This stone cottage, probably built in the nineteenth century to house a married couple or senior worker on Otekaike Station, is one of a number of structures associated with the working of this pastoral run. The Campbell Park Cottage has architectural and historical significance.

In September 1853, Samuel Pike applied for Run 28 (later known as Otekaike). The original boundaries of the run were from Kurow and Otekaike Creeks back to the Saint Mary Range. By 1855, Pike had transferred the run to John Parkin Taylor (1812-1875), the later superintendent of Southland, who in turn sold it to William Dansey. William Dansey was established on Otekaike by May 1858. Dansey had a house on Run 28 by early 1859. A survey plan from April 1861 shows the Crown grant to William Dansey within Run 28 – a 92 acre block with his house, stable and futtah, and an adjacent 11 acre block with ‘men’s house’ and woolshed.’ Dansey laid the foundation for the next runholder who would make the property one of the most significant in New Zealand.

Robert Campbell, the Eton-educated son of a wealthy gentleman, bought Otekaike Station in March 1865. Campbell deemed the homestead too small, sent his new wife back to his English home and set about building an appropriately grand mansion, what has become known as Campbell Park Homestead. An article in the Otago Daily Times describes Campbell’s grand residence – ‘one of the best country houses in New Zealand.’ As befitting an estate homestead the house was set within a generous landscaped park and surrounded by ancillary buildings that allowed the functioning of the estate – stables, workers’ cottages, manager’s house, woolshed and the like.’ The Otekaike Estate was the economic and social centre of the Waitaki Valley, with all the characteristics of a feudal manor.

Accommodating workers was an important aspect of estate management – most stations would have had a cookshop/men’s quarters and other buildings such as cottages for more senior staff. This is a small single-storey single-gabled cottage. It is L-shaped in plan, built of stone, with a corrugated iron roof and a verandah in the ‘elbow’ of the L. The house has been plastered. Ornamental details include stone quoins and decorative corbels supporting the window ledges. The windows are six-light double hung sash windows. In 2016, the Campbell Park Cottage remains part of the historic landscape of the estate.