* Rural properties

FORMER INXS manager Chris Murphy and his family of four children are selling their NSW rural retreat, Bethungra Park.

The 998ha of mixed farming property at Illabo near Wagga Wagga is expected to fetch more than $3 million.

The 120-year-old nine-bedroom fully renovated homestead stands high on a natural knoll.

It offers sweeping views from its wide verandas.

The homestead has well-established lawns and vegetable gardens. More than 20,000 trees have been planted since the early 1990s. Farm buildings include a woolshed, sheep and cattle yards and steel silos.

The farm traditionally produced prized bulls, wool and wheat, but over the past decade the Murphy family has painstakingly converted it into one of Australia’s leading organic producers.

The farm’s brand of Wild Orchid Organic chicken and Black Mountain Organic Lamb are known and used by Australian and international chefs.

The decision to sell comes as Mr Murphy moves back into the music spotlight to promote Australia’s local talent, with the growth of his Petrol Records & Publishing business and his involvement in the hit TV show Popstars.

“Now that my daughters have entered the professional world and my sons are schooling in Sydney, the family moments at the farm are few and far between,” Mr Murphy said. “With the success of the excursion into Cuban music and other ventures in the pipeline, our music business requires me to return to the world of international travel and my passion for promoting and marketing Australian talent,” he said.

“I hate to see a beautiful place like Bethungra Park sit idle. The kitchen, the lounge room, the pool, the lawn should be blessed with movement and family.”

Agent Andrew Rice of Mel bourne rural property specialist Pat Rice & Hawkins says the main interest is coming from Melbourne and Sydney business people.

“We’ve had quite a number of people looking over the property. Their interest seems to be a combination of lifestyle and rural pursuit with an eye to investment.

“There’s a lot that can be done with it, whether you are interested in cropping, cattle, sheep or running a horse stud.

“The organic certification .. is definitely appealing and indicates how clean the property is,” says Mr Rice.

Bethungra Park goes to auction on June 6 in Sydney.