Samarai Park riding school on Sydney's outskirts listed

Samarai Park riding school on Sydney's outskirts listed
Nicola TrotmanSeptember 19, 2012

Long-established horse riding school Samarai Park in Terrey Hills, NSW, has been listed by LJ Hooker with a $3 million price guide.

Located at 90 Booralie Road Terrey Hills, just 20 minutes from the Sydney CBD, Samarai Park offers expansive northerly bushland views over its two-hectare holding.

The horse riding school opened in 1956 and still offers agistment, lessons, riding camps and children’s birthday parties.

Samarai Park was founded by Thelma Budrodeen.

Her most prized assistant was the white Arab-Crossed horse named Bell Boy who was used to teach children to ride.

Samarai Park was the first registered riding school with the Equestrian Federation of Australia (EFA), and Budrodeen received a Medal of the Order Award (OAM) for her charity work with the Riding for Disabled Association.

The property was sold by the Budrodeen family in 1998 for $1.25 million, with it onselling again in 2000 at $1.6 million.

Samarai Park is now owned by the Frawley family, who bought the park in 2007 for $3.28 million.

It still operates as a riding school and offers boarding for horses for $235 per week. Float storage is also available for an extra $15 per week.

Samarai Park is centred close to the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, with direct access to national park riding trails.

The property comprises of an office and shops, staff quarters/self-contained flat, two full-size dressage arenas and a full-size jumping area with lighting.

Samarai Park has 33 stables, 24 day yards, tack, feed and storage rooms, a lunging area, wash bays and three work sheds plus a dam.

The three-bedroom home located on the property consists of a study, two bathrooms and an outdoor swimming pool. The outside parking accommodates for 20-plus vehicles.

Despite the increased residential density in the district, Property Observer looked at six riding schools operating nearby in the mid-1980s and found that four are still operating today.

Boonaroo Riding Club in Terrey Hills has since changed its name to Green Fields Equestrian Centre, but Otford Valley Farm, Palomino Corral Riding School in Belrose and Scenic Hills Riding Ranch in Ingleburn are still operating under their original names.

Jackeroo Ranch in Kenthurst is no longer operating after a bushfire in 2002 ripped through the property and destroyed the ranch. Jackeroo Ranch was a respected tourist facility established in 1961, and the iconic house on the property was used in the pilot for the television series Home and Away. Wayandah Riding School in Ingleside has since closed down.

Many of the districts horse related proeprties participate in The North Shore Horse and Pony Association, which was formed in 1975 to ensure that horses and horse-riding activities continue to form a vital part of the community.

Samarai Park has been listed for sale by Kevin Packham from LJ Hooker Terrey Hills.

Nicola Trotman

With a penchant for the written word, Nicola has built a career doing just this – now Creative Director at thriving Melbourne-based PR agency, Greenpoint Media.

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