Thomas Willson sold this piece of land to James Smith in 1893, and Smith probably built the house in 1894 when he retired from Brookside and moved into Yankalilla.

James Smith and his wife Agnes arrived from Scotland on the 'Baboo' in 1848 and settled at Wattle Flat. In 1852 he went to the Victorian Goldfields, where he did well, sending his earnings back to Agnes, who purchased land. The Yankalilla Council rate assessment book for 1856 records James Smith as owning a total of 263 acres. James and Agnes subsequently built their home, Brookside, completed about 1864, which was a substantial residence for those times. James was a Justice of the Peace and a Councillor and was chairman for two periods. Agnes Smith died at Brookside in 1889. James' second wife was Caroline, widow of William Caudle. About 1894 James and Caroline moved from Brookside to this cottage at Yankalilla. James Smith died in 1905 at the age of eighty and was buried in the Yankalilla cemetery.