It's the embodiment of Healesville's modern-era transformation: what was a scrappy timber merchant is now a bespoke gin distillery.

Sure it's still a big shed, but the hangar's edges are softened by juniper bushes and Tasmanian mountain pepper trees (both key ingredients), the entrance is set with a broad bar, and through portal windows stands Wilma, the copper-gilt still.

The 450-litre contraption, all shiny pipes and brassy buckets, is Four Pillars' pride and joy. In one end go the likes of cardamom, star anise and buckets of oranges, and out the other appears their herbaceous, citrus-kicked gin.

The Four Pillars crew have big plans for their new home, with guest alchemists (including Rockpool) coming in to tinker with offerings, and Wilma will soon be in the company of two more German stills, Jude and Eileen, named after the gin makers' mums.

But right now the tenants are just settling in, serving up a few simple snacks (including toast topped with marmalade made with those gin-steamed orange peels) and keeping spirits up, so to speak.

Open Thu-Mon 10.30am-5:30pm.

2a Old Lilydale Road, Healesville, 5962 2791, fourpillarsgin.com.au