A SPRAWLING acreage in the Port Stephens region that was originally owned by one of the Leyland Brothers is on the market.
The property at 612 Gooreengi Road, North Arm Cove is listed for sale with a guide of $5 million to $5.5 million.
Originally set to go to auction earlier this week, the property is now for sale via private treaty.
"We ran it into an auction period that we were going to run last night [Monday] but, unfortunately, being top end and looking at that $5 million price range we just found that people couldn't commit to a drop of the hammer," Ray White Tea Gardens listing agent Stuart Sinclair said.
The 106-acre site includes River Ranch, a six-bedroom, five-bathroom home built by TV personality Mal Leyland and his wife Laraine around 30 years ago.
At the time, the property was part of 296 acres of land purchased by brothers Mal and Mike Leyland who were television stars on the travel show, Ask The Leyland Brothers, which aired from 1976 to 1984.
"The Leyland brothers bought the holding of land and split it into three lots," Mr Sinclair said.
"There was Leyland Brothers World [theme park] on one part with the big replica of Ayres Rock and the fuel centre, and Mal developed River Ranch which is 100 acres south and then Mike built Middle Wharf which is just south of that again.
"It was all within the one land holding."
The property has since changed hands three times, according to the listing agent.
Current owner Karen Strong has lived at the property for the past 12 years during which time she renovated and extended the home.
The property consists of 30 cleared acres and 70s acres of bush trails ideal for horse riding, bushwalking and motorbike riding, a pool, citrus orchards and extensive horse facilities including an Olympic-sized horse arena.
The house is positioned on the banks of the Bundabah Creek which connects to the Port Stephens waterways, and dolphins have often been spotted in the creek at the front of the home.
"One of the main points is the access by water into Port Stephens," the agent said.
"Bundabah Creek comes into the back of North Arm Cove so by boat you can be at the Port Stephens waterway in 10 minutes or you can be at Nelson Bay within 25 minutes.
"You can be out deep sea fishing in 35 minutes. It's incredible."
Mr Sinclair said the property had attracted widespread interest from buyers.
"It's such a cool property even without the Leyland Brothers connection but to then have that nostalgic feel about it too, it has had lots of interest," he said.
"We have had people from out west on big farms from Bathurst and Dubbo who are considering downsizing and moving to the coast, people from the Central Coast moving further up this way and younger families looking for a lifestyle change."
