Last Friday the building had been closed to the public, and some furniture was removed, while investigations were made into deterioration that had been noticed in the mud brick building.
Central Otago District Council property and facility manager Garreth Robinson said staff and the Vallance Cottage Working Group were devastated at the damage and the wall’s failure.
Vallance Cottage, in Samson St, was built in 1896-97 by shepherd and gold miner William Vallance.
In the past year the Central Otago District Council’s property team had found some of the cottage’s mud bricks were deteriorating and had taken steps to halt further damage, including removing concrete footpaths that were trapping moisture in the walls.
However, in the past month more damage was found, which had led to safety concerns and the decision to close the cottage.
Mr Vallance married Jean Hyland in 1887 and they raised eight children in the small cottage, which originally had only two rooms.
In 1909 the Vallances added another three rooms, including a kitchen and bathroom, to accommodate their family.
The cottage’s handmade, sun-dried bricks were a common building material at the time it was built.
One of the Vallance’s daughters lived in the cottage until the 1970s.
It was given to the Central Otago community by the family in the mid-1990s.
— APL
