The pumphouse was decommissioned in the 1980s, with developer Simon Currant subsequently going through a 20-year, stop-start process to transform the place into accommodation.
The prices for the 20 rooms range from $240 to $480 a night and the wind and rain can lash you even during the Tasmanian summer, but the pumphouse feels like a suitably plush refuge from the elements.
ON THE PLATES Crabmeat cocktail ($12), the "Maravilla" board with goat cheese, sopressata, chorizo and olives ($17); Pumphouse Red ($8), a merlot blend from the North Fork of Long Island, for the men, and guava sangria ($9) for Ms. Thompson.
Housed in a heritage red-brick Pumphouse, the vast interior has been filled with 50 enticing, eclectic street food stalls, and the place heaves with foodies seven days a week.
When the hydro pumphouse was built in 1940 during an expansionist era, it raised the level of the lake by three metres, flooding picturesque Frankland Beach, as well as some small islands.
Situated on Lake St Clair inside a former 1940s hydro-electric pumphouse, the hotel is in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, which is also part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
Our restaurant, Hang Fire Southern Kitchen is in the old Pumphouse in Barry.
Until this opens in September 2014 and the mine closes, take the excellent goldmine tour to get up close and personal with the extraction process, see the majestic Cornish pumphouse and walk around Martha's 4km perimeter.
Pumphouse Point Pumphouse Point road, Lake St Clair 0428 090 436 Lake St Clair lodge Lake St Clair Road, Lake St Clair (03) 6289 1137 Oatlands lodge 92 High Street, Oatlands (03) 6254 1444 Oliver Milman travelled to Tasmania courtesy of Tourism Tasmania.
The vanguard for this push is embodied by Pumphouse Point – a much talked about converted hydro facility on Lake St Clair that is catering to wilderness visitors who don't want to shiver in a tent amid the region's tempestuous weather.
