Iconic Waldrep home going to auction

A landmark, multimillion-dollar estate is up for auction in Ocala, once occupied by the heirs of an intrepid dairy magnate. 

The Waldrep family moved into the Ocala estate in 2005. Their family estate, built in 1981, can be found at 3707 NW 110th Ave. The property features a massive main house with a circular design inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright. The 11,520-square-foot abode has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms, a theater, a pool and spa, an outdoor kitchen, and an indoor racquetball court and fitness center.

According to the Zillow listing, it has “magnificent mahogany walls and ceilings, lovely carved brick wall murals and a English garden with a beautiful enclosed pool and summer kitchen for your outdoor gatherings.” 

The 80-acre estate also comprises rolling hills and live oaks. Four brick horse barns with 32 stalls, offices and labs, and an eight-car garage with a workshop also occupy the property.

Newspapers called the family patriarch, Wiley Waldrep, the last cowboy in Broward County. 

Bidding for his grandchildren’s Ocala home starts at $9.5 million.

Waldrep ran the South Florida region’s only independent dairy farm from 1928 until his death in 1997. His sprawling verdant property, one of the largest pieces of undeveloped land in the county, was located just north of Pembroke Pines. 

The no-nonsense farmer owned just one suit and rarely ventured from his farm, reported the “Broward New Times,” adding that when he died, the Waldrep Dairy Farm was still going strong.

“His grandkids weren’t as stubborn as he was,” wrote Bob Norman in “Ol’ Man Wiley Had a Farm” in 2008.  “They tried to keep the farm going, but in 2003, they finally succumbed to fate when they optioned the land to a Greek developer called Tousa Inc. for $104 million.”

Another coup for real estate developers, the South Florida property now encompasses a $1 billion, 1,900-home housing development called Monterra sits where Waldrep’s heifers used to roam.

Prospective homebuyers can bid for the entire Ocala estate at an auction on Saturday, Feb. 26.  The auction will take place onsite without reserve, listed by Linda Doyle of Royal Shell Real Estate.