A WELL-located small farm with an imposing homestead and ownership links to two of the Mudgee district’s best known landed families will go under the hammer at Gulgong next week.
Peter Druitt of Peter Druitt and Company, Mudgee has listed for sale “The Lagoon”, a 130 hectare (320ac) property situated just three kilometres west of the historic town of Gulgong.
That puts it just 32km from Mudgee, making it ideally suited as a country base for a buyer with business interests in Mudgee, or as a “tree change” or weekend farm for somebody from Sydney, less than four hours away.
The property is owned by Stephen and Amanda Loneragan, who bought it in 2011 and are selling now because of pressures of competing business interests.
It was an earlier Loneragan, Richard Joseph Loneragan – a son of James Loneragan who founded the family’s retailing and pastoral dynasty in Mudgee in the 1880s – who bought the original property from the Rouse family in 1923.
“The Lagoon” was then a property of just over 800 hectares, previously known as The Lagoon Paddock and forming the northern part of the Rouse Brothers’ famous Guntawang Station.
In the early 1890s, towards the end of Gulgong’s “roaring days” as a gold diggings, it lent its name to The Lagoon Paddock Company, which was floated by London investors to drill for gold in the vicinity.
More successful were the Southdown sheep and Devon cattle studs established on the property in the 1940s by Charles Loneragan, a son of R.J. Loneragan, and his wife Kathleen.
Subsequent subdivisions have reduced the original property to its present size, making it now an ideal lifestyle property but with sufficient high-quality land to support a range of livestock or farming enterprises.
The country is level to gently undulating, cleared apart from shade and shelter trees and nearly all arable, with soils of mostly granite formation and alluvials lining the property’s 2.8km frontage to Wyaldra Creek.
Average rainfall is 650mm and apart from the creek (which has never failed in the past 60 years), the property is watered by a licensed bore pumping to a header tank and thence to troughs in all paddocks.
The property is sown to improved pastures and has an estimated carrying capacity of 50 breeding cows and followers. Alternatively it is well suited to a sheep or equine enterprise, and ideally situated for a stud.
A feature of the property is its architect-designed homestead, built for Charles Loneragan in 1953 and incorporating some 44 squares of living space.
The five-bedroom double-brick home has a tile, “bell” style roof, high ceilings, a modern “eat-in” kitchen, large lounge with open fire and separate dining and sitting rooms, French doors and a north-facing patio.
Working improvements include a large, six-bay Colorbond shed with four lockable bays and cement floors, a clip-lock machinery shed, workshop and double garage.
The property offers subdivision potential, following a recent rezoning that would allow the creation of four 12ha lifestyle blocks at the eastern end.
“The Lagoon” will be offered at on-site auction on Saturday, November 14 at 11am, when bidding is expected to reach the high side of $1.2 million.
Contact Peter Druitt, (02) 6372 2500.