Latest news with #Daylesford
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Carnegie: House sold after 53 years in the one family
A Carnegie house that has been in the one family for more than 50 years has welcomed a new owner following a Saturday auction. Owner Johann De-Alwis said his mother bought the three-bedroom house at 270 Neerim Rd in 1972, following their immigration to Australia from Sri Lanka, via Ceylon, in the sixties. Sadly, Mr De-Alwis was aged just six when father died from a heart attack in 1965. 'My mum saved all her money and managed to buy this house for us,' Mr De-Alwis said. 'She was a single mum with two little kids and the banks wouldn't loan her any money, so she saved and did it all on her own steam for the equivalent of $14,000.' He described his late mother as 'a resolute and strong woman' who went on to work as an executive assistant in an engineering research and development team. Ray White Carnegie director Josh Hommelhoff, who had the listing, first met Mr De-Alwis two decades ago – when he first began thinking about selling the home. Mr De-Alwis said it was bittersweet to finally sell his long-time family home but that he was planning to buy a smaller house near Daylesford, in addition to finding an apartment in Carnegie so he could stay connected to his classic car club. He's also planning on taking his classic sky-blue 1964 Studebaker hawk car in the move. Out of three bidders, a developer bought the home for $1.355m. And a creative house in Melbourne's southeast fitted with upcycled materials and appliances also sold at a Saturday auction. The four-bedroom home at 17 Albert Rd, Hallam, attracted two bidders. Owner Jennie, who has spent decades at the address, said she had renovated after moving in. With a fondness for decorating and vintage style, she shopped around at places selling recycled fittings and materials for the project. 'The stove is from about the 1940s, I purchased it from someone else's home,' Jennie said. A sailor friend inspired her to adopt a nautical theme in some parts of the house such as the curved ceiling in one of the living areas. Jennie, who is selling up with plans for a sea-change, said the garden she had planted had grown in and provided plenty of privacy. 'It has been nice family home – it's really nice and a little bit quirky,' she said. Harcourts Asap Group Dandenong director Daniel Farrugia said that during the auction, the house was announced on the market at about the $712,000 mark. The abode sold for $730,500 to an investor who is planning to rent it out. Mr Farrugia said he had noticed increased investor activity across the past two months. 'You have interstate investors buying through buyers' advocates who are looking for smaller properties, while locals want something a bit bigger that they can subdivide,' he said.
Daily Mail
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Foreman Dan Reilly shares a sneak peak at the set of The Block 2025 and hints new season is coming VERY soon as filming wraps after 'delays'
The Block star Dan Reilly teased that the new season of the blockbuster renovation show will soon be heading to Channel Nine. Dan took to his social media on Sunday to share a gallery of snaps featuring cast and crew from the Daylesford construction site in rural Victoria. In one photo, Dan, who works as a foreman on the ratings winner, can be seen taking a celebratory drink with his partner Dani Wales. Other photos show the happy couple grinning and posing with judges Shaynna Blaze and Marty Fox. While Dan was careful not to show off any of the homes featured in the upcoming season, a glimpse of what appears to be completed structures can be glimpsed in the background of one photo. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Aerial photos released in April revealed that the 2025 season will feature some massive homes. The sprawling construction site located in the tiny rural getaway, 112km from Melbourne, features five blocks. All of the two-storey dwellings are built as a 'H' design layout with courtyard spaces in front and back of the home. It comes after claims that the upcoming season allegedly hit a serious snag which has caused production to be delayed. An industry insider exclusively told Daily Mail Australia in January that filming was set to commence in Daylesford that month but was pushed back. Production on the popular Channel Nine reality renovation series was slated to begin in February after being delayed for a month. And the reason for the hold up? Our source revealed that producers are less-than-enamoured with the crop of contestants who applied for the show's 21st season. They claimed casting producers have been in crisis meetings with Nine executives this week because they are so far unhappy with the presented line-up for 2025. 'There are desperate measures being made to get the show right for the next series,' the source said. 'There has been a noticeable absence of what Channel Nine were interested in showcasing later this year.' The source said Nine was interested in attracting 'older and wiser' contestants for 2025, in a bid to move away from on screen drama that has become a fixture on the show in recent seasons. Much of the 2024 season was dominated by the controversial 'flirtgate scandal' involving married couple Brad and Kylie Baker, and their co-star Mimi Belperio. 'The Nine network wants to shift gears from what we have seen in the last few years but the problem has been the 2025 series hasn't attracted the right kind of applicants,' the source said. 'The show has had a toxic culture and what happens when a trend like that forms is that similar people apply. 'There are people wanting to be the next Kylie and Brad and there are people wanting to be the next Kristy and Brett [the 2023 'villains']. 'That is the nature of these reality shows. The people applying seem to look back at what we have just seen and try to emulate that.' The source claimed that the network is now more interested in attracting contestants who are environmentally minded. The source also took time to praise the network for listening to what Block fans really want after the latest drama-packed season divided fans, with some claiming the show was trying to become like Married At First Sight.
ABC News
23-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Hepburn Shire Council sparks community outrage with one-year 10 per cent rates rise
Residents of Hepburn Shire, home to the tourist town of Daylesford in Victoria, are furious the cash-strapped council is pushing through a one-year 10 per cent rates increase. Earlier this month the Essential Services Commission approved the extra 7 per cent on top of the 3 per cent cap set by the state government. "We've had to find some more money and that's what we're attempting — to do it as a once off, said Hepburn Shire Council Mayor Don Henderson. Faced an annual $4 million cash shortfall, Hepburn Shire Council said the rates increase would generate an additional $1.36 million in revenue to be invested directly into necessary services and infrastructure. The council had been plagued by financial woes in the past decade. It lost $5.65 million in a failed Rex project which began in 2016 and was meant to transform a Daylesford art deco building into a multi-use centre for residents and the council. Cr Henderson said the failed project was only partly to blame for the rates increase. "We have a lot of heritage buildings and we have to maintain those," he said. He said the clean up following "fairly devastating" storms in Trentham and Creswick in 2021 and 2022 also cost the council $3.5 million. The council's draft budget for 2025-'26, including the double digits rates increase, is open for public feedback until June 5. According to the council the increase would see ratepayers pay on average an extra $2.20 per property per week. Blampied resident Cameron McPherson was among the ratepayers furious about the increase. "When you put this in combination with this new fire services levy it is going to affect my wife and I to the tune of $2,000 to $3,000 extra a year," he said. Mr McPherson said he wanted to see some "accountability". "If you're going to put up rates by 10 ten per cent in this cost of living crisis then you need to justify it and they aren't justifying it," he said. Deborah Clarke and her wife Lousie McLachlan live in the Hepburn Shire and have a business in Daylesford. They expect to pay an extra $300 to $400 a year on top of "a cost of living crisis". Ms Clarke and Ms McLachlan said a lack of community consultation was driving community anger. "We've been screaming for an indoor pool for 25 years." Cr Henderson said the rate rise had to be justified to the Essential Services Commission. "We had to show the commission we've tried other methods of raising money — be that by asset sales, or loans and cutting our costs in some areas," Cr Henderson said. "It's regrettable but necessary. We're trying to [cause] as little impact as we can but we still do have to find the money." Despite the rent increase Cr Henderson said Hepburn had the 60th lowest rates out of 79 councils in the state, and the rates increase would only be for this year. The ABC contacted the Muncipal Association of Victoria but it declined to comment, saying it was up to councils to set rates as they see fit.
Times
20-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Times
Luxury gardening tools and accessories to buy now
There's something both wonderfully British and surprisingly luxurious about gardening, especially if you have the right tools. While an old shovel and a battered watering can get the job done, if you're going to transform your land into a verdant haven, you may as well lean into the pomp of it and invest in the highest quality accessories. Guffaw all you want, but the world of gardening and the world of luxury are closer than you may think. Labels from Dior to Jo Malone have created their own secret gardens to celebrate new product launches. Gardening has also always been championed by the royal family, notably by King Charles who has transformed the surroundings of Highgrove into an organic garden and farm over the last 25 years. A case has also been made for luxury kitchen gardens, with chefs such as Marcus Wareing, Raymond Blanc and Alain Passard using ingredients grown mere metres away from where guests are dining to create their Michelin-star meals. Daylesford has championed the importance of consuming organic, seasonal, and locally sourced foods for over two decades — and in the meantime has created some of the most glamorous gardening equipment in the business. 'In 2021, we launched Daylesford Garden, designed to inspire individuals to cultivate their own gardens,' says Maxime Bocher, the brand's resident landscape designer, plant manager and plant buyer. 'Our mission is to encourage everyone to grow their own vegetables, plant trees and perennials, and create beautiful green spaces that also contribute to biodiversity.' A new gardening club hopes to guide garden enthusiasts through topics such as harvesting, sowing, planting, propagating and pruning. Even if you're not partaking in all the gardening yourself (there's no judgment for getting a little help), a pair of swanky secateurs, sweet, veg-filled trugs and fancy finger gloves sprinkled across your greenery will give the illusion of effort. But for full therapeutic effect we recommend using the posh planters to pot serotonin-boosting flowers and installing a grand greenhouse so you can reap your rewards all year long. Keep scrolling for the best luxury gardening tools and accessories to buy now. • This article contains affiliate links that can earn us revenue A great gift for gardening novices, Daylesford's gloves are a real necessity when it comes to potting, weeding and simply getting you in the gardening frame of mind. Crafted from a sunny yellow leather with a strong canvas to protect the wrists, this pair means business. £36, Daylesford Not all watering cans are created equal, this brass, iron and cane piece is a real work of art. In fact, it was created by the leading Austrian artist Carl Auböck, whose ancestor was one of the first to attend Bauhaus and spearheaded the modern approach to design. Crafted in the same workshop in Vienna that generations of Auböcks have created their signature brass moulds, the artist is known today for his unique home objects from paperweights and bookends. It's sure to make an event out of mundane watering tasks. £1,655, Carl Aubock at Abask Detail-orientated planners will particularly appreciate this new gardening journal from the British stationary brand Smythson. Bound in a fitting emerald green cross-grain lambskin, this handy organiser features five sections including a seasonal calendar, garden notes, key contacts, jottings and schemes. £195, Smythson Hand-blown in Baccarat, France, these crystal glass globes are a stroke of gardening genius, especially for those new to the whole gardening game with a track history of killing houseplants. These beautiful globes can hold up to 30 days of water that will slowly diffuse into your greenery over time so you don't have to worry about watering. £118 for a set of two, Dab'OHand at Abask Crafted in Portugal, this Yako & Co gardening apron is specially designed for outdoor activities such as a busy day potting and propagating in the green house as it's made using robust and water-repellent vegan leather. £88, Yako&Co at Wolf & Badger There's something very romantic about a trug in your kitchen full of home-grown produce. It's also the chicest way to transport an abundance of vegetables from the garden to the house. £170, Daylesford In order to gain those succulent veggies, you will have to first pot seeds and nurture them in a greenhouse. Designed with gardeners' needs in mind, Sarah Raven's potting table features an in-built compost drawer, plus side hooks and slotted shelves to help you keep the space organised. £395, Sarah Raven A regular at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Hartley Botanic was founded by brothers Vincent and Norman Harley in 1938 and were one of the first to use aluminum in greenhouse construction. Now, there's an array of beautiful designs on offer from small residential cottage inspired designs to the grand Highgrow planthouse. The modern Hartley Grow greenhouse is perhaps the most practical and can be made bespoke to all your cater to all your gardening needs. POA, Hartley Botanic The addition of an oversized terracotta pot can transform your patio from a rather drab paved area to a Mediterranean-inspired terrace with very little effort. We particularly like Rowen & Wren's handmade pots that come in various sizes and are crafted in a specialist workshop in Crete. £138, Rowen and Wren Perhaps you've already landscaped your garden and there's no space for a grand greenhouse. Fear not, germination can still be in your grasp, thanks to this freestanding frame from the Danish outdoor brand Cane-line. £3,600, Cane-line at Nordic Nest Once you've done all the hard work of turning seeds into seedlings and seedlings into saplings, you'll no doubt want to show them off in some sturdy, handcrafted raised beds. £530, Sarah Raven Rowen & Wren's pretty plant stand will make a delightful home for a plethora of pots and will keep your patio from feeling cluttered. £128, Rowen & Wren Imagine a tool that could create the exact right size for small bulbs without you having to get your hands dirty. It's not just a green-fingered fantasy, Daylesford's nifty gadget just does just that and is the ideal shape for planting crocus and snowdrop bulbs in the autumn. £22, Daylesford Proving there is such a thing as designer secateurs, Onoyoshi Hamono is the Japanese brand loved for its hand forged garden tools that are handmade by the Tanaka brothers in Ono City Japan. Over 100 steps — from cutting and forging the iron, to sharpening, quenching and braiding the leather handles — goes into the creation of each piece. £210, Onoyohsi Hamono at Abask Home-grown flowers are the gift that keeps on giving as many annuals like sweet peas bloom for longer when picked back regularly. Inspired by ikebana — the Japanese art of flower arranging — this vase features asymmetrical placed holes in a brass insert which allows you to arrange your blooms artistically every time. £136.88, Fritz Hansen at Nordic Nest
Telegraph
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Powdered mushrooms are being touted as an elixir of life. Now M&S has jumped on the bandwagon
They are said to improve focus, enhance relaxation and even do wonders for your skin. Perhaps it is little wonder, then, that the likes of Marks & Spencer and pop star Ellie Goulding are muscling in on the latest supplement craze – ' functional mushrooms '. Demand for the mushrooms – which sellers and wellness influencers claim provide a range of health benefits beyond mere nutrition – is booming, with the market already worth billions of pounds. Species including lion's mane, cordyceps, turkey tail and chaga are among those touted as offering transformational results, supposedly helping to alleviate stress, fatigue and anxiety. Seemingly keen not to miss out on the buzz, M&S has become the 'first' to sell an own-label range of this kind – named 'YAY! Mushrooms' – with fungi varieties appearing in nine products including powders, canned vanilla lattes and 'cold pressed dosing shots'. It will count a number of A-listers among its competitors, including Goulding. The singer, who performed at the Prince and Princess of Wales's wedding, has launched 'Everystate', a range of ground fungi blends (which are to be mixed with water and drank) that will be stocked at the likes of Daylesford. She joins the likes of Gillian Anderson, whose 'G Spot' drinks line features cordyceps and chaga; Gisele Bundchen, an ambassador for Gaia Herbs (which sells lion's mane supplements), Bear Grylls – backer of mushroom beverage brand 'DIRTEA' – Jo Wood, whose eponymous organic range includes turkey tail tablets, and Patrick Schwarzenegger, who offers up fungi-laden 'MOSH' protein bars. The ingredients' A-list cachet is such that searches for 'functional' mushrooms – a term used to denote health benefits that transcend nutrition – are up a third on last year, says Blanca Spencer Moreno, Ocado's healthy lifestyles buyer. Numbers of those seeking lion's mane mushrooms have swelled by 252 per cent over the same period. 'In response to this increase in customer interest, we have increased our range by over 50 per cent in the last six months,' Spencer Moreno says. While the craze is new, the use of mushrooms as a wellness product is anything but. Used in ancient medicine for thousands of years (around 450 BCE, Hippocrates identified that the amadou mushroom could reduce inflammation; Chinese medical texts dating back to 206BC highlight reishi as an anti-ageing tonic), wellness brands tout their ability to restore focus and relieve stress. All can be eaten, though supplements can provide more concentrated amounts of the desired compounds than if you were to slice them into a stroganoff. Though the buzz is fervent – the global adaptogenic mushroom market hit £23.7 billion in 2023, according to Grand View Research, and is expected to rise by a further 11.2 per cent each year to 2030 – human data remains limited. A Northumbria University study of 41 adults in 2023, for instance, showed that lion's mane (or Hericium erinaceus) 'may improve speed of performance and reduce subjective stress in healthy, young adults' – but concluded that 'it is crucial that further investigation is conducted employing larger sample sizes'. Some compounds, such as PSK (or polysaccharide-K, present in turkey tail) are used as an adjunct cancer treatment to chemotherapy in Japan, though have yet to become a mainstream fixture elsewhere. Lion's mane, reishi, chaga, turkey tail and cordyceps have never featured in any medicines licensed in the UK. 'The evidence behind lion's mane and reishi mushrooms is pretty shaky,' says Dr Emily Leeming, a nutritionist and author of Genius Gut: the Life-Changing Science of Eating for Your Second Brain. 'A very small handful of studies hint that lion's mane might help with mood or focus, but they're poorly designed, only done in a small number of people, and very likely affected by the placebo effect.' The same is true of reishi, she adds. 'Most of the hype is around supporting the immune system, and potential cancer benefits come from lab and animal studies, not strong human research. These mushrooms may have mild effects, but the claims are way ahead of the science – we need much better research first.' Last year, Which?, the consumer advocacy group, ranked functional mushrooms on a list of 'health products you don't need' – but that hasn't affected their market hype. You can buy 51 lion's mane products at Holland & Barrett, from coffee to ginger shots and capsules; 38 cite reishi. Jewellery designer Ruth Mary Chipperfield had never heard of lion's mane until last year, when 'it was recommended to me by a nutritionist. I was a bit dubious but thought I would give it a go.' Taking one to two 1000mg tablets on work days left the 35-year-old feeling a 'fair amount calmer and able to focus better', and reduced her anxiety and restlessness. She has since switched from tablets to powder, which she mixes with water, and adds that the overall results have been 'life-changing', because 'all these little adjustments really add up… By investing in my health, it's an investment in my business. I would say it has given me an extra hour's worth of productivity a day.' Many of the products sold only contain minimal amounts of the fungi plastered across their packaging (a 2017 study showed that of 19 'reishi' products being sold in the US, only a quarter of the ingredients actually matched what was in the label). But to many, that doesn't matter, says Tom Baxter, the founder of the Bristol Fungarium, which farms, researches and sells mushrooms. 'The placebo is a real thing. And if people buy it believing Ellie Goulding, or [believing] that it's going to help them, 30 per cent of the time, people probably will get some benefit from it.' (Studies have suggested that the placebo effect can improve outcomes for certain medical conditions around one third of the time.) This is 'one of the reasons why the supplement industry is a bit of a winner', he adds of a market that is set to near-double within the decade. Useful for their coffers too is that mushroom supplements are far easier for our bodies to break down than if we were to grind and consume them ourselves, he says, as 'the vast majority of those compounds are just going to pass straight through you'. While Baxter, who founded his Somerset business in 2019, firmly believes in the potential health benefits of mushrooms, he acknowledges that there is still much to learn. 'We're trying to find out what the evidence is, what compounds are responsible for the outcomes that people are seeing and counting how many of those [compounds] we have in our products in order to get some vague idea on whether or not we're snake oil salesmen,' he says. Bristol Fungarium grows more than two and a half tonnes of mushrooms a month, with half of their revenue coming from lion's mane products. 'We're personally seeing maybe 50 per cent year-on-year growth, over the last few years, without any advertising spend,' says Baxter. This year, they are on track for over £2 million in sales. He acknowledges there is a 'false equivalence' that is 'slightly hazardous' between pharmaceutical-grade mushroom compounds and pastel-hued wellness products. Still, the trend shows no sign of slowing. Like turmeric and matcha lattes before them, mushrooms are already appearing in skincare lines, across hipster café menus and ready-to-drink cans, with more marketing opportunities inevitably on the horizon. 'We anticipate that customer demand for functional mushrooms will continue to grow and this is driving increased innovation within the space, with the emergence of many interesting new products and producers across different categories,' says Spencer Moreno. 'We're actively expanding our range at Ocado to include more products and formats, to meet this evolving customer need.' Expect a permanent slot in the chilled aisle at Pret and a Dubai chocolate -style mushroom bar on shelves near you soon.
