Williams Cottage stands out as a modest, single-story timber dwelling against the backdrop of modern commercial Queenstown. Built in eighteen sixty-four, it is widely recognized as the oldest surviving wooden house in the town. John Ralph Williams, a pioneer mariner who operated steamships on Lake Wakatipu, constructed the cottage shortly after purchasing the plot from Israel Shaw. Its survival is unusual because most early gold-rush era buildings in the region were constructed from local stone rather than wood.
Williams Cottage
museum
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