Mount Buffalo Chalet set to reopen after 20-year closure with plans for school camps and heritage tourism

The Mount Buffalo Chalet, affectionately known as the "grand old dame", is about to get a new lease on life.

Belgravia Outdoor Education (BOE) and Parks Victoria are reopening the weatherboard building after a 20-year hiatus.

Once a premier destination for Victoria, it is hoped the Chalet will become a world destination.

BOE chief executive Richard Thornton said the heritage-listed building was extraordinary and there was nothing like it elsewhere in the world.

"Three storeys, 200 rooms, 108 bedrooms, most with an ensuite and none are the same size, every room is different and all wood-panelled."

BOE's plan for the chalet includes the opening of a cafe today, 10 apartments next month, before the regional workers' accommodation opens early next year, and the renovation of the south wing to accommodate 200 beds for school camps.

When it is not hosting camps, it will be available during school holidays and weekends for anyone longing for nostalgia or an encounter of a different kind.

School camp to create new experiences

Some 5,000 students per year will soon attend camp on the mountain, staying in the chalet and exploring the Alpine park’s natural beauty.

"This is a great outdoor environment — where students can go caving, abseiling, kayaking, mountain biking — you could walk for three days and not see another person — it's an extraordinary environment," Mr Thornton said.

BOE said it would be working with Parks Victoria, Indigenous educators and people who have been connected with the chalet for decades.

Parks Victoria's Chris Derrick had a lifetime of memories of the isolated old-world building.

"I remember coming up here as a very young child in the 70s and having my experience with the chalet," he said.

"And taking my then-girlfriend, who is now my wife, here in the 90s.

"Like countless people and generations before us, we hang on to the memories that are so very dear to us."

Mr Derrick said the best stories were the ones that surprised you and were very personal.

A story to share

Six months ago, as the team was working to reopen what is one of Australia’s largest weatherboard buildings, Mr Derrick noticed an older couple peering through the window.

The couple had worked at the chalet in the 60s when the husband was the site manager, and that is where they met and started their married life.

"They were quite elderly, so I brought them inside and took them on a tour of the chalet," Mr Derrick said.

"Every room we went into, they had a story to share.

"They were in tears as they were walking through and seeing that the place was being maintained and retained its heritage value."

The dining room still boasts the "Queen's table", oblong in shape, which was used on a royal train when Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip toured Australia in 1954.

Mr Derrick said it was an incredible vision by Victorian premier Sir Thomas Bent in the early 1900s to see the tourism potential of Mount Buffalo.

The chalet was originally to be built of stone, but that was cost-prohibitive, so timber was chosen.

All the wood was milled on the mountain, with Lake Catani built as part of the milling process.

"The construction happened very quickly, so the wood was very green, which means some of the walls, floors and panelling have warped over time, and it's all part of the story that has become the chalet," he said.

How it survived weather and bushfires

The chalet has been threatened by major bushfires, the most notable in 1939 and 2006.

"Maintaining the building of wood in an Alpine area that’s incredibly wet in winter and prone to bushfires in summer is a hell of a challenge," Mr Derrick said.

It was after the 2006 fire that destroyed nearby infrastructure, such as the Cresta Valley Ski Lodge, that the chalet closed.

Mr Derrick credited the preparation, skill, and expertise from locals to government agencies for keeping the building safe in its remote location surrounded by snow gums.

If these walls could talk

"When you are here at night, and there is no-one else here, the dingoes are howling, and there's mist coming through the trees, your mind does wander; it conjures up all sorts of things," Mr Derrick said.

"It's very isolated, very old world, but that's part of its charm."

Director of the Belgravia group and chair of BOE Alex Lord knew the potential of the building as soon as he stepped inside.

"We hear stories of people heading overseas to experience history, old castles, beautiful buildings and here's Australia's largest wooden structure, empty for 20 years, and now thousands of students will get to experience it," he said.

Mr Lord hoped the chalet would host other events.