Photography: Abbie Melle
I have to admit, I hadn’t heard of Daylesford before The Block 2025 put it on my radar. As we covered the location in the lead up to the 21st season, it was starting to sound like quite the picturesque place.
An hour out of Melbourne’s CBD, the historic country town is called the spa capital of Australia, and also boasts plenty of character-filled shops, cafes and accommodation options. You wouldn’t necessarily expect it to be the perfect setting for a drama-filled renovating series, but a girls’ weekend away? Absolutely.
So, you can imagine how quickly I sent back a resounding “yes please” when Channel 9 kindly invited myself and my colleague Emily down to Daylesford for a first look at the completed houses ahead of the season premiere.
The flights were booked – the only thing still to lock in was where to stay. Poet’s Lodge was our instant first pick. As one of the oldest houses in Daylesford with plenty of charm, we knew it would be a fabulous place to cover for Home Beautiful.
The owner Angeline O’Bryan generously got us in for a night’s stay at short notice and we were off to The Block and Poet’s Lodge at Daylesford! I had a delightful phone chat with her on the drive from the airport to the cottage and I could tell how passionate she is about the place. She bought the property with her husband Richard in 2017 and they’ve restored it beautifully.
From the front picket fence to the baskets at the door and classic books throughout the house, you can see Angeline’s eye for decorating. I could have spent hours taking in all the collected artworks and special trinkets. It was quite chilly when we arrived, so we got the fire going with the pre-chopped wood and even the matches were in a gorgeous box.
We stayed in the Main House – the original 1852 colonial building on the property. There are two additional cottages they’ve added at the back, staying sympathetic to the era’s architecture. Angeline said it’s very popular for weddings, and we could see why, with four bedrooms in the main house and the two separate self-contained cottages.
Wine was waiting for us on arrival and we enjoyed a glass before heading out into Daylesford’s main street, just minutes away. We had a hearty pub lunch at the Daylesford Hotel then browsed the homewares in Villa Daylesford. After stocking up with tasty treats to take back, we settled in for a cosy night in the cottage.
The next morning, we grabbed coffee and breakfast at Larder cafe to fuel us for a big day at The Block. It was just a 10 minute walk to the Middleton Field estate, where The Block houses were built. This is no run-of-the mill estate, mind you.
Across from the build site were cute stores like The Daylesford Hot Chocolate Company, next to the gorgeous Wombat Hill Nursery and Florist. It’s also next to the breathtaking Wombat Park Estate – a huge and historic property with gardens that made us “ooh” and “ahh” as we passed.
After meeting The Block 2025 teams and taking a tour of each of their houses, we headed to the Farmers Arms Hotel for lunch, hosted by Shelley Craft and Scott Cam. It was a whirlwind couple of days and we loved every second of our stay at Poet’s Lodge in Daylesford. If you’re ever looking for a weekend away outside Melbourne, I’d highly recommend it.
Even better if you’re a fan of The Block and want to have a stickybeak at the houses that were built on the 2025 series. If we had favourites, we might put bets on Emma and Ben’s… but you’ll have to stay tuned for our weekly hot takes where we share what we really thought about them all.
To book a stay at Poet’s Lodge in Daylesford, head to Airbnb.
Where we ate and drank in Daylesford…
Daylesford Hotel
We got the good old-fashioned schnitzel and steak at Daylesford Hotel, plus a glass of bubbly. They had the prettiest stained glass windows, good vibes and friendly staff.
Larder Daylesford
Such a cute and cosy cafe, we got really good coffees at Larder and excellent scrambled eggs on toast. It was warm, relaxed and the food came out really quickly.
Farmers Arms Hotel Daylesford
We ate at the Farmers Arms Hotel Daylesford with The Block teams, with the most incredible spread of cheeses, roast meats, salad and veggies. It was a jovial atmosphere in a grand old building.
