The renowned “Kennett’s Castle” has new owners.
Otherwise known as Selma Hall, the gray limestone structure that was built in 1854 and is surrounded by more than 2,300 acres of largely undeveloped land south of Festus has been owned by the Union Pacific Railroad and its predecessor companies since 1953.
Union Pacific operated the property as a business, conference and hospitality center until it closed it as a cost-cutting measure and put it up for sale in 2018.
A Union Pacific spokeswoman said the sale of a large portion of the property closed on June 4, but she would not disclose the buyer or the purchase price.
Information on the Jefferson County Assessor’s Office website indicated the new owners of eight parcels, which range from 678 acres to 53 acres, is Selma Farm LLC, which lists an address in Dallas.
Selma Farm LLC and an associated company, Selma Farm Management LLC, were registered as limited liability corporations in Texas in January. Selma Farm LLC is listed as an events firm.
Jefferson County Assessor Bob Boyer confirmed that the eight parcels, totaling 2,302.7 acres, are now owned by Selma Farm LLC but had no information on who owns the LLC or what the purchase price was.
The Union Pacific spokeswoman said the sale did not include two parcels totaling about 145 acres that include a golf course, originally known as Crystal Highlands and later called Castle Ridge.
The course was built in 1988 and was open to the public for a time, but was reserved for Union Pacific employees and guests from 2002 until it also closed in 2018.
In 2020, Cushman and Wakefield of St. Louis listed the entire property, including the golf course, for $24,750,000.
No one from that firm returned telephone calls asking for comment.
Wynn Crosby Management Ltd., which shares the address in Dallas with Selma Farm LLC, did not return telephone calls asking for comment, nor did the legal firm listed as the registered agent for Selma Farm LLC, the Holmes Firm PC, which also has the same address.
The CT Corporation, which has an office in Clayton, was added as a registered agent in March, but that company also did not respond to telephone calls asking for information. The 2,300-acre property that was sold includes several homes, barns and outbuildings, a conference center, a fishing lake with a dock and lodge, a gun range, a tennis court, a swimming pool and riding trails and stables.
Selma Hall’s alternate name, “Kennett’s Castle,” came from Ferdinand Kennett, the Mississippi River steamboat operator who built it, according to historical documents.