The Elms

The house is constructed from kauri logs that were rafted down from the Coromandel Peninsula to be pit sawn on site. Completed in 1847, the Elms Mission House is one of New Zealand's finest Georgian houses and one of the oldest historic buildings in the country. It was built for the Reverend Alfred Nesbit Brown, who came to New Zealand with his first wife Charlotte in 1829 as a missionary for the Church Missionary Society of England.

Next to the house is New Zealand?s oldest free-standing library. The library contains more than 1,000 books which belonged to Reverend Brown. Many are on religious topics; others contain practical information related to survival in an isolated settlement. An interesting collection of items used in the early days of the mission is also on display.