French Provincial Southern Highlands landholding on the market
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Historic Berrima farm Mereworth remains listed for sale by the Oxley family.
The 500-hectare property ranks among the most intact Southern Highlands farms, but it is possible to be subdivided before or after sale.
It has $11 million hopes.
It has been held by the pioneering tea-merchant family since it was bought in 1963 after almost 100 years of ownership by the Cowley family.
The nine-bedroom 1964 sandstone house was designed by architect John Amory, with a French provincial feel. Its formal lounge room comes with a baronial fireplace and raked ceilings. Shuttered windows and french doors frame the views of the mature garden, once described by Elwyn Swane as one of the finest by landscaper Paul Sorenson.
The property, with two creeks, 12 dams and seven bores, suits grazing cattle, sheep and horses.
It is listed through Chris Meares from Meares & Associates, who describes it as the best listing since Reg and Joy Grundy paid $15 million for Comfort Hill, the 200-hectare Sutton Forest property from adman-turned-farmer Michael Ball and his wife, Daria, in 2007. Mereworth's occupancy dates back to John Atkinson's 1820 settlement. His brother, James, owned Oldbury at Sutton Forest.
