The architectural story of Samoa's colonial past is one that remains largely untold and kept alive mostly among the families who occupy the country's oldest buildings. 

While pre-architectural symbols of our past, such as Savai's Pulemelei mound exist, built monuments to Samoa's past are increasingly rare. 

The issue of the scarcity of Samoan heritage buildings was brought to the fore late last year by the demolition of the historic Apia Courthouse; one of only a few standing building that dated back to German colonial rule of the country. Against protests, the Government went ahead an demolished the structure, first built in 1902.

(The Government argued the poor condition of the building had continued to progressively degrade and the cost of up keep was spiraling out of control).

But the issue did raise a question: how many visible links to Samoa's colonial past are still standing? Very few, it would seem.  

The remaining authentic colonial-era architecture in Samoa is sparsely populated throughout the country's villages, mostly in the form of colonial estates and mansions.  

These include the regal looking home in Moto'otua known as Rasmussen’s Residence, "Pui’paa" or Retzlaff's residence, and Taufusi "the Lober Residence". 

There is also a priest's residence in Lalovaea ( that once served as a hospital for German Soldiers) and, of course, the country's most famous historical building, the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum in Vailima.

Doubtlessly many more dot the country. But many were destroyed by natural disasters. And few private residences can claim to be entering their second Century. 

But one such, whose history has been researched by the Samoa Observer, is the Reye Family House, constructed between 1908 and 1911 when Samoa was under the yoke of German Governor Wilhelm Solf.

Ernest Reye was the Governor's Secretary, or administrative right-hand man, a planter by trade and a top executive in the Deutsche Samoa Gesellschaft, an organisation responsible for the exploitation of the colony's plantations and resources and oversaw their shipment back to the German empire. 

As his fortune in the German colonies grew, so did Mr. Reye's architectural ambitions and those for his personal comfort. After three years on island, the had completed the construction of the majestic home in Moto'otua, known as the White House.

The building's remarkably immaculate outward structure belies the fact that it is estimated to be over a century old. 

The compound's status as one of the few colonial era features owes to its ability to somehow withstand the ruthless cyclone Val that made landshore in Samoa in December of1991 and laid waste to most of our oldest remaining colonial-era structures.

Then one of the most devastating storms in the nation's history, the storm ravaged for five days and caused an estimated damage bill exceeding $200 million but also an untold toll on Samoa's built history.

But the White House compound was one of the few to escape (relatively) unscathed. Only the building's top section was damaged and its foundations somehow escaped the worst of the storm's damage. 

Mr Reye continued to remain a resident of Moto'otua working in Samoa and raising his children Volrad, Ernst Alfred, Raimund, Egbert and Alvine, even after Germany seceded Samoa to New Zealand following the First World War.  

He had converted into a Seventh Day Adventist, a calling shared by all his sons who later travelled to Australia for theological training. 

In 1925 Reye became the superintendent of the Samoa Seventh Day Adventist Mission, until his death, after which time his children and grandchildren eventually  migrated to Australia where the family still reside

The house later was then purchased by the Parents of Lesa Richard Ott Keil; Ruby and Hans Keil and later was passed down to their last son who now owns and looks after the home.

Mrs. Keil told the Samoa Observer that not irregularly do descendants of the Reye family still make the effort of visiting what they call their "once upon a time" family home. 

“At times the former owners who mostly reside in Australia come by to see and be in this house, taking photos and visiting memories of their grandfather or great grandfather's house," she said. 

The house's unique elongated shape is complemented by many finer architectural touches that make it stand out to this day, well over a century since its completion and in spite of the challenges to its continued existence. 

The maintenance of the great white house’s lower walls and main foundation and layout have been meticulously cared for by its current residents, the Keil Family, who have preserved most of the distinctive features and original stature of the Reye family's house. 

Its long patio in the front portion of the home still exudes a colonial era feel, which is offset by its partly long thin traditional sash windows sitting slightly above the porch near the dining room, keeping an air of mystery and grandeur in tact for its guests. 

The home's windows slightly resemble classical American casement windows but the rest of the house's features are authentic reflections of its German origin. 

Lesa Richard Keil and his wife Maria Margrette Keil are now present residents of the abode. 

Maria expresses that keeping the house at its best is not easy work and an undertaking that requires constant care.

“We have been repainting these walls, as the years come the paint does fade and as the paint goes our work to keep it begins again” she told the Samoa Observer.

She explains that maintaining the structure's hinges and other authentic features requires hard work, effort and time. 

But although the task is time sapping, it is more than worth the effort of keeping a part of Samoa's history alive and intact, she says.