Built around 1866 by James Reid, the structure at 40 Wiltshire Street served as stables and is one of Arrowtown’s earliest extant buildings. The stable is associated with Arrowtown’s first dairy farm provisioning local miners and the burgeoning settlement. Built in the architectural vernacular of schist stone, it is one of the few remaining stables in the area.

In 1864, James Reid (1833?-1922), his wife Jane Scott Reid and their two infant sons immigrated from Stronsay, Orkney. The family moved to the Arrow district where James took up gold mining. At the end of September 1866 they moved into their schist stone cottage on Villiers Street.

Situated behind the family cottage, the stables were probably built soon after 1866 when James turned from mining to farming. Built of schist stone and timber joinery, the design was a simple symmetrical rectangle with a high gabled iron roof to accommodate the functions of a stable. On the western elevation, there was a central door with small paned sash windows on either side. On the southern elevation, facing Wiltshire Street, was a hay loft. Adjoined on the northern elevation was a lean-to, also built of schist. A short distance from the western elevation was small hay shed with only a roof and one wall. It is unclear if these structures were part of the original construction but photographic evidence from the 1870s or 1880s clearly shows the existence of these structures. Photographic evidence from 1951 also indicates the existence of a larger hay shed adjoined to the eastern elevation of the stables.

James proved remarkably successful as a farmer and the stables were integral to his success. In 1880, he had one of the best two best yields of wheat in the district because of ‘stable manure, and although cropped for nine years, under such treatment [the paddock] continues to yield…’ The manner of fertilisation was also reported on in 1883. Although each of the new paddocks he had purchased were ‘afflicted’ with sorrel, Reid adopted a system of fertilising the land. He supplied stables at Arrowtown with straw, took their ‘refuse’, allowed it to rot, and then ploughed it into the land.

The stables remained in Reid family ownership until 1986 when the stables were sold and reconstructed for use as an art gallery. In 1991, new owners incorporated the stables into a house, with additions built to the north and east elevations.