For only the third time in a century, an opportunity has arisen to acquire one of the Gunning district’s founding homestead properties, with a colourful history extending back to the 1830s.
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That’s when the property originally known as “Albert Vale” was taken up as a grant by Peter Best, the son of George Best.
Best built a grand (for its day) homestead on his property in the 1840s, and it’s that historic homestead, painstakingly restored by later owners, that is now for sale with 180 hectares (446ac) as “Boureong”.
The historic property, which sits on the outskirts of Gunning just two hours’ drive from Sydney, has been listed for private sale with an asking price of $3.5 million.
As such, it is an offering likely to appeal to “tree-changers” with a sense of history, and also to developers drawn by the property’s rich subdivision potential.
Owned for the past seven years by Robert and Lorna Stephens, “Boureong” was previously held by Roger Medway, as the last of his family’s once-extensive Gunning lands.
Roger’s grandfather, James Medway, had established the family’s foothold in the district in 1913 when he bought a 690ha portion of “Boureong” which he named “Avondale”, to be the base of his Avon Merino stud.
“Boureong” was then a holding of some 2500ha, owned by brothers Daniel and J.J. Leahy from nearby Gundaroo (the same J.J. Leahy who features on page 2 in our story of “Packwood”).
The balance of the property, including the homestead, was sold in 1916 to William Ryan from Ginninderra, and it was from the Ryan family that Percy Medway (Roger’s father) purchased more “Boureong” country including the homestead block in 1954, taking his family’s holdings to more than 1600ha.
Earlier, as “Albert Vale”, the original grant had passed from Peter Best’s son Henry in 1882 to John Sands, who owned two adjoining properties, and it was he who renamed the aggregation “Boureong”.
In 1906 the property was acquired by J.D. Hill from Yass, who stood thoroughbred stallions at “Boureong”, before selling to the Leahys in 1911.
Today, “Boureong” is home to an Angus herd of 70 to 80 breeders and with its rich alluvial creek flats, improved pastures and working infrastructure, it is well suited to a range of agricultural enterprises.
Centrepiece of “Boureong” is its Heritage-listed 1840s homestead, built to a traditional Georgian farmhouse design of Flemish bond brickwork on a sandstone rubble foundation. The homestead is connected by enclosed walkway to an older stone dwelling.
Outbuildings include a colonial stable/coach-house, two-stand shearing shed, machinery shed and hay shed. Town water is connected, supplemented by a two kilometre frontage to Meadow Creek and an equipped bore.
The homestead sits on a separate title (11.8ha) to an additional block of 5.2ha, and the property comes with development approval for a four-lot subdivision of 40ha blocks, each with building entitlement.
