Also known as Kemp House, the Kerikeri Mission House was built in 1821-1822 by the London-based Church Missionary Society, the mission under the protection of Hongi Hika, the most influential MÃÂori leader in the Bay of Islands. Built for the Reverend John Butler by missionary carpenters and MÃÂori sawyers, the two-storey structure is of simple Georgian design, with a hipped roof and symmetrical façade. The garden, first dug in 1820 and cultivated ever since, recalls the mission period. Used by other missionaries after Butler left in 1823, the house was occupied by CMS storekeeper and blacksmith James Kemp and his wife Charlotte when the adjacent Stone Store ââ¬â now the oldest stone building in New Zealand ââ¬â was built from 1832.
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