One of Armidale’s most storied rural properties is on the market, and some of the buyers circling want to turn it back into a grand private home.
Palmerston, a 211-hectare estate on Dangarsleigh Road about four kilometres from the Armidale CBD, has been owned by Hunter Valley winemakers Colin and Judy Peterson since 1996. Over that time, it has become known as Petersons Guesthouse and Winery, a guest house, cellar door, vineyard, and wedding venue.
It is being sold by Expressions of Interest, with tenders closing at 12 noon on Wednesday, 9 December.
The sale is part of a generational change in the Peterson family. Colin Peterson is nearing retirement age, and the couple are handing the reins to their youngest daughter, Savannah Peterson, a third-generation winemaker and owner of Savannah Estate. She is keen to simplify the family’s many properties and businesses.
“If they were headquartered around the New England, then she’d move into Palmerston and live there and operate it as a private thing,” said Meares & Associates director Sam Meares.
“But the majority of their businesses are down in the Hunter.”
The Peterson family has been making wine in the Hunter Valley since 1982, beginning with Ian and Shirley Peterson.
Mr Meares said Palmerston’s 12-hectare vineyard gave the family a cool-climate point of difference, but the site was mostly used as an outlet for wine from their other vineyards, through the cellar door and functions.
“It’s not core to their business and hence the decision to move on,” he said.
The New England Times has sought comment from the Peterson family.
Palmerston was once part of the vast Dangar family pastoral holdings and was carved off the Gostwyck estate, which stretched towards Uralla. Mr Meares said it was named after a member of the Dangar staff.
The homestead, designed by Newcastle architects F.G. and A.C. Castleden, is more than 100 years old and was built from bricks made on the property. The heritage-listed hawthorn hedges planted by the Dangars still line its boundary, and the farm was later home to the Baroona Poll Hereford stud and then a Hereford stud.
Mr Meares, whose mother’s side of the family includes Dangar relatives, said the property’s past had struck a chord locally.
“We’ve had all sorts of phone calls and emails. We’ve had the local historical society correcting some of our ads and representations,” he said.
“You don’t normally get that, but it’s good. It shows that it’s got some significance to the area.”
He said the history was its biggest selling point.
“I think the significance and the history of the place is the most important element to it because the business ultimately links to that,” Mr Meares said.
Today the homestead has seven guest suites, a restaurant open seven nights a week, and a commercial kitchen. The original brick stables are now the Petersons cellar door, and a permanent marquee on the front lawn holds 200 guests standing or 120 seated. The guest house runs at about 75 per cent occupancy, and weddings are booked into early 2027.
The property also has an open-air concert venue that has hosted events with the late promoter Michael Gudinski, a 300-panel solar farm installed in 2021, and 12 paddocks of grazing country.
Mr Meares said interest had come from Brisbane and Sydney as well as locally, including from buyers with no interest in running the businesses.
“We’re getting quite a few wealthy people from the area and outside of the area who want to turn it back into a private residence,” he said.
“It’s 500 acres right on the cusp of town. It’s very private and it’s got a beautiful home on it.”
“And so for people who’ve got the money, that’s quite a compelling position.”
An events operator is also looking at the property. Mr Meares said the Petersons were happy for a buyer to keep running it as a Petersons outlet, as long as the family kept quality control of the vineyard and bottling.
He said retiring graziers could also be in the mix.
“There’s a lot of money still in the system of some of the large grazier families and farms and people,” he said.
“We can consistently see people wanting to transition to retirement but not retire.”
Mr Meares said the land and homestead were the basis of its value, with only a little extra added for the solar farm and other income streams.
“Putting a value on the improvements is the difficult thing because it’s got such a history to it,” he said.
Palmerston is surrounded by rural residential development, and land to its west is zoned for two-hectare lots. Mr Meares said the property was held in several lots, which at face value offered a large subdivision opportunity.
“There is a heritage overlay on the main house and surrounds though. So that is somewhat restrictive based on the current LEP,” he said.
Armidale Regional Council’s current rules will not allow the main homestead block to be subdivided.
“I think there’s a happy medium there where council will want to maintain the place and its history, but also not forgo opportunity in the future,” Mr Meares said.
The sale comes in a tough investment market, where Mr Meares said buyers felt they had the upper hand.
“If you’re marketing a secondary-class asset, it’s really difficult at the moment,” he said.
“I think if you look at something like Palmerston, scarcity is the key.”
The property is being offered as a whole, with the option to include furniture, garden equipment, and the grape crop or wine stock. Inspections are by appointment.
Mr Meares said some of the local enquiries would be genuine and some would be curiosity.
“But it’s been encouraging, and it’s just reinforced that value to the area,” he said.
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