8 May 2022

Former Young pastoralist buys Nimbo Fork Lodge

| Edwina Mason
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Nimbo Fork Lodge

It is understood Mr Stoney will continue to operate Nimbo Fork Lodge as it is. Photo: Nimbo Fork Lodge.

Former Young pastoralist Brendon Stoney has just snapped up the prestigious Nimbo Fork Lodge for an estimated $7 million.

At the fork of Nimbo Creek and the Tumut River at Brungle – midway inland between Gundagai and Tumut – the 98-acre property offers boutique homestead and cottage accommodation amid myriad outdoor adventure experiences.

The main lodge and cottages – built in 2007 by former Citibank executive and fishing enthusiast Chris Fehon – were styled on the classic American New England architecture of Nantucket Island and Cape Cod.

Guests could select horse riding, fly fishing, bushwalking, bike riding, massages and picnics by the river. There was also food to be enjoyed in the restaurant, courtesy of the nationally-renowned Three Blue Ducks restaurant group.

READ ALSO Get your ducks in a row as Nimbo Fork Lodge hits the market

Jats and Co’s Walsh and Heggaton families sold it to Mr Stoney last week via an HTL Property expression of interest campaign.

It is understood Mr Stoney will continue to operate Nimbo Creek Lodge as is.

“We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our time with this unique property and popular accommodation and hospitality business and are simply thrilled that someone with the same passion for the area, in the form of Brendon and his family, have now taken the reins,” Josh Walsh said.

HTL Property managing director Andrew Jolliffe said properties as unique and well presented as Nimbo – particularly when considering the photogenically natural beauty of the location – were very high on the list of objectives for a growing class of experience-seeking travellers.

“The interest in this and similar unique lodge-style assets we are currently managing the sale process for is invariably widespread and always robust,” Mr Jolliffe said.

READ ALSO Demand for alpine property heats up as iconic Marritz Hotel hits the market

Mr Stoney – a WA native – moved to NSW in 2010 after buying the historic Horton-Brown family property Wirruna – a large scale rotational cropping and livestock enterprise west of Young at Tubbul – from the Luff family who had operated it since 1986. They had purchased it from Horton-Brown grandson Jim Anderson.

After selling that 5000 acre holding to the Caldwell family of Milong for around $35.5 million in 2021, Mr Stoney has in recent years diversified his investment portfolio to include properties at Tumut, Harden and Gunnedah.

He paid around $13 million for MH Premium Farms’ 3444-ha high-rainfall grazing and cropping aggregation Sylvania. It was one of the largest operations in the renowned Wean district, situated 40 km north of Gunnedah and 20 km east of Boggabri in the state’s north.

Sylvania was owned by rich-lister and UK-based hedge fund manager Sir Michael Hintze until 2016 and was sold because it no longer fit the company’s long-term strategy.

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