Whoever buys the Millthorpe house-and-land package now known as “Gleneagles” doesn’t have to be a former staffer of Dalgetys and its later incarnations, but it would continue a trend if they were.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 40 hectare (101ac) Central Tablelands property is owned today by Sam Yeates and his wife Lesley Morris, who moved from a Manilla property to buy “Gleneagles” in 2011.
But in their earlier life, Sam worked in the wool department of Dalgetys and Lesley was an executive at Wesfarmers, which acquired Dalgetys (now Landmark) in 1993.
And the previous owners of “Gleneagles” (when it was a much larger 174ha) were Ian McIvor, who headed up Dalgety’s international trading division, and his equestrienne wife Mayme.
It was the McIvors who changed the name of the property, previously known as “Alnwick Park”, to “Gleneagles”, to perpetuate the memory of a former family-owned Poll Hereford stud.
Originally the property was known as “Fairfield”, when first taken up in 1866 by Robert Hawke, who is believed to have erected the original homestead in the 1880s.
For much of last century, as “Fairfield”, the property was owned by successive generations of the Moad family and was one of many Millthorpe properties supplying potatoes for the Sydney market.
Today the Millthorpe district has become a popular destination for tree-changers, drawn by its agricultural richness, its heritage features, safe climate and proximity to major centres.
These factors, along with the property’s stunning improvements, will no doubt be highlighted when “Gleneagles” is submitted to on-site auction on October 20 by First National Bowyer and Livermore.
The property is being sold because the owners are retiring to the coast – not, we are told, to escape the rigorous Central Tablelands winters, but to be closer to family.
Situated 4.5 kilometres from historic Millthorpe and 24km from Orange, “Gleneagles” is a property of level to gently undulating country of rich red basalt soils.
The property is described as 70 per cent arable and is sown to an improved pasture mix of phalaris, ryegrass, clovers and cocksfoot.
Average rainfall is about 700mm and the property’s seven main paddocks are watered by six dams and two bores reticulating to five troughs.
RELATED READING:
Working structures include a three-stand shearing shed and sheep yards, steel machinery and hay sheds, stables and silos.
The main selling point of “Gleneagles”, however, is likely to be the double brick and tile homestead, set in landscaped gardens ringed by native and exotic trees.
Extensively renovated in 2014, the four-bedroom home boasts four living areas, open-plan layout, a billiard room with full-sized table, reverse-cycle air conditioning and 22 solar panels.
Adjacent to the homestead is an in-ground saltwater pool, an Astro-turf tennis court, orchard, vegetable gardens and chook pen.
Also within the homestead surrounds is a self-contained two-bedroom cottage, which is now used as B&B accommodation for the popular weekender market.
