This handsome single-storey stone residence, possibly built 1912-1915 by builder John Young as his own residence, or as an investment property, is a good example of an early twentieth century residence making use of new building technologies. The house has architectural, aesthetic and historical significance.

The house was built after November 1912 – the subdivision survey of this date shows vacant land. The 1915 Wise’s Post Office Directory records that builder John M. Young was resident at 26 Dalrymple Street, on the corner of Conon Street. It is likely that Young built the house as his own residence.

This is a generous single-storey residence – bluestone with contrasting limestone facings, with a red asbestos-cement tile roof, and a stone wall to the street front. The roof tiles were a recent innovation – the technology patented around 1900 in Germany and available in New Zealand from around 1905. The tiles were promoted as easy to lay, without the need for wooden lathes, and easily nailed without danger of splitting, as well as being fireproof. The house bears a close resemblance to that used to advertise the Poilite tiles in the same period – similar plan, single dormer window and gabled construction.

It has not been possible to identify the architect who designed the house, if there was one, although Charles Lambeth invites tenders for a house on Dalrymple Road in 1915. As Young was a builder himself, it is possible that he designed and built the residence.

Young sold the property to saw miller Malachy Joseph Kilkelly in October 1916. Kilkelly shifted with wife Honora to town from Grove Bush. A funeral notice indicates that the Kilkellys had a house on the corner of Conon and Dalrymple Streets by January 1917, and that the property had the address 19 Dalrymple Road. Bootmaker Herbert Young bought the property in 1944, and he in turn sold it to Walter and Francis Horton in 1949. Famer Arthur Macknight owned the property for some twenty years into the 1980s. In 2018, 45 Dalrymple Street remains a private residence.