This cottage is on section 118, which was originally granted to Henry Kemmis in 1842. Kemmis sold part of this section to Thomas Willson in 1853. In 1857 Thomas Willson had some of his land (on the north side of Main South Road) surveyed into 25 allotments to form the township of Yankalilla. This house is on one of those allotments and probably dates back to the 1880s.

From 1909 it was owned by Charles Roads, who lived there for many years. Charles was the grandson of Thomas Roads, who, with money earned at the Victorian goldfields, bought land at Yankalilla in 1852 and established a building and carpentry business. The Roads family built many of the prominent buildings in the area. Charles Roads was a keen gardener. He had a large vegetable garden in front of the house, extending down to the main road. The house is now almost hidden by the store 'Browse In'.