The house was built around 1853 for Edmund Buxton, his wife Martha, and their six daughters.

The house is constructed using cob, which is a mixture of clay, straw, horse-hair and horse manure. To obtain the clay, the builders dug a large hole in the ground and then built the house over it – thus forming the cellar. The mud and clay was mixed with straw and horse hair for reinforcing. The cob was then rammed into place between wooden boxing walls.

A dairy, with its cold black Italian slate bench and Welsh quarry tile floor, is located just outside the house. The tiles, and the Welsh slate for the main roof of the house, were transported to New Zealand as ballast in sailing vessels.

There is also a well and water pump near the back door. This would have been the only source of water for the first 50 years.

The top storey construction is of lath and plaster and a small section has been exposed so that you can see the hand-cut laths and handmade nails.

This also meant there was no storage space so an extra room, known as a box room, was set aside for storage. The box room could have a temporary bed put in it if required.

The oriel window on the landing is a delightful feature both from within the house and from outside.

The house is still substantially as it was in the mid-19th century. Various additions have been made over its life, and these have been kept, as it is in the nature of dwellings to grow to suit differing needs, and this gives vitality to a building. The additions include the conservatory, the weatherboard pantry on the south side, and possibly the bay windows on the west. The scullery too, may not be contemporary with the main block.

With no running water in the house there is no bathroom but every bedroom is equipped with a wash stand, ewer and chamber pot.