THE standout 2262 hectare (5589 acre) New England property Longford has sold at a Ray White Rural auction in Armidale for $12.75 million.
Located 35km from Armidale, the Longford aggregation comprises three separate properties: Longford (982ha/2427 acres), Romani (612ha/1512 acres) and Dulvay (668ha/1651 acres).
Offered by George and Loy Rose, Longford was sold at a landholder from Ebor. Longford was also previously owned by the CSIRO.
The purchase price is equal to about $5637/ha ($2281/acre), reported to be above pre-sale expectations.
The property has benefited from a significant capital investment in the way of shedding, yards, fencing, internal roads, water security, fertiliser and pasture development.
Longford is divided into about 60 main paddocks plus a number of centrally located smaller holding paddocks, developed for the stud operations.
There is also an extensive laneway and internal road system, adding to the efficiency of the property.
Stock water is supplied by a network of troughs, several reliable creeks, and a large number of dams.
The aggregation has three sets of cattle yards. The main cattle yards are fitted with an undercover crush with weigh bars, scales, a V race with catwalk, and a drafting pound.
There is also a vet room and an office equipped with a kitchen plus a commodities shed on a concrete slab.
The two sets of satellite yards on the aggregation are fitted with a head bail and loading ramp.
The 7000 head capacity main sheep yards are attached to the five stand shearing shed. The yards have dual drenching races, draft, and an undercover classing race. There is a second, three stand shearing shed on Dulvay.
Other built improvements include four bay machinery shed, a five bay shed and workshop, a combined machinery/hay shed, a workshop on Dulvay, ram shed with attached yards, three silos, other smaller storage sheds and garages, and a six berth dog run on a concrete slab.
There are three homes on the aggregation.
Longford Homestead is a comfortable three bedroom, two bathroom brick veneer residence with a tile roof. The outdoor entertaining deck overlooks the property's main storage dam.
Longford Lab is the original CSIRO laboratory, which was tastefully converted into a spacious and comfortable five bedroom, two bathroom residence. The home is in close proximity to the stock yards and other infrastructure.
The Dulvay home has two bedrooms, two bathrooms and an office. There is also a stand alone granny flat.
The marketing of Longford was handled by Andrew Starr, Bruce Birch, and Lachlan Cullen from Ray White Rural.
