Daylesford living: Jess, Dave and Blake

Daylesford has offered Jess, Dave and Blake a place to build their businesses and focus on their passions for creating, connecting and renovating. They recently purchased the original sandstone homestead at Middleton Field with big plans to sustainably renovate the space to create a unique home in the town they love.

Tell us a little bit about yourself

Dave and I met in Melbourne about eleven years ago but decided to relocate to my hometown (Daylesford) after spending some time up here away from the city. We fell in love with the idea of a country life, renovating and designing our first home together and starting the Daylesford Brewing Company – pretty much all at once.

Dave’s background has been in environmental science and sustainability, and he made the shift to follow a long-time passion of brewing beer - but we realised that brewing in Daylesford was to the day non-existent after it was so prominent during the goldrush. It just felt right to re-establish something historic to the area and make a career out of it to suit our lifestyle.

My background is in design - across fashion, lingerie and swimwear initially, but I shifted course before we bought our cottage up here into interiors and then focused on designing and creating what is now known as Wentworth House – luxury accommodation that offers a truly unique experience here on the cusp of Lake Daylesford. I’ve worked quite a bit with holiday accommodation locally as well as some hospitality and residential projects in the area. I’m a maximalist and focus a lot on attention to detail and layering through my work.

We decided to sell Wentworth House last year after juggling my interior consulting business (Dunbarlo Home), running Wentworth House and the Brewing Company which now has a taproom/bar and restaurant in town, once our son Blake came along in 2020.

I’m currently in the process of redesigning and renovating an old movie theatre, Alpha Hall, in the middle of the main street to launch “Dunbarlo Home” – a new direction for my business which will still incorporate consultative design and decoration work but I will be offering it in a curated retail and show “home” environment – a place to visit and discover fabric, wallcoverings, drapery, furniture, home décor, soft furnishings and more… plus plans for the addition of a bar or café offering at some stage.

How long have you been in Daylesford? What inspired the move?

We made the shift in 2015 together; I (Jess) have been here since 1992, only to move away for study and experience a more permanent life in Melbourne. The catalyst was our weekend away here around 2014, showing Dave my hometown and the culture and life that I had grown up with. It is the best mix of country, the cosmopolitan and progressive aspects of a city, historic architecture, nature, and diversity – the community is strong, and people choose to be here because they really want to be. People come in droves to visit which we love, it brings a bustle - people have always visited this beautiful place, “taking to the waters” as a resort town.

What attracted you to the Middleton Field Homestead?

The Homestead is significant to the area as one of very few sandstone homes within the Daylesford township itself. Its construction dates back to the 1870s I believe, and we love this. We had been looking for a while for something bigger - always at old properties (always those that need work….!).

From what we know so far, it was built by John Howe on a very large landholding adjacent to Wombat Park where I once lived as child. Middleton Field as it’s known now was originally known as “Middleton Park” with its park like farm also. Over the years the trees have been cleared, it has been the home to the Agricultural Society, and land sold off to the local schools and surrounding homes.

A strong green approach feels right to be re-established on this land with the concept of a neighbourhood resting on farmland. Sitting high on the rise of the former farm, we feel very lucky – our home has magnificent views of Wombat Hill Botanical Gardens, the Wombat Park farmland, Musk and beyond, and potentially Mount Franklin also. 

This home is a major live-in project for us, and not one to be taken lightly – we know it needs a lot of work, planning and consideration and will be a long process but to be able to preserve and respect the sandstone beauty, and bring it into the future with a sustainable approach and well considered design, we can create a totally unique home for us – and be surrounded by a lush, community environment – but with privacy.  

It is very important to both of us to respect history and preserve this – we did this with one of the oldest miner’s cottages on the lake here, and we also have one of the oldest pubs in Daylesford as the future site for our brewery and bigger venue on the main street also. The pub is in a bad way after many years of neglect and its construction does not lend itself to today’s building standards, but we will bring her back to life as best as we can over time.

Do you have plans for the house?

Our first focus is to fence - and to deal with a mould issue around the sandstone, to let it breathe after many, many years of sealed wall linings and moisture trapped, softening it further. We would like to design our fencing firstly in consideration with the surrounding trees to slot into the natural but contemporary environment that Middleton Field will take on.

We do believe it’s important to live in a house properly also, to understand and learn from it - the way the light hits, the seasons changing, how functional and sustainable it can be. We will explore how to initially connect between the old and newer 1980’s addition to allow for a better flow to live in and gain some ideas from that straight up as we connect the two components internally more.

You can follow the progress of the Middleton Park renovations on Instagram.

What do you love most about living in Daylesford?

The uniqueness of the town – but also the region. For me it holds a special place in my heart growing up here, but it’s the people, the vision and creativity, the visitors, all the brilliant restaurants and cafes, progressive stores and galleries, beautiful old buildings and scenery - seeing a farmer drive a forked hay bale down the road… that’s always a favourite. 

What are your favourite haunts in Daylesford?

We love Cliffy’s (which is actually just down the hill from the homestead so will be our closest café now!) – Enki is becoming new favourite in the main street for the most divine, distilled potions and libations, which brings back memories of the “old Daylesford” – very much focused on health and wellbeing back when I was growing up in the 90’s.

The Farmers Arms is the oldest pub I believe in Daylesford, and you can never go wrong with dinner there – or lunch a short drive out of town at Tuki Trout Farm, - you can catch your own fish, enjoy their local lamb and curl up in front of a huge fire in the old shearing shed.  

As far as bars go… we may be a little biased, but we love being in our own taproom – it’s a very relaxed, social atmosphere and Jack’s Popcorn chicken is to die for! 

Shopping – with our little boy now, The Donkey’s Tale on Howe Street is a wonderful children’s store, and just down the road is a shop Dave loves – Buster McGee. Beautiful men’s things!

I love to pop in and explore Curious Antiques just on the corner of Vincent St at the top roundabout – you never know when it’s open, and you never know what will be in there…, but Kathleen and Jimmy are iconic to the town with their beautiful brick building and it’s well worth a visit.  

The Convent Gallery is another favourite and has a huge gift shop, along with rooms of art, a café and bar.