The earliest this house can be identified in Sands Directory is 1897, when it was occupied by Captain Julius Mergell, Austro-Hungarian Consul. A single storey house stood on the site in 1881 but Vineta was largely built in the 1890s. In 1900, A.P. Stewart lived here and in 1907, Mrs N. Everett. With iron lace, carved woodwork, elaborate chimneys and turreted verandah, Vineta reflects the late Victorian taste for romantic detail. As with all the early ‘marine villas’, Vineta faces the water and is set in extensive gardens.