Situated on eastern side of George Street, the Commercial Building at 412 George Street was built in mid-1878 as a residence. This section has seen a mix of domestic and commercial occupation over the decades. The building is of architectural and historical significance with its unusual and magnificent kauri barrel-vaulted ceiling and convex mansard roof.

Both iwi history and archaeological evidence show Māori occupation in the Ōtākou / Otago region since the 12th century. Today, Kāi Tahu mana whenua is recognised over a large part of Te Wai Pounamu. Kāti Māmoe and Waitaha shared occupation are always acknowledged. The hapū Kai Te Pahi, Kāti Moki, and Kāti Taoka still maintain their presence and responsibility as kaitiaki in this region. While there were no permanent settlements around George Street, the area near the Toitū Tauraka waka (List No. 9774) was known as Ōtepoti.

The site was first owned by George Smith and was unoccupied in 1858. In 1859 Francis Gregory Laing owned the section and his estate continues to own the land until at least the 1920s. From 1876-1877 the land was listed for the first time as four separate part sections, three with houses on them - the section that is now 421 George Street was still vacant. Professor Millen Coughtrey MD (1848-1908) leased the land and house valued at £100 ($17,877 today) from Laing in 1878-1879. The 21-year lease was advertised in April 1878 and the building was on site by 13 November 1878. The house is a Victorian townhouse with a convex mansard roof sheathed in corrugated iron with arched dormer windows. Inside is a Victorian Gothic barrel vaulted ceiling constructed of kauri. The exterior is brick with a plastered façade and early photographs indicate the mansard roof was not original.

Dr Coughtrey was a surgeon from Edinburgh who took the post as first lecturer in the newly established University of Otago Medical School in 1875. He was a professor of anatomy and physiology from c. 1874 but resigned in December 1876 and by January 1877 had consulting rooms in commercial buildings in Rattray Street. He announced his removal to his new residence on George Street. He later established his own hospital in St Clair on the street that now bears his name and was very active in public service. Dr Coughtrey’s lease ended in 1899-1900. In 1900 the property was leased to Agnes Russell, a boarding housekeeper and advertisements for board at the address were under the name Mrs Parker from 1902. From 1911-1975 the building was occupied by various tenants with one of the longer tenants being Alf Brown, fruiterer, operating from 1911 to c. 1935.

Matheson and Moir, grocers, operated from the building from 1935 when D. Moir applied for a permit to alter the shop front. Bruce Barnes grocery store was operating at 412 George Street from 1946 and it remained a grocer’s shop on the ground floor until 1975. In 1975 the owner had plans to demolish the building, but an English couple saw the buildings potential and bought it. Rosalind and John Smith spent over $30,000 ($358, 704 today) restoring the building, using materials as close to the original as possible. The Camelot Restaurant was established in the upper storey in 1976 and various coffee shops/tea rooms ran out of the ground floor. A fire broke out in 1990 at the Camelot Restaurant and the ceiling was saved. The restaurant later was named City Limits. Capers Restaurant occupied the ground floor from 1997 until 2019. In 2023 the upper storey is a private residence and Patti’s and Cream Diner occupy the ground floor.