History

Lillydale is an authentic cattle property nestled in the foothills of South East Queensland. The property is dominated by the magnificent Mount Barney, one of Queensland’s highest peaks. Right now you are about ninety minutes by car from Brisbane and the Gold Coast in the Scenic Rim.

As the owners and operators of the farmstay, our family are fourth, fifth and sixth generation farmers in the area. Doug’s grandfather originally settled at the nearby Mt Lindsay and built a slab hut in 1882. The original slabs are now part of our amenities block and help preserve the authentic country Queensland atmosphere of our property.

Originally a dairy property, Lillydale was purchased by Doug in 1969 and transformed into beef cattle production. However, plummeting cattle prices, drought and the natural beauty of the area inspired us to develop our farm into a farm stay which opened in 2000.

Now that we have been operating for 10 years we have found that we look forward to interacting with guests from all over the world and finding out about their culture and introducing them to ours. Helping a child to milk a cow and sometimes even patting a dog for the very first time is such a rewarding experience.

Mt Barney as seen from the homestead