Bridestowe Lavender Farm on the market after 18-years

‘Bittersweet’ decision has been made to put the world-class tourism destination up for sale. Here’s why.

Bridestowe Lavender Estate at nabowla in North-East Tasmania, estate managing director Robert Ravens inspects the lavender. File picture

Touted as one of the most photographed tourism destinations locally and internationally, the Bridestowe Lavender Farm at Nabowla changed the game for Tasmanian tourism. Now, the iconic agritourism asset is on the market.

The 107.15ha lavender farm has opened to expressions of interest through Elders Realestate, a move owner Robert Ravens called “bittersweet”.

“If there was a method of us retaining the property, we would,” he said.

“It has been an amazing journey, the past 18 years, but unfortunately, we cannot escape the realisation that both my wife and I will be 80 next year.

“So the time has come for us to sell the property to the right owners.”

Bridestowe Lavender Farm, owners from left, Robert Ravens and Jennifer Ravens at the farm

When Mr Ravens purchased the estate in February 2007 it was a family business on the brink of collapse, but by harnessing the power of social media, it has become a global tourist destination.

“I joke about it, and I say, ‘look, we wrote a brilliant marketing plan’, but we really didn’t. We wrote the marketing plan after the event because it just had a mind of its own,” he said.

“As we kept adding value, people kept responding in kind.

“I guess you’d call it innovation, but we didn’t recognise it as such.”

Since its rise in popularity began, Bridestowe introduced the ever-popular lavender ice cream, which is heavily featured on visitors’ social media pages.

“I think the ice cream became the most Instagrammable icon, and then that was followed fairly quickly with Bobby the Bear,” Mr Ravens said.

Another success for Bridestowe is Bobbie the Bear – a purple teddy who was created to get rid of the farm’s excess dried lavender made on the estate.

“It might sound naive, but it’s a family joke that the bear is named Bobby – after me,” he said.

“I was convinced naively that it was named Bobby because it would translate phonetically into Mandarin and Cantonese. I’m happy to be wrong.”

Expressions of interest close November 12 at 4pm and can be made through Elders Realestate Launceston.

Originally published as Bridestowe Lavender Farm on the market after 18-years