Historic property with World Heritage rainforest and British royal links

A hidden north Queensland property once owned by the godson of Queen Victoria is up for sale.

Bordered by ancient World Heritage tropical rainforest, the exact location of this 32-hectare property is a closely guarded secret, as is the nearby Wooroonooran Falls, a 30-metre waterfall known only to locals for over 100 years. 

Marketing agent Cheyenne Morrison from LJ Hooker Cairns South says the property is only 10 minutes from the Great Barrier Reef, Frankland Islands and 350 metres from one of the top five waterfalls in tropical north Queensland.

“It’s an incredible part of the world,” he says. “The waterfall and its surrounds contain the rarest frogs in Queensland as well as super rare fish,” he says.

“Its location has been a secret kept by locals for over 100 years, so I will only be revealing the address of the property to serious buyers.”

Listed at $1.8 million, the property was once owned by one of the first settlers in the area, the Honorable Victor Nelson Hood, nephew to Lord Nelson and godson to Queen Victoria.

Photos obtained by Mr Morrison from the State Library of Victoria show the property as it was in 1884, containing not much more than a timber shed for a house.

The current four-bedroom, one-bathroom Queenslander home was built in 1948.

“The house may be different but the property, the rainforest, the waterfall…it’s all completely the same. It’s absolutely pristine because it’s been such a well-kept secret,” Mr Morrison says.

Enveloped by World Heritage-listd rainforest once described by David ​Attenborough as “the most extraordinary place on earth”, the property itself lies under the shadow of Mt. Wooroonooran, the second tallest mountain in Queensland, with views from the front verandah over fields of sugar cane, to the rainforest-clad mountains in the distance.

Flowing past the house is crystal clear creek surrounded by granite boulders, with resident platypus and exotic fish. 

Located within 45 minutes drive of Cairns International Airport, the property is a short drive from the historic art deco town of Babinda and all its amenities.