Tasmania's historic Cullenswood farm changes hands for the first time
A historic farming property on Tasmania’s east coast that was part of one of the state’s original landholdings has sold for the first time to a local farming operation.
Cullenswood, just outside the town of St Marys in the Fingal Valley, has been owned by the Legge family for six generations, dating back to when the property was established in about 1827.
Knight Frank agent Rob Dixon confirmed that the property had been sold to a “Tasmanian farming operation” but said the name of the buyer and the price they paid were subject to a confidentiality agreement until settlement was complete.
Fellow listing agent Mark Ranicar said the property had received 130 inquiries, including interest from international buyers.
“In what has been a very testing environment with COVID-19 restrictions, this has confirmed the strong national and international appetite the markets have for Tasmanian agricultural holdings despite a difficult trading environment,” Mr Ranicar said.
“The vendors were very pleased that the property has sold to a Tasmanian-based farming operation, which was important for the family.”
Past residents have included Colonel William Vincent Legge, who was born at the property in 1841 and died there in 1918, and more recently the late Robert Legge, former mayor of Break O’Day Council.
The property was sold as part of an expressions of interest campaign managed by Knight Frank following the death of Mr Legge in 2019.
Along with the nine-bedroom homestead, the property includes several buildings, most notably a roadside church and cemetery built in about 1847.
Stretching across four titles, the property includes about 1300 hectares of arable land, a six-stand wool shed and additional dwellings. The property has been used for grazing.
Along with farming activities an open-cut mine on the property, which opened in 2001, is currently generating average yearly income from royalties of about $100,000.
