PESHAWAR, April 17: A team of provincial government officials on Monday inspected one of the Sethi houses built in the late 19th century in Sethiyan locality and met its owner to work out details for buying the building to preserve it.

Officials of the archaeology and culture, finance and planning and development departments visited the house with the district revenue officer, town municipal officer and other officials concerned.

“The NWFP government wants to preserve the historic house and is determined to buy it for the purpose,” Archaeology and Museums Director Dr Ihsan Ali told Dawn.

The team visited one of the seven Sethi houses to determine its area and value and inspect its condition.

The first floor of the building is being used fir a furniture factory. Earlier, a school was run by the owner in the house decorated with carved woodwork.

The historic houses in Sethi area near Gore Khuttree were built by the traders of the family in 19th century, mostly behind Bazaar-i-Kalan between Chowk Yadgar and Gore Khuttree.

The archaeology department is unable to start preservation work on any of the homes as they are privately owned and some of them are used as residences.

The provincial government wants to preserve the houses after purchasing them for tourists.