What was once a tangerine farm is now one of the finest trophy ranches in the region.
“There’s nothing that compares. There are very few properties in the southeastern United States that can compare to it in scale, grandness, and physical attributes. It’s just almost irreplaceable,” said listing agent John Evans with MoonBeam Land Company.
Phillips Ranch in Flagler County is on the market for $42 million and has something for just about anyone who likes the outdoors. The property is about 1½ hours north of Orlando.
the lodge serves as the social and operational heartbeat of the ranch. (Courtesy of Moonbeam Land Co.)
“It’s truly a sportsman’s paradise and outdoor paradise,” he said, “The outdoor lifestyle is not confined to one user. Many times, the horse people love hunting and golfing. It’s the outdoor user who is worldly and likes all of those aspects the property has to offer.”
The ranch was the vision of twins Tim and Todd Phillips, who bought the 5,110-acre ranch bordered by Little Haw Creek in 2016. Evans was also part of that sale.
“It was indicative of an old Florida cattle ranch, so it was natural land,” he said, adding it had become a bit overgrown and needed some work.
The twins co-founded Daytona Beach’s P&S Paving back in 1993. Todd passed away unexpectedly in 2020, and the company became part of Construction Partners Inc. (CPI) late last year.
“[Todd and Tim] built this property one for fun and two for business. They always enjoyed the outdoors,” Evans told GrowthSpotter. “They’ve been wonderful land stewards, and this is a continuation of what they wanted, to just build a really special and unique property.”
The two had started other hobby business before, opening the New Smyrna Marina in 2013.
Back in the 1800s, the Phillips Ranch land was known as Gram Grove because the Gram family grew and sold tangerines on the property. It changed hands and purposes several times over the years and was a cattle ranch when the Phillips brothers bought it.
“It was [for] personal recreation and enjoyment and a dream of theirs to have a really high-end elite trophy property,” Evans said. Most of the improvements were completed in 2018, with other additions happening since then. “My heart sank in a good way [when I saw it completed.] I’ve been on millions of acres across the southeastern United States, and this property is in a league of its own.”
The main lodge is about 7,000 square feet and has a commercial-grade kitchen and four bedrooms, perfect both for living and large-scale entertaining.
Five “cabins” are near the lodge, two with two bedrooms and the others with three.
“Cabins, that’s probably a bad word since they’re actually full homes,” Evans said. There is also a residence for a ranch manager and everything in the homes conveys with the sale.
But while the lodge and cabins are luxurious and turkey, the highlights of the ranch are the amenities for the golfer, hunter, and equestrian.
“They just installed the driving range, modeled after the driving range at Augusta National,” he said, adding there are multiple targets and an area to practice the short game. “Believe it or not, they trucked in sand from the same sand mines that Augusta National uses at their course.”
For the hunter, there is a shooting range that goes up to 1,000 yards and about 3,500 acres of high-fenced land containing whitetail deer and elk. Osceola turkeys roam around outside the fenceline.
Evans said the equestrian facilities are some of the nicest he has ever seen, with a 66,000-square-foot regulation rodeo indoor arena with lights, speakers, wash bays, and stalls.
There are also outdoor stables with additional stalls and wash areas, along with an outdoor arena and holding pens.
But it’s the land itself with its seven miles of paved roads, more than 20 miles of improved roadways, water features, and endless trails, that steals Evans’ heart.
“I’m a land junkie,” he said with a laugh when asked about his favorite thing about the property. “I can’t narrow it down to one [thing], but just the attention to detail and the luxury aspects of it while also staying true to the grit of the hunting, fishing, and recreational aspects of it.”
There’s something for anyone who enjoys the outdoors.
“If you want to get out and get dirty and work on the ranch, you can certainly do that. You want to ride horses, you can do that. If you want to put cows on the property and work it as a working ranch, that can happen too,” he said. “But you also have the ability to enjoy the luxury aspects of it with all the improvements that have been created.”
The ranch would be perfect for a high-net-worth individual looking for a trophy property, as a corporate retreat or venue, or as a business, Evans explained.
“The Philips have done a magnificent job of being great stewards of this land and are hoping to find another buyer who has the same outlook and continuing on the legacy of Florida land ownership.”
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