associates marketed the farm as in the area renowned for its scenic and sheltered valleys, rich basalt soils and above average annual rainfall.
The property was last traded in the 1970’s.
A feature of Ardgour is the spacious four bedroom homestead.
The buinessman is seeking a tenant who will live in a four-bedroom 1900 stone and weatherboard homestead built, but the farm will be run by Ardgour’s long-time manager Jim Kerr, who lives in a separate house on the property in the foothills of the Liverpool Range.
Gerry Harvey offered the homestead for just $100 a week, as long as they promise to keep the house in order and do some gardening.
“I’ve got this great big house and if nobody lives in it it’ll go under, and I can’t live in it, so I thought someone might want to rent their house in Sydney for $600 or $700 a week and come and look after it and do the garden,” Mr Harvey told The Australian.
Gerry Harvey fielded more than 80 inquiries after an exchange on radio with 2GB broadcaster Ray Hadley and John Singleton about the farm.
“Whoever gets this place, Katie has to interview them to make sure they are nice people, we want nice people.”
The property was sold by the executors of the estate Late John Hudson to Gerry Harvey on a ‘walk in walk out” basis, for an undisclosed price.
Chris Meares, for the marketing agents Meares and Associates commented that Harvey's interest in the beef industry had led to his purchase of Ardgour.
"Over the years he has been a key supplier of Wagyu beef in to the Japanese market," Chris Meares said.
"With its suitability for breeding quality cattle and its closeness to feedlots, Harvey sees Ardgour as an ideal property to produce Wagyu cross calves for this market.”
The property was purchased by the Hudson family in the 1970s.
Hugh Brownhill, for Meares and Associates, added Harvey had purchased the impressive Angus cow herd which has produced sale yard highs in recent weaner sales with its steer calves selling in excess of $900 per head.