"An Australian icon where the beautiful rhythm of life
is emphasised and honoured."
— Luxury Travel Magazine
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Two nights by the lake this winter, wrapped in comfort, fireside warmth and considered luxury.
From $1,000 pp, twin share
"An Australian icon where the beautiful rhythm of life
is emphasised and honoured."
— Luxury Travel Magazine
Our Dairy Flat Farm
Never ones to rest on their laurels, the Wolf-Tasker family together with the team from Lake House Daylesford launched Dairy Flat in 2020.
Dairy Flat Lodge & Farm is located just 10 minutes from the village of Daylesford amongst beautiful rolling hills and farmland. Guests have complete access to this 38-acre regenerative farm, featuring an extensive and productive vegetable garden, orchard, vineyard, olive grove, hedgerow gardens, sourdough bake house (yes there will be fresh pastries each morning), spring fed dam full of trout, bee hives, resident cows, alpacas, geese, guinea fowl, and our two friendly Maremma dogs Luna & Leo.
Dairy Flat Lodge is the ideal destination for guests seeking immersion in country life, bespoke luxury and hotel-style comforts. This is a special place to gather your tribe and immerse yourselves in the best of country living… albeit with the Lodge Concierge on hand to coordinate activities, light the firepit, mix a good negroni and prepare breakfast…
A specially designed and curated Lodge featuring original art and furniture commissioned by local makers accommodates up to 12 guests in six private king suites.
Much of the menus at Lake House are now driven by the windfalls of produce from Dairy Flat Farm. Rich volcanic soil provides fertile ground for vegetables, herbs, flowers, fruit, olives and more. Raw extracted honey and honeycomb arrives from the hives, olive oil is pressed, small batch preserves and ferments are stockpiled for the cooler months. Cider and wine are new additions. The opportunity to work with rarer plants and vegetables that truly reflect the seasons, adds to the guest experience and the ongoing enrichment of the team.
There’s plenty of activity on-site all year round… Early on the bakers will be busily tending the dough and ovens. You may see Jono, a long-term supplier (Brooklands Free Range Farms) moving the British White Cattle. Often, resident Bee Keeper Dan “the Bee Man” Palm will be on-site checking the hives. There is never a dull day in the vegetable gardens, especially during the ‘pick’ for the kitchen! The guinea fowl may be munching their way through the bugs in the garden … And the resident alpacas are always up for a little chaff and chat. Dairy Flat is surrounded by lush farmland and forest so kangaroos, wallabies, wombats and beautiful birdlife are abundant also.
Workshops and opportunities for learning on the farm, in the bake house and with selected “friends of the farm” are often available throughout the year. Make sure you are on the mailing list.
Reservations
Individual suites are available to book online 12 weeks in advance prior to the reservation date. If your preferred date is unavailable please contact the team.
Reservations for Exclusive Use of The Lodge (up to 12 guests) can be made up to 12 months in advance.
Driving this dream of proper slow fermented breads is the desire to fly in the face of industrialised bread production and to support the growers and millers of small local grain economies. In the process, the local community has gained added access to good bread. The mission was to supply guests of Lake House and the Lodge at Dairy Flat with not only the best, but also with product whose provenance is always known.
The Bake House is only open to guests staying at Dairy Flat Lodge, although you can find our beautiful sourdough in Daylesford:
Devotees of our daily bake are able to pick up at our Wombat Hill House from 8am daily. Our stall at the Sunday Market Daylesford is also fully stocked each week (although the team often sell out fast). Of course in house guests at Lake House will be treated to a selection from the daily bake each morning at breakfast and throughout lunch or dinner in the Restaurant.
It is a working farm – there are always growers and gardeners around, often the beekeeper or viticulturalist. And then there are the bakers. After a quick ‘early riser’ coffee, you might be lured out on a morning walk by the birdsong and the mist lying in the gullies, but you’ll be spurred on by the smell of fresh bread and pastries baking. Make sure to stop by for a chat in the Bake House.
Through the formal gardens and the olive groves and onto the vegetable and herb gardens where the morning’s harvest will be in progress – destined for the tables at the Lake House Restaurant. Walk down the Manchurian Pear walk to the dam and stop for a few moments of silence – you may be rewarded, with the sight of a mother kangaroo and her joey, a water bird fishing and certainly the sound of many happy frogs.
By now the Lodge Concierge will be grinding fresh coffee beans in the kitchen and the house and its residents will be stirring in readiness for the country breakfast that awaits. Conversation flows and people make arrangements for their day. In the library, or peace and quiet somewhere in the extensive gardens with a good book; more strolls through the vineyard and across the pastures; or some local off-site adventures on foot or on one of our electric bikes. Pretty Leitches Creek Mineral Spring, Daylesford Cidery, and Passing Clouds Winery, down local country lanes, are all but minutes away.
The latter two both offer delicious tipples and relaxed casual lunch options. No need for your car. And then there’s nearby Istra as well, where you can fill your basket with local ham, salami, prosciutto or in season Musk Berry Farm. Bring it back to Dairy Flat Farm, cut up a loaf of our fresh sourdough and enjoy in the sunshine with a glass of wine. All that exercise and fresh air might require an afternoon nap – possibly interrupted by the jangle of the drinks cart as aperitivo hour expands the variety of libations available in the honour bar.
There’ll be laughter over backgammon or charades. Conversations will flourish. Some will take to the hot tub overlooking the vineyard, others may wish to wait until the adjacent fire pit is lit and enjoy the inky star-strewn skies.
The Lodge Concierge will have discussed dinner options with you. A casual meal in Daylesford? A relaxed shared farm platter or a seat at the table at Lake House, one of the finest restaurants in Australia. Just let us know….
Relax, sleep tight and leave it to us.
