Review: Allenvale Cottages Lorne | Australian Traveller

Two hours from Melbourne, three minutes from Lorne and a million miles from anywhere – this little hideaway is lovely and rustic (but not too rustic), says Susan Gough Henly, perfect for a winter retreat

Australians do beach holidays better than just about anywhere. Pity, then, that so many of our beach houses are either of the dreary-and-dumpy bungalow variety, or made of steel and glass, with as much character as insurance offices. As a stylish, low-key alternative, the cottages at Allenvale combine the best of the beach and the bush in a bucolic valley behind Lorne along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road.

Not knowing quite what to expect, I arrive in Lorne with my husband and our two teenage daughters in the middle of the madness that is school holidays. The main street is clogged with cars, the campground is chockers, surfers are jammed into milk bars, and couples wrangle prams along crowded footpaths.

We drive over the hill and let out a collective sigh. Encircled by the Great Otway National Way, Allenvale’s 50 acres greet us by way of a rustic sign and bank of agapanthus and hydrangeas. A flock of ducks waddles across the path from Henderson Creek. Let the beach holiday begin.

The historic property was established by the Allen family back in 1872 as a dairy and orchard farm and supplied the guesthouses in Lorne long before the Great Ocean Road was built post-World War I. Two out of the four cottages, ‘Kero’ and ‘Rose’, are original buildings dating back to the period when the Allens leased some of their land to a logging mill that provided housing for its workers.

Allenvale’s current owners, Jenny and Quentin Young, who made a sea change to Lorne 30 years ago, built the other two (‘Gables’ and ‘Riverbank’), using recycled timbers in order to maintain a resemblance. They live in a lovely home down another dirt road on the property.

I am instantly transported to summers spent in The Hamptons, where we used to rent a 17th-century cobbler’s cottage surrounded by gardens, only a short ride to the beach. Allenvale embodies the same shabby chic aesthetic – its furniture and collectibles are similar to what we would find in the yard sales at the mansions dotting the former potato fields.

We stay in Gables, which is partially screened by a garden of cosmos, roses and artichoke flowers. Its spacious wood-ceilinged living room has polished floors, a wood stove, comfy couches with piles of pillows, candles affixed to wooden spools atop a rustic dining table, a sideboard filled with art and garden books, and a flat-screen television and DVD player on an antique chest. The style is a dash of Francophile with not a touch of twee anywhere. Bowls of fresh country flowers add a welcoming touch.

The two bedrooms are set on opposite sides of the house, one with a queen-size bed and the other with two single beds that can be joined to form a king. Each has a cupboard evocatively painted with Porter’s Milk Wash that gives a chalky well-worn look. A bright country kitchen, with all the essentials for a self-contained holiday, has a kitchen table and pretty dresser decked out with white crockery and piles of magazines. There is just one bathroom, with a shower inside a full-size bathtub, plus a separate toilet and a washer and dryer. A recycled rustic front door opens onto the front porch that catches the morning sun.

A couple of red and green parrots join us for nibbles as we barbecue on the electric grill on the spacious back deck, which sports a huge picnic table and a wicker basket filled with firewood. Koalas growl in the manna gums and a large Eastern grey kangaroo grazes nearby. The bush is just a shuttlecock toss away; eucalypts and grass trees grow on the hillside; ferns and ivy grow closer to the gully where the St George River meanders into the Great Otway National Park.

The next morning we wake to the crowing of a rooster and take out some deck chairs to enjoy our coffee on the lawn in the sunshine.

After breakfast, we hike to Phantom Falls along a track above the St George River, which takes us through Allenvale’s organic orchard of apple, pear, peach, plum and quince trees. Hikes like this are particularly popular during winter sojourns at Allenvale. The days pass dreamily with walks along the beach, berry picking at nearby Gentle Annie’s farm, and forays into Lorne for supplies.

The nights are cool and we snuggle in front of the woodstove poring through the cottage’s gorgeous books before falling asleep to the exquisite luxury of pure sweet silence.

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The Details

The verdict: Allenvale is a gem tucked-away over the hill from Lorne’s busy beachfront strip. It appeals to families seeking a low-key country retreat with plenty of outdoor space as well as pre-codgers with a love of Euro-tinged country charm. Meursault-style on a chardy budget.

The score: 15/20; great

We rated: Allenvale’s understated rustic cottages and bucolic setting brimming with wildlife. It felt like an old friends’ unpretentious country house with interesting furniture and books.

We hated: While the toiletries were delightful, the towels could have been fluffier.

Where: 150 Allenvale Road, Lorne, Victoria – a three-minute drive from the beachfront.

Notes: From $215 per night per cottage with a two-night minimum.

Contact: 03 5289 1450; allenvale.com.au

The AT scoring system: Our review scores are based on a series of points, awarded across a number of categories including service, amenities, design, location, value, food and beverage offerings, and that elusive wow factor. 19-20 exceptional; 17-18 excellent; 15-16 great; 13-14 good; 11-12 satisfactory.

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Located just an hour north-west of Melbourne, the largely undiscovered Macedon Ranges quietly pours some of Australia’s finest cool-climate wines and serves up some of Victoria’s best food.

Mention the Macedon Ranges and most people will think of day spas and mineral springs around Daylesford, cosy weekends away in the countryside or the famous Hanging Rock (of enigmatic picnic fame). Or they won’t have heard of the Macedon Ranges at all.

But this cool-climate destination has been inconspicuously building a profile as a high-quality food and wine region and is beginning to draw serious attention from oenophiles and epicureans alike.

The rise of Macedon Ranges wine

liquid gold barrels at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — Barrels of liquid gold at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

With elevations ranging from 300 to 800 metres, Macedon Ranges vineyards are among the highest in the country. This altitude, combined with significant day/night temperature swings, makes for a slow ripening season, in turn nurturing wines that embody elegance and structure. Think crisp chardonnays, subtle yet complex pinot noirs and delicate sparkling wines, along with niche varietals, such as gamay and nebbiolo.

Despite the region’s natural advantages – which vary from estate to estate, as each site embodies unique terroir depending on its position in relation to the Great Dividing Range, soil make-up and altitude – the Macedon Ranges has remained something of an insider’s secret. Unlike Victoria’s Yarra Valley or Mornington Peninsula, you won’t find large tour buses here and there’s no mass marketing drawing crowds.

Many of the 40-odd wineries are family-run operations with modest yields, meaning the wineries maintain a personal touch (if you visit a cellar door, you’ll likely chat to the owner or winemaker themselves) and a tight sales circle that often doesn’t go far beyond said cellar door. And that’s part of the charm.

Though wines from the Macedon Ranges are just starting to gain more widespread recognition in Australia, the first vines were planted in the 1860s, with a handful of operators then setting up business in the 1970s and ’80s. The industry surged again in the 1990s and early 2000s with the entry of wineries, such as Mount Towrong, which has an Italian slant in both its wine and food offering, and Curly Flat, now one of the largest estates.

Meet the new generation of local winemakers

the Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. — The Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Then, within the last 15 years, a new crop of vignerons like Andrew Wood at Kyneton Ridge Estate, whose vineyard in 2024 was the first in the Macedon Ranges to be certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia; Geoff Plahn and Samantha Reid at Paramoor, who have an impressive cellar door with a roaring fire and studded leather couches in an old Clydesdale barn; and Ollie Rapson and Renata Morello at Lyons Will, who rapidly expanded a small vineyard to focus on top-shelf riesling, gamay, pinot noir and chardonnay, have taken ownership of local estates.

Going back to the early days, Llew Knight’s family was one of the pioneers of the 1970s, replacing sheep with vines at Granite Hills when the wool industry dwindled. Knight is proud of the fact that all their wines are made with grapes from their estate, including a light, peppery shiraz (some Macedon wineries purchase fruit from nearby warmer areas, such as Heathcote, particularly to make shiraz) and a European-style grüner veltliner. And, as many other wineries in the region do, he relies on natural acid for balance, rather than an additive, which is often required in warmer regions. “It’s all about understanding and respecting your climate to get the best out of your wines,” he says.

farm animals atKyneton Ridge Estate — Curious residents at Kyneton Ridge Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Throughout the Macedon Ranges, there’s a growing focus on sustainability and natural and low-intervention wines, with producers, such as Brian Martin at Hunter Gatherer making waves in regenerative viticulture. Martin previously worked in senior roles at Australia’s largest sparkling winemaking facility, and now applies that expertise and his own nous to natural, hands‑off, wild-fermented wines, including pét‑nat, riesling and pinot noir. “Wild fermentation brings more complexity,” he says. “Instead of introducing one species of yeast, you can have thousands and they add different characteristics to the wine.”

the vineyard at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — The estate’s vineyard, where cool-climate grapes are grown. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Most producers also focus on nurturing their grapes in-field and prune and pick by hand, thus avoiding the introduction of impurities and the need to meddle too much in the winery. “The better the quality of the fruit, the less you have to interfere with the natural winemaking process,” says Wood.

Given the small yields, there’s also little room for error, meaning producers place immense focus on quality. “You’re never going to compete in the middle [in a small region] – you’ve got to aim for the top,” says Curly Flat owner Jeni Kolkka. “Big wineries try to do things as fast as possible, but we’re in no rush,” adds Troy Walsh, owner and winemaker at Attwoods. “We don’t use commercial yeasts; everything is hand-harvested and everything is bottled here, so we bottle only when we’re ready, not when a big truck arrives.” That’s why, when you do see a Macedon Ranges product on a restaurant wine list, it’s usually towards the pointy end.

Come for the wine, stay for the food

pouring sauce onto a dish at Lake HouseDaylesford — Dining at Lake House Daylesford is a treat. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

If wine is the quiet achiever of the Macedon Ranges, then food is its not-so-secret weapon. In fact, the area has more hatted restaurants than any other region in Victoria. A pioneer of the area’s gourmet food movement is region cheerleader Alla Wolf-Tasker, culinary icon and founder of Daylesford’s Lake House.

For more than three decades, Wolf-Tasker has championed local producers and helped define what regional fine dining can look like in Australia. Her influence is palpable, not just in the two-hatted Lake House kitchen, but in the broader ethos of the region’s dining scene, as a wave of high-quality restaurants have followed her lead to become true destination diners.

the Midnight Starling restaurant in Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — The hatted Midnight Starling restaurant is located in Kyneton. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

It’s easy to eat well, whether at other hatted restaurants, such as Midnight Starling in the quaint town of Kyneton, or at the wineries themselves, like Le Bouchon at Attwoods, where Walsh is inspired by his time working in France in both his food offering and winemaking.

The beauty of dining and wine touring in the Macedon Ranges is that it feels intimate and unhurried. You’re likely to meet the winemaker, hear about the trials of the latest vintage firsthand, and taste wines that never make it to city shelves. And that’s worth getting out of the city for – even if it is just an hour down the road.

Delicate dishes on the menu at Midnight Starling. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

the accommodation at Cleveland Estate, Macedon Ranges — Stay at the Cleveland Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Soak up vineyard views from Cleveland Estate near Lancefield, embrace retro charm at Kyneton Springs Motel or indulge in lakeside luxury at the Lake House.

Eating there

Enjoy a four-course menu at the one-hatted Surly Goat in Hepburn Springs, Japanese-inspired fare at Kuzu in Woodend or unpretentious fine dining at Mount Monument, which also has a sculpture park.

Drinking there

wine tasting at PassingClouds Winery, Macedon Ranges — A tasting at Passing Clouds Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Settle in for a tasting at Boomtown in Castlemaine, sample local drops at the cosy Woodend Cellar & Bar or wine-hop around the many cellar doors, such as Passing Clouds.

the Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar signage — Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Playing there

a scenic river in Castlemaine — Idyllic scenes at Castlemaine. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Wander through the seasonal splendour of Forest Glade Gardens, hike to the summit of Hanging Rock, or stroll around the tranquil Sanatorium Lake.

purple flowers hanging from a tree — Purple flowers hanging from a tree. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Review: Allenvale Cottages in Lorne offer Euro-tinged country style