The town is located in the Weddin Shire local government area, 345 kilometres (214 mi) west of the state capital, Sydney.

[1] The village, with the associated "Mount Oriel" homestead (known locally as Iandra Castle), is a rare example in Australia of the manorial system, "the likes of which may not exist elsewhere in the state or nation".

[2] Greenethorpe is a purpose-built town, established in 1908 to house sharefarmers who worked on Iandra, the nearby pastoral station owned by George Henry Greene.

[2] In the early years of the twentieth century, Iandra set a record for the largest ever yield of wheat from a single property, and by 1911 there were fifty sharefarmers working over 18,000 acres (7,300 ha) there—the farmers supplying the machinery and labour and Greene providing seed and clearing ground suitable for ploughing.

[2] The main dwelling in the Iandra homestead is an ornate mansion built from reinforced concrete in the Federation Romanesque style with Tudor influences.

The homestead, built by pioneering engineer, Edward Giles Stone, also includes a blacksmith, manager's residence, stables, and a small Gothic chapel.