One of the last physical connections to the original Teviot settlement may be lost - the Roxburgh East house badly damaged by fire on Saturday is thought to be one of the last three original houses of the settlement.
Local historian Stu Edgecumbe said the mud-brick and stone-wall house was built around 1870 and was known as Granny Stringer's cottage.
Born in 1841, Granny (Mary-Ann) Stringer married John Stringer in England in 1860 and migrated to New Zealand about 15 years later, arriving in the Teviot Valley about 1878.
Needing extra income to support her family, the illiterate Mrs Stringer took up midwifery - Mr Stringer read the instruction manual aloud to her and she memorised it.
Her grandchildren, Jean Watt and Elsa Feely, who recently recorded their memoirs for Mr Edgecumbe, described their grandmother as a remarkable, courageous and revered woman.
Their memoirs tell of various alterations made to the cottage over time.
Two cob rooms were constructed in 1886 for the Stringers' second son Robert and his wife Rebecca.
A kitchen was later added, but the cottage had an outside toilet and no scullery, running water or bathroom until 1944.
New Zealand Historic Places Trust Otago and Southland area manager Owen Graham said the house was not on the trust's register and that was "a pity ...
because it was a heritage building nonetheless".
Mr Graham said, because the cottage was built before 1900, it was considered an archaeological site and, regardless of its fate, the owners would have to talk to the trust.
The owners, an Auckland couple, could not be contacted, but it is understood they will travel down to inspect the house before making any decisions.
The tenant, who was in the house at the time of the fire, could also not be contacted.
When the Otago Daily Times spoke to Roxburgh Deputy Chief Fire Officer David Welsh after the fire, he said it was caused by an unattended frypan and the house was about 80% damaged.
