Marsden instructed the Reverend
Butler's house was a weatherboard clad, two-storey Georgian design with a verandah and two chimneys. It was built primarily from
Butler was sacked in 1823,[3] and George Clarke occupied the building until the early 1830s, by which time the Ngapuhi had abandoned Kororipo, but the mission station was strong enough to feel no need for protection.
The house was occupied by James and Charlotte Kemp in 1832 and although initially part of an expanded mission presence, (including the Stone Store), it was later purchased by the Kemps, and stayed in that family for 142 years, until Ernest Kemp donated it to the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (since renamed to Heritage New Zealand) in 1974.
Mission House was added to the New Zealand Historic Places Category 1 list on 23 June 1983.[4]
The Trust has restored the building to an approximation of its 1843 appearance, (although the verandah was higher, and the roof was not shingled). Together with the Stone Store, the Mission house is now a museum open to the public.
35°13′05″S 173°57′47″E / 35.218°S 173.963°E / -35.218; 173.963