Originally known as Quinn’s Buildings, the commercial building on the corner of 1 Cains Terrace and George Street in Timaru was constructed in 1886 to the designs of Timaru-based Belgian architect Maurice de Harven Duval. Built to house shops on the ground floor and accommodation above, in 1894 it was converted to become the well-known Werry’s Hotel and continued for much of its early life as a private guest hotel. The building has architectural and historical significance. The commercial building was constructed for an early European settler in the district, Nicholas Quinn, who first came to New Zealand to work at the Otago goldfield diggings and eventually settled to farm and run a brick-making business at Makikihi. Constructed in 1886, Quinn’s Buildings replaced ‘tumble-down, unsightly, half burnt old shops’ on the site, which themselves were built on reclaimed land. When the foundation and cellar for Quinn’s Buildings were being dug, contractors came across a large number of whale bones. A newspaper account celebrating the new building noted that the architect was M De H Duval, the carved details of the capitals were by Mr Godfrey junior of Dunedin, the contractors for the brick, concrete work and carpentering were Messrs Jones and Palliser and the contractor for painting and plumbing was W Healey. Situated in a prominent corner location in central Timaru, the three storeyed Victorian building has Italianate architectural influences, including pilasters with Corinthian capitals, elliptically arched windows with hood moulds, bracketed cornices and parapet. It is constructed of brick and plaster. Internal alterations and some exterior changes were already taking place by 1893, under the direction of the building’s architect, M De H Duval, with the contractor this time being builder William Werry. Cornish-born Werry was involved in both construction and hotel proprietorship. In 1894 William and Mary Werry leased the building from Nicholas Quinn to operate it as Werry’s Hotel (also known as Werry’s Temperance Hotel). Mrs Werry had previously been operating her hotel elsewhere on Cains Terrace but shifted into the more commodious centrally located accommodation of Quinn’s Buildings in 1894-5. While the refurbishments for the shift were in progress, an advertisement in May 1894 described that ‘the house … will contain upwards of forty rooms, and will be one of the largest and most commodious hotels in Timaru’. Located very close to the Railway Station, the hotel did not supply alcohol but rather provided private accommodation for families and travellers, as well as permanent borders. This popular private hotel appears to have operated as Werry’s at least through until Mary’s death in 1918 and continued as a guest hotel until the 1930s. From circa 1935 the building housed the Commercial Bank of Australia on the ground floor and it was known as the CBA Building for many years. Since at least the 1980s, the building has housed long established Timaru real estate firm, Morton’s.