A wealthy Christian sect based in the United States has bought the Northern Tablelands property Newstead, one of the great names in Australian agriculture.
Newstead, established by the family of Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson, was where Tom Roberts painted two of the images that came to define Australia's rural past - Shearing at Newstead and Robbery under Arms.
Now the Bruderhof has bought the 3300-hectare New South Wales property for more than $3 million, adding it to two other properties bought in 1999.
While the group calls the Mennonites and Amish its "spiritual cousins", it is not averse to wealth-creation or embracing the products of the 21st century.
In the US, apart from its rural base, the Bruderhof owns a jet charter and freight transport business, publishes books and manufactures toys and play equipment with a focus on disabled children.
In Australia, said its corporate affairs director, Randy Gauger, it is looking at light manufacturing, making hand-carved signs designed with computer software.
"But we'll be running black angus cattle on Newstead and doing some cropping. Because it is such a vast tract of land with abundant water we're going to seriously look at aquaculture, olives and grapes," he said.
"We'll have a mixture of conventional farming and more innovative ideas."
Like many businesses, the Bruderhof, which has members from Japan and Korea, wanted a Pacific Rim presence.
"Australia is English-speaking, which is good for us, it has a stable government and economically we thought we could make it here," Mr Gauger said.
When representatives arrived to look for land, they were welcomed and chaperoned by officials of the NSW Department of State and Regional Development, anxious to secure their investment for the state.
But the closest neighbors of the new arrivals are not so pleased to see them.
Alex and Pam McLeay want the Bruderhof to leave and question why foreign citizens have received such enthusiastic support from state and local governments.
Two years of research has convinced the couple, who oppose the Bruderhof community on environmental and planning grounds, that the group is a cult.
"It's a cult," Mrs McLeay said. "It has a dynastic leadership. Everyone has to do what the leader says. The only way the leadership can change is if he dies or if every member, unanimously, votes them out.
"Council has tried to squash any debate about the development and anyone who's opposed it has been called religious bigots."
But Inverell Shire Council remains an enthusiastic supporter. The Bruderhof hopes eventually to build a village to house 400 members, 20 kilometres from town.
Mr Gauger said: "I think one reason why the local council was very keen on our development was because rural Australia is declining and there's a slow erosion of population.
"So, to find a group who eventually want to have 400 people, who want to do light manufacturing and aquaculture, it's the boost rural Australia needs."
Members are called brothers and sisters, the sisters wearing home-made long dresses and scarves.
The community began in the 1920s in Germany, was thrown out by the Nazis and sought refuge in England between 1937 and 1941 before the Germans among them were threatened with internment.
Paraguay was the only country that would take them and the Bruderhof stayed there until the 1950s when they moved to the US.
The world leader is Christoph Arnold, grandson of the founder, Eberhard Arnold. People wanting to join must spend time with the group, live as a novitiate for up to a year, be baptised and then make final vows of commitment.
All property and possessions are handed over to the community.
No new Australian members have been found.
"We've had people visit and we have people who are, you know, interested. I think it will come eventually," Mr Gauger said.
The community's 2500 members, who must live wherever they are directed, are split between the east coast of the US, Britain and Australia.