Signature Luxury Travel & Style
SLICE OF EUROPE
Food, wine and scenery: The many ways Victoria’s Daylesford region is reminscient of a European sojourn
During the 1851 gold rush, Europeans flocked to Victoria’s Daylesford and the neighbouring region of Hepburn Springs. They came in search of rare metal, and stayed – presumably – because it felt like, well, home. They planted grapes, farmed the rich volcanic soil and built stone houses. Italians set up Australia’s first pasta factory, the Swiss introduced bull-boar sausages (equal portions pork and beef, with a liberal dose of spice), and as word spread of the labyrinth of 70-plus mineral springs bubbling through rolling hills and tall timbered forests, by the 1930s it was revered as a fashionable spa resort. So what’s changed? Nothing – and everything.
Just three kilometres apart, Daylesford and Hepburn Springs continue to offer a taste of Europe in Australia, uniting classic style and stories through landscape and history, with a good dose of modern innovation.
A place of provenance
“We’re not the type of family that waits for grass to grow under our feet,” says Larissa Wolf-Tasker. Coming from the daughter of Alla Wolf-Tasker AM, creator of Daylesford’s legendary Lake House, that’s an understatement.
After more than 35 years of exquisite country hospitality and the winner of every conceivable accolade – including Alla’s Order of Australia for services to tourism and hospitality – the grande Lake House finally has a baby sister: enter Dairy Flat Farm, a breezy seven-kilometres from the original homestead.
“Mum fell in love with the driveway,” says Larissa. Who wouldn’t? Sweeping through a 15-hectare patchwork of lush farmland, the entrance is lined with a row of silver birches leading up to a grand steeple-roofed lodge complete with a tower. “We’d been looking for ages for a property to fulfil another dream of our own productive farm,” she says.
Originally built by an Italian couple 20 years ago , the bones of Dairy Flat were ripe for the Wolf-Tasker touch.
With six sumptuous suites across three wings fanning out from a central area – think lounge, library, dining room and chef’s kitchen – the farm’s Lodge is designed for (but not solely dedicated to) exclusive use. “Now, more than ever, gathering with family and friends is meaningful,” Larissa says.
There’s an on-site concierge, a private chef available and endless inspiration for inner childlike curiosity. Wander through the series of hedge-lined garden rooms, play boules, ride an e-bike, take a cooking class in the bakery, roast marshmallows around the fire pit, learn about bee-keeping or regenerative farming… “Everything here is about story – we want our guests to create memories.”
Viva la villa
From genteel to quirky, across the fields and through the forest, another visionary brings a ‘Europe-meets-Australia’ feel to the region.
“If I can imagine it, I want to build it,” says David Penman, an ex-army intelligence commander and founder of Clifftop at Hepburn. “I visualise something and let the architect go crazy.”
Cantilevered over the dramatic Breakneck Gorge in Hepburn Springs, shipping containers have been cleverly transformed into dreamy one-bedroom studio villas (there are also larger villas and glamping options). With names like Paris, Vienna, Venice and Rome, each pays homage to its namesake through unique twists like French fireplaces, Italian Washplane sinks, wooden soaking tubs, antique pinball machines and an Inada Sogno massage chair. The showstopper, however, is the plush velvet daybed perched in a cube made of bulletproof glass, overlooking the gorge.
01 & 03 Stunning Lake House © Derek Salwell 02 Entrance to Dairy Flat Lodge © Lake House PR 04 Peppers Springs Retreat © Robyn Lea/Visit Victoria 05 Truffle season at Lake House 06 Clifftop at Hepburn © Rob Blackburn Photography 07 Lake House’s Waterfront Suite
Plats du jour
Although there’s a mini Lake Como to meander around, bathing houses to take in the waters and spas for pampering (try the latter at Peppers Hepburn Springs’ Mineral Day Spa), time in the Daylesford region tends to revolve around eating. From the grandest – a window table at Lake House – to the most down-to-earth – provisions from Cliffy’s Emporium for a picnic – local produce flows with seasonal specialities: spring lamb, summer fruits, autumn vegetables, winter truffles.
“We grow what we can in the kitchen garden and source most of our other ingredients within a 50-kilometre radius of here,” says Hugh Maxwell, head chef at Sault Restaurant, set on a fairytale country estate replete with lavender fields to rival Provence. As a young chef who grew up in the area, Hugh appreciates the trailblazers of local organic farming. “My mum was a chef and my dad a gardener. I want people to leave Sault with an understanding of the food they’ve eaten.”
Bistro Terroir is the type of restaurant every Francophile wishes was in their neighbourhood. It’s the brainchild of chef Matthew Carnell who, during his apprenticeship, won an award to travel to France and worked in Le Sur Mesure, Thierry Marx’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant. Chic in style, with wooden floorboards and exposed brick walls, Matthew’s establishment serves up the best steak frites (not to mention the crème brûlée) this side of France.
The great outdoors
As a region perfect for all seasons, Daylesford and Hepburn’s many wineries gear up for alfresco dining. Passing Clouds specialises in cool-climate pinot noir and chardonnay, and also puts on a legendary weekend la famiglia luncheon. Think housemade salumi to begin followed by a leg of lamb slow-roasted over a fire pit.
Tucked into the hamlet of Glenlyon, Attwoods not only makes great wine, but also delights with epic lunches, including charcuterie and cheeses served on chunks of fresh bread – it’s like being transported to a French village.
Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm is also well-loved, replete with 19th-century stone farmhouse buildings surrounded by 40 hectares of lavender fields, olive groves and rambling country gardens. The trattoria, set among a standard of ash trees, even serves lavender champagne. Cheers to Daylesford!