Ted Turner. Image Credit: Architectural Digest
It also supports red-cockaded woodpeckers, a declining species that has established 18 active clusters on the property, according to Tall Timbers. More than 8,000 acres were placed under a conservation easement with The Nature Conservancy in 1988. In 2023, another 13,000-plus acres were placed into conservation through Florida Forever. Tall Timbers reported that more than 5,000 acres could provide suitable soil and habitat for them.
Avalon has a long history as a quail hunting property, but its role extends well beyond recreation. The property is home to quail, turkey, deer and black bears. Land conservation has also become a major part of Avalon’s future. These agreements prevent the land from being developed. Avalon was also being considered as a long-term home for gopher tortoises relocated from areas facing development.
What began in 1985 with the purchase of an 8,000-acre former plantation grew into a landscape of more than 21,000 acres under active management. Turner’s property empire was enormous, but Avalon illustrates why simply describing him as a major landowner misses part of the story. Across his ranches and estates, Turner increasingly connected land ownership with wildlife and conservation. At Avalon, that approach continues through careful habitat management, conservation agreements and efforts to protect species. Halbig described Avalon as deeply sentimental to Turner and saying that he wanted to protect the property for him. His goal was to leave the land in better condition for future generations. For Turner, the value of the property was not limited to the house at its centre. It was the land itself, and the wildlife and natural systems that depended on it.
Tall Timbers reports a new approach to managing the property under Karl Halbig, who arrived as its manager in August 2022. Halbig oversees more than 21,450 acres and initially resisted making immediate changes. Because of how dramatically Turner expanded it after buying the property, yet Avalon in Florida stands out.
His land holdings eventually reached across ranches in states including Montana, New Mexico, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas and South Dakota, as well as properties in Argentina, according to Architectural Digest. The story of Avalon did not end with Turner’s purchase. Instead, he spent his first year learning how Avalon worked through different seasons and understanding how its various teams operated. As per Tall Timbers, he mapped the entire property using GPS, including roads, quail courses, food plots, feed trails and fields used by young birds. That information helped form a detailed management plan, giving the team a clearer way to measure whether changes were actually improving the land. Ted Turner became one of America’s most prominent media figures, owning an extraordinary collection of properties across the United States and Argentina. His homes varied considerably. Some were working ranches, while others were historic estates or wildlife-focused properties. In his later years, Turner lived on one of his Montana ranches, where fishing remained one of his favourite activities.
