Constructed between 1908 and 1909, the house at 51 Bath Street in Levin has architectural and historical significance as a representative example of a middle class villa built on a generous half-acre rectangular section in a small town. One of many houses in Levin constructed by a local builder, it reflects the early twentieth century development of regional urban centres supported by a rural hinterland.

The Levin area was one of the last places in the Horowhenua region opened to Pākehā settlement. The completion of the Wellington–Manawatū railway line in 1886 fostered the growth of inland settlements such as Levin. The town was supported by farming in its hinterland and became a borough in 1906. 51 Bath Street was constructed by builder George Kenmer Douglas for auctioneer Guy Marriot and Margaret Marriot between 1908 and 1909. A prolific local builder, Douglas was responsible for most of the houses at the west end of Bath Street and nearby Victoria Street. The Marriots sold the property to Levin pharmacist Frederick Remington in 1910 after their auctioneering firm was liquidated. A week before the sale, Margaret Marriot appeared in the social pages of the New Zealand Times giving an afternoon tea in the ‘large dining room’ of the house, which was referred to as ‘Murcott’.

Remington owned the property until 1918, when he sold it to farmer Hemi Matene Ranapiri, who then sold to Mary Kilsby in 1923. She and her husband George had farmed at nearby Koputaroa; she moved to Levin a few years after her husband’s death and lived in the house until she died in 1934. 51 Bath Street remained in the Kilsby family until 2006, when it was inherited by the family of Margaret Keenan (née Kilsby). That year Kilsby descendants held a picnic in the back garden during the borough centennial celebrations.

51 Bath Street is an L-shaped rusticated weatherboard villa with a pyramidal gable corrugated iron roof. A bull nose verandah connects two window bays and is supported by six simply-decorated posts and a balustrade. The verandah was originally bisected by an open turret with a polygon roof, which was distinguished by elaborate fretwork between the posts; this was removed following the Wairarapa earthquakes of 1942. The half-acre section was subdivided in 1985 and three units were built on the west side. It remains a private residence.