This modest Invercargill villa was probably constructed for Southland Education Board architect William Armstrong McCaw between July 1898 and November 1900. The house has historic and architectural significance because of its association with McCaw, who presumably designed and possibly also built the house. Section 18 was originally included in five quarter acre sections belonging to run holder David McKellar in the 1870s. McKellar transferred the land to Jane Katherine McKellar in 1882, and she in turn sold three sections to Catherine Galbraith in February 1897. The sections were sold as building sites. Galbraith sold section 18 to Southland Education Board architect William Armstrong McCaw the following year. McCaw’s address in the 1897 street directories is Eye Street, and in 1898-1899 in Venus Street, and in 1900 on Biggar Street. McCaw’s wife Annie gave birth to a son at Biggar St in November 1900 indicating that the McCaw were living there by that time, and the couple are recorded at Biggar Street on the 1900 electoral roll. Given his profession, it would seem likely that McCaw was responsible for the design and possibly the construction of the house. McCaw owned the property until 1907 and it has since changed hands numerous times. The house is a modest single storey dwelling which has the appearance of having been modified from its original form, which may have been a villa with a central door and hall. Modifications in the bungalow style appear to have been undertaken, such as the removal of the central door. The curved timber brackets on the front bay window are suggestive of a villa and appear at odds with the plain knee braces in the arts and crafts style which could have been added later to the veranda posts, replacing original detail. The Heritage New Zealand field record form dating from 1982 refers to the use of asbestos cement sheets for the exterior walls; however this is likely to be a later modification rather than an original feature of the building, and probably replaced timber weatherboards. In 2018, 170 Balmoral Drive remains a private dwelling.