This timber cottage in Williams Street, Kaiapoi is thought to have been constructed around 1871 by William Dickie, a local labourer. A parlour and a bedroom form the ground floor of the front of the cottage, with two attic bedrooms above them. To the rear a lean-to contains a kitchen and the fourth bedroom. A bathroom was added to the back of the cottage in the 1950s. The verandah which runs along the front of the cottage is decorated with a cast iron lace valance. The cottage was lived in by the Thompson family from 1925 to 1989. The Williams Street cottage is significant as an example of a typical nineteenth century worker's cottage that has remained relatively intact. It still stands on a large section, which at one time would have provided the family with space for growing fruit and vegetables.