Bishop Hill Plantation
Barbour County, Alabama⁞1726± ACRES
One of the Top Three Sporting Plantations in the State of Alabama! World Class Amenities & Offered Completely Turn-Key with Furniture, Tractors, Equipment, & More!
- 1726+/- acres Turn-key Established Quail Plantation, Barbour County, Alabama
- Located in the epicenter of Alabama’s historic plantation belt
- Located approx. 22 miles from historic Union Springs, 18 miles to Eufaula, 40 miles to Columbus, 50 miles to Auburn, 140 miles to Atlanta
- Custom 3 BR/3.5 BA Lakefront Lodge
- Custom 3 BR/2.5 BA Lakefront Guest Lodge
- Exceptional lakefront pavilion & sporting clays deck
- Covered boat dock with electric lift
- Fenced pastures with Custom horse barn, tack room, & 1 BR/1 BA above the barn
- Equipment Shed
- Private entrance with custom electric gate
- 3 stocked lakes, 8 acres, 3 acres, 7 acres
- Exceptional rolling topography with every habitat component the South has to offer
- Extremely manicured for Quail with natural ground cover covering the rolling hills
- Exceptional Deer & Turkey
- 2.5 miles of year-round water on Bear Creek
- Professionally managed stands of mature pine & hardwood timber
- Staggered ages of pine plantation managed on a 3 year prescribed burn rotation
- 32 established wildlife food plots
- Extensive All-weather road network, graveled creek crossings
- (9) Custom elevated shooting houses & several other ladder & box blinds
- Custom deer feeders stationed throughout
- Perfectly suited for a family get-away or corporate retreats
- Turn-key with furnishings, horses, tractors & implements, ATVs, & more
Highly Improved & Manicured from the pristine Quail Woods, Beautiful Lakes, Luxuriant Amenities; Everything is Exceptional!
Bishop Hill Plantation is a 1726 +/- acre established quail & sporting plantation, arguably one of the finest in the State of Alabama. Located in Alabama’s historic plantation belt, just 22 miles from Union Springs known as ‘Bird Dog Field Trial Capital of the World”, 18 miles to Eufaula, 40 miles to Columbus, 50 miles to Auburn, and 140 miles to the Atlanta airport. This area is widely regarded as the epicenter in Alabama for exceptional hunting & recreational properties. A sense of competitive comradery exist here over the land & wildlife management, who can grow the biggest deer or highest covey counts; it’s a rewarding endeavor all to the benefit of the land, wildlife, and next generation.
The breathtaking vistas are often taken for granted at Bishop Hill, with every turn offering a new appreciation of meticulous land stewardship. Extensively managed for decades along with continual use of prescribed fire has created an ecosystem and sustainable recreational property that can and should be used as a role model for others. The plantation has dramatic rolling topography and every habitat type the south has to offer from the majestic old growth quail woods, old growth bottomland hardwoods, merchantable & pre-merch plantation pine, open fields, beautiful lakes and creeks, and more. The timber stand diversity is not by mistake and offers a new owner supreme wildlife habitat with a future income stream & control over what is to come. The property has exceptional water resources in the 18 acres in lakes, made up of 3 lakes, as well as 2.5 miles of year-around water on Bear Creek flowing through the property. An extensive well-maintained road network provides access to 32 established food plots. Custom elevated shooting houses on most of the larger fields and several ladder stands scattered about. The deer and turkey hunting is exceptional; the diverse and vast landscape provides countless opportunities for the avid outdoorsmen, not to mention combination quail hunts in the morning & deer in the evening without ever disturbing one or the other.
It would take decades of managing and nurturing the land to even come close to replicating the 'look and feel' of this place! Decades of Time & Money, Not mutually exclusive of one another!
The amenities on the plantation are magnificent; the lodges are some of the finest lodges found on any sporting property today. Everything is perfectly laid out for families or corporate with every detail carefully considered. The main Lodge overlooks the 8 acre lake. Built in 2006 with an addition added in 2017, it is 3,000+/- square feet with 3 bedrooms 3.5 bathrooms. Constructed from premium pine & cypress taken from the property and milled at the family-owned mill. Every detail of the lodge is first class with high-end appliances and finishes throughout. Vaulted ceilings and large windows provide natural light and spectacular lake views. The large screened in porch doubles as another den or ‘great’ room with a large wood burning fireplace and comfortable interior décor. Consistent with the rest, the furniture & interior design throughout the lodge is first class.
Similar to the main lodge, the “guest lodge” was also constructed from pine and cypress taken off the property and overlooks the 8 acre lake. Built in 2007, it is 2,000 +/- square feet with 2 bedrooms and a loft and 2.5 bathrooms. With a similar layout to the main lodge, it has vaulted ceilings, large windows, and spectacular views of the lake and grounds. The wraparound porch and outdoor fireplace is a great place to gather after the hunt to recap the days endeavors.
Both lodges are masterfully designed and perfect for families to enjoy the scenic views of the lake and manicured grounds. Other improvements include a private electric gated entrance, covered boat house, lakeside pavilion, 7 stall horse barn with fenced pasture, tack room and living space above, enclosed equipment shed, fenced dove field, very nice elevated custom shooting houses, extensive road network, miles of 3 board fencing, underground power, & much more.
A Social Storm® Ranked Property: Bishop Hill and it's Social Storm® Property Attributes are Highly Ranked. This Social Storm® property belongs to a unique asset class with key property attributes that investors gravitate to for safety in bad times and buy for a recreation reward in good times.
Why choose a Social Storm® Property?
Location is paramount and just 18 miles east of the property is Lake Eufaula, a 46,000 acre reservoir formed along the Chattahoochee River separating Alabama & Georgia. Popular activities on the lake include trophy fishing, boating, swimming, and watersports. Bishop Hill is less than 20 miles to the Weeden Field Airport, equipped with 5,000’ of runway and only 140 miles to Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta.
There is not yet a Conservation Easement at Bishop Hill. It would be a strong candidate for a conservation easement providing benefits to the new owner and protections for the land.
Bishop Hill is being offered completely turn-key with furnishings, tractors, implements, ATVs, and more.
For more information, please give me a call.
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Bruce Ratliff is a retired elected official (Property Appraiser Taylor County). Bruce brings years of experience in ad valorem tax knowledge. His property tax background gives JKA Associates & clients a unique insight into the complicated tax process. Bruce held several positions in the Florida Association of Property Appraisers, including member of the Board of Directors, President, Vice-President and Secretary, and served on the Agricultural & Legislative Committees for the Association. The real estate business has been part of Bruce’s life since childhood. His mother, Shirley Ratliff owned Professional Realty of Perry, Florida and his father, Buster owned Ratliff Land Surveying which Bruce was General Manager of before his political career.
From murky farm ponds to pristine glacier-cut lakes and everything in between, Knox Daniels’ expertise stems from a lifelong fascination of water and the creatures that live in and around it. He recognizes and helps clients appreciate the value water features bring to a property. “My goal is to help buyers realize and sellers maximize the value different water bodies bring to a property, not only in a recreational sense, but also for social storm reasons.” After extensively traveling the country for collegiate BASS fishing tournaments, Knox graduated and worked for the Southeast’s finest fisheries and wildlife biologist, Greg Grimes. With Grimes’ company, AES, Knox managed many of the southeast’s finest private lake estate/impoundment properties, and learned the intricacies of upscale property management. Learning from Greg and other biologists, Knox honed in on the specific conditions and habitat needed for optimal gamefish growth in private lakes. He has also worked as a property manager on several thousand acres and for a commercial developer, facilitating the dirt work and builds of several apartment complexes, but his true passion has always been in the outdoors. “I’ve always had an insatiable fascination with ponds/lakes and am grateful to be able to help to place clients on the properties of their dreams and make their personal fisheries/wildlife goals reality with JKA.” – Knox Daniels
As a landowner of his own family farm, Lick Skillet, along with family land that has been passed down and enjoyed together at Keaton Beach for 40 years, Jon knows what it means to be a steward of the last best places. As a third-generation land broker with more than 30 years of experience in advising landowners in this niche, Jon is known for his innate ability to harvest a land’s unique intrinsic value. Touting several notable sales under his belt, Jon personally closed Rock Creek/Molpus – 124,000 acres of premium timberland at $142,000,000 – which was known as the largest timberland land sale in the Southeast for eight years running. He is a co-founding member of LandLeader and achieved the real estate industry’s highest honor, “2022 National Broker of the Year – Recreational Land Sales,” by the Realtors® Land Institute.
Prior to joining Jon Kohler & Associates, Walter Hatchett served for 30 years as a land manager to several of the south’s most esteemed properties, including Rock Creek. As a former property manager himself, and a consistently ranked “Top Sales Producer” nationwide and achieved “APEX Top 20 Land Broker” multiple times, Walter has a keen eye for the best in habitat management.
With Madison County roots, Lori grew up on her family farm at Pettis Springs along the historic Aucilla River. A love of the land was instilled in Lori very early on by her father who was a local farmer. Lori understands the importance of good land stewardship and has witnessed first-hand how her own father, a former 2-term member of the Florida House of Representatives whose district encompassed many rural counties of the Red Hills Plantation Region, with a little bit of sweat equity, so lovingly worked their own family land. These are core values she carries with her today, and nothing gives her more personal satisfaction than to represent some of the south’s best land stewards.
Hailing from a long line of outdoorsmen, Tim learned a great deal from his father and grandfather. He saw first-hand what it means to be a good land steward. He believes land is so much more than a place to hunt, fish, and grow timber or crops. “It’s an identity, a resting place, a safe haven and a way of life, said Tim.” Tim’s family ties to Alabama run deep. During his grandfather’s first term, Governor James was responsible for signing into law Alabama’s first state duck stamp which helped to ensure funding for the procurement, development, and preservation of wetlands for migratory waterfowl habitat. He also established Alabama’s lifetime hunting license, so it is no surprise that Tim is an avid outdoorsman with a keen eye as to how best to improve habitat for the greater good of its wildlife.
Jason has been assisting landowners for the last 28 years in Georgia and South Carolina obtain achievements the owners did not realize were possible. His degree in Biology from Georgia Southern stemmed from the desire to know how things in nature work. His plantation roots began at just 16 years old outside of Albany, GA and the last 20 years were spent in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. His entire career has been spent developing a global approach to plantation management. That plan included sales. Sales is in Jason’s blood- his mom had a 45-year career as a real estate broker. After college, he chose to pursue his passion of making properties great. In 2011, Jason sold his first plantation. Since then, he has assisted buyers and sellers with over $20 million in sales while most of that time working as a full-time General Manager of a large Lowcountry plantation. Today, he is committed to using his unique skill set and experience to guide landowners through the many challenges of plantation ownership.