Land with Home for Sale in Melrose, Wisconsin

Located at N1590 Lovell Street near

Melrose, this 288± acre Jackson County property is the kind of place that can play more than one role. It is currently operating as a working dairy farm, with productive crop and hay ground, established livestock facilities and the infrastructure needed to keep a farm moving. But follow the fields back into the property and you'll find another side altogether—rolling hardwood ridges, thick cover, secluded ponds and approximately 1.25± miles of frontage along the

Black River.

At the center of it all is a spacious

5-bedroom farmhouse built in 1999. Around it are approximately 100± acres of productive open ground and a well-established farmstead. Beyond that is a large block of recreational ground with the food, water, cover and terrain that make this part of Jackson County well known for deer and turkey hunting.

The dairy operation is an important part of what has been built here, but it doesn't have to define what comes next.

Continue farming as it sits, transition into beef or another livestock operation, develop a more diversified and self-sufficient farmstead, or make agriculture one part of a larger hunting and recreational property.

There is enough ground here to do a little bit of everything—and enough infrastructure already in place to get started.

A Country Home That Fits the Property

Built in 1999, the 5-bedroom, 3-bath farmhouse was laid out with both space and everyday country living in mind.

Coming in from the attached 2-car garage, you're greeted by a mudroom and main-floor laundry—an especially useful setup when your day involves the barn, fields, woods or Wisconsin weather. Boots and work clothes have a place to land before entering the main part of the home.

The main floor opens into a large kitchen and dining area with enough room to serve as the everyday gathering place of the house. The adjoining living room provides plenty of space to settle in at the end of the day, while a main-floor bedroom and full bathroom add flexibility to the layout.

Upstairs you'll find four additional bedrooms, another full bathroom and plenty of closet space. Storage was clearly part of the plan when the home was built, with useful closets throughout both floors.

The unfinished basement adds even more room. It is already stubbed for a fourth bathroom, provides substantial storage and has direct access to the garage. A future owner could leave it just as it is for work and storage space or look at finishing a portion of it down the road.

It's not a house that was dropped onto a farm as an afterthought. The mudroom, laundry, garage access, storage and overall floor plan make sense for someone who actually spends their time outside and on the property.

A Working Farm With a Practical Layout

The farm is currently operating as a dairy, and the barnyard has been laid out around the day-to-day work that goes with it.

An 80+ stanchion barn anchors the operation and includes covered feed bunks and a dedicated feed-mixing area. A concrete cow yard helps with cleaning and maintenance, while the location of the surrounding buildings keeps feed, livestock, machinery and equipment within a workable area.

Additional improvements include a hay storage shed, machine shed, multiple loafing sheds, calf barn and an older granary/chicken coop.

The advantage here isn't simply having a long list of buildings. It's having buildings that have been used together as part of an active farm.

For the next owner, that could mean continuing the dairy operation much as it sits. It could also mean beef cattle or another livestock operation where the existing feeding areas, livestock buildings, storage and concrete already have value. For someone looking at a diversified farmstead, the combination of buildings gives you room for livestock, poultry, hay, machinery, feed and storage without starting from scratch.

Water Infrastructure That Adds to the Farm

Water is well established across the property.

Two drilled wells serve the home and barnyard. In addition, a separate irrigation well capable of approximately 500

GPM and powered by a stationary engine is rated to serve approximately 40± acres.

That adds another useful tool for the productive side of the farm and gives a future owner options when looking at crop production and how the open acreage is managed.

Away from the farmstead, multiple ponds and the Black River add water to the recreational side of the property as well.

Approximately 100± Acres of Productive Open Ground

Approximately 40± acres of fertile tillable ground are currently being used for row crops, with another 60± acres of open tillable ground being utilized for grass-hay production.

That gives the farm approximately 100± acres of productive open ground supporting the current operation.

For a traditional farm buyer, those acres provide crop and forage production. For someone looking at a more diversified setup, there is room to think about livestock, pasture, hay, crops, gardens and other food production. And for the recreational buyer, the relationship between those fields and the surrounding timber is every bit as important.

Large agricultural fields provide an established food source along a substantial block of cover. That transition from open ground into timber creates miles of edge and gives deer and turkey a reason to move between the two.

It's one of the places where the farming and recreational sides of the property work well together.

Once You Leave the Fields, It's a Different Property

The wooded portion of these 288± acres is made up of mature mixed hardwoods spread across rolling Western Wisconsin terrain.

There isn't just one ridge or one timbered hillside here. Numerous ridges, dips, draws and elevation changes break up the property, along with sections of thicker understory that provide bedding and security cover.

For a whitetail hunter, that's important.

The crop and hay ground provide food. The thicker areas provide cover. Ridges, draws and terrain changes give deer natural ways to travel between the two. Ponds and the Black River add water, while the sheer size of the property gives an owner room to manage hunting pressure and access.

On a smaller hunting property, you often have to make the same few acres serve as food, bedding, access and hunting ground. With 288± acres, there is room to spread things out.

A future owner can begin looking at bedding areas, sanctuary ground, stand access, food sources, timber management and habitat improvements as pieces of a larger plan rather than isolated projects.

The mix is equally attractive for wild turkey, with hardwood timber, open fields, edge habitat and plenty of room for birds to move throughout the property.

Ponds & Waterfowl Habitat

Multiple ponds are located within the timber, creating additional wildlife habitat away from the main farmstead.

Those secluded ponds add another water source for deer and other wildlife while also providing habitat for wood ducks and other waterfowl.

It's another small detail that adds up on a property this size. You're not relying on one habitat type. Crop ground, hay fields, mature timber, thick cover, ponds and river bottom all come together within the same tract.

1.25± Miles Along the Black River

Follow the property far enough and you eventually reach one of its biggest recreational features—the Black River.

Approximately 1.25± miles of river frontage gives the property a completely different dimension.

The Black River offers fishing opportunities for species including walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass, muskellunge, catfish and panfish. The river corridor adds waterfowl hunting opportunities as well, while kayaking, canoeing and tubing provide another way to enjoy the property during the warmer months.

For someone who spends a lot of time outside, that's where a property like this starts to make sense beyond dollars per acre or the number of buildings.

A spring morning might be spent chasing turkeys before checking fields later in the day. Summer brings hay, crops, fishing and time on the river. By fall, the same farm transitions into deer and waterfowl country.

There is always another part of the property to use.

A Working Dairy Today, But It Doesn't Have to Stop There

There is value in the fact that this is an operating farm. The buildings aren't theoretical. The barnyard isn't an old setup that hasn't been used in years. The crop and hay ground are part of an active agricultural operation.

At the same time, a buyer doesn't have to be looking for a traditional dairy farm to understand what is here.

The livestock facilities could serve another agricultural operation. Approximately 100± acres of productive open ground can continue producing crops and forage. The irrigation well adds another option for managing part of that acreage. The granary/chicken coop, storage buildings and livestock facilities lend themselves to a more diversified farmstead.

For someone interested in becoming more self-sufficient, there is enough land and infrastructure here to raise livestock, grow crops and food, cut hay, keep poultry, manage timber and hunt their own ground.

And for someone whose priority is hunting and recreation, the working acreage can remain productive while nearly 300 acres of timber, fields, ponds and river frontage provide room to manage a serious recreational property.

Whether the next owner continues what's here today or takes the farm in another direction, the future is right out your back door..