Hidden Vale is located in the Grandchester region, just over an hour west of Brisbane. The property encompasses koala habitat of recognised biodiversity significance, and includes existing forest, restored regions and active grazing land.
This 12,000 acre property was previously a grazing operation. It was once the stomping ground of Sidney Cotton (the inspiration for Ian Fleming's James Bond 007), who purchased it in 1900 from an Ipswich butcher named Philip Jost and renamed it Hidden Vale.
The property was purchased by the Turner family in 1999, and the original homestead and cottages were soon refurbished to become a boutique hotel operation under the Peppers brand. In 2010 the Spicers brand was established and the property was renamed Spicers Hidden Vale.
In 2017, Spicers and The Turner Family Foundation Hidden opened a Wildlife Centre on the Hidden Vale property built in partnership with University of Queensland. The overarching goal is to develop innovative and globally significant solutions for wildlife management and conservation, using the Hidden Vale Wildlife Centre and surrounding ecosystems as a model.
Several areas of the Hidden Vale property are known koala hotspots, and a key focus of the ongoing restoration work is to expand the area of koala habitat and create important wildlife corridors for them to move through.
