Heritage Acres, Peelwood, NSW
Hopeful Ranch
Home of the Heritage Acres olive collection, grown on the highest standing olive grove in the country, on land the Mills family has called Hopeful since the 1940s.
About
One Heritage Acres, Two Properties
Heritage Acres operates from two properties: Heritage Acres in Currumbin Valley, QLD, and Hopeful Ranch in Peelwood, NSW.
Hopeful Ranch is where the Heritage Acres olive collection is grown, Olea Europaea, cared for on the property for anywhere from ten to thirty years before it's ready to move. John and Mary Ann Mills, Irish immigrants who arrived with next to nothing in 1841, were the first to farm this land, and their descendants worked it for generations before Robert Armstrong took up the property in the late 1990s and planted the first olive trees.
Enquire with our team and you'll be dealing directly with the people who grow the trees.
HISTORY
A Working History
John Mills was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1804, and left it for good in 1841, sailing for New South Wales with his wife Mary Ann Gray and their four children aboard the bounty ship Glenswilly, one of thousands of Irish families given passage away from poverty and a land system stacked against them.
They settled at Cooks Vale Creek, Peelwood, and built a working farm from land that gave them nothing for free. John worked it until his death in 1884. Mary Ann carried it on for another four years, farming the same ground until her death in 1888.
Their descendants worked the land for the better part of a century. By the 1940s the property was known simply as "Hopeful," the name it still carries today. Robert Armstrong took up the land in the late 1990s and planted the first olive trees by hand, tending them for more than thirty years, the next custodian in a line that started with two immigrants who arrived with next to nothing.
Five collections make up the Heritage Acres olive range today, Alto, Hopeful, Mills, Armstrong and Cooksvale, each one a name from that line, Alto for the grove itself, the highest standing in the country. Every tree here carries a little of that history forward.
Built by hands that started with nothing.
Around Hopeful Ranch
Location
Find Us
Address: 3326 Peelwood Rd, Peelwood NSW 2583
Phone: 0484 386 298
Email: hopeful@heritageacres.com.au
Hours: Monday–Friday, 7:30am–4:30pm
Farm visits are by appointment only. Get in touch with our team to schedule your visit.
FAQ
Common Questions
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Hopeful Ranch is one of two properties in the Heritage Acres family, a mature tree farm business. Heritage Acres is based in Currumbin Valley, QLD, and Hopeful Ranch is our second property in Peelwood, NSW, first farmed by Irish immigrants in 1841 and known by its current name since the 1940s.
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3326 Peelwood Rd, Peelwood, NSW 2583. Farm visits are by appointment only, Monday to Friday, 7:30am–4:30pm.
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Hopeful Ranch is home to the Heritage Acres olive collection, Olea Europaea, across five named collections: Alto, Hopeful, Mills, Armstrong and Cooksvale. Dragon Trees, Grass Trees and Palms are grown elsewhere in the Heritage Acres collection. Enquire with our team for full current availability.
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Yes, by appointment only. Contact our team to book a visit and walk the grove before you choose a tree.
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We don't handle delivery or installation ourselves, but we're happy to help organise delivery once you've chosen a tree. Get in touch with our team to arrange it.
Follow Along
Current stock and life on the property, posted regularly.
