It is recorded that the housed was used in the 19th Century by Adulhusein Gulamhusein & Co. But an analysis of the structure of the building shows that it way be way older than that. The first picture of the building is seen in a book published in 1898. W.W Fitzgerald wrote that he arrived in Melindi on 15th July 1891 and stayed with the officer in-charge with Melinde district, Mr Bell Smith. His house (Pictured in Fitzgerald’s book) was a two-storied white house on the beach and was conspicuous from the sea.