Tāhuhu Kōrero | History
Step back in time to discover the history of Broadgreen Historic House
THE WHENUA | LAND
Broadgreen Historic House is located in Whakatū (Nelson) in Te Tauihu o te Waka a Māui (the top of the South Island) of Aotearoa New Zealand.

We respectfully acknowledge the mana whenua iwi of Te Tauihu o te Waka a Māui and we also pay our respects to this place as an ancestral homeland to all iwi who came before.

We acknowledge Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840 as the founding constitutional document of governance within Aotearoa New Zealand that acknowledges an agreement between two peoples.


Nelson City Council recognises the distinct identity mana whenua have within the Whakatū region as their ancestral homeland inherent through whakapapa. Mana whenua are key contributors to achieving success. We value working in partnership to advance the wellbeing of our community and protect the natural and physical taonga of our region.


Mana Whenua

The eight iwi within the Whakatū region affiliate to three waka:

  • Kurahaupō: Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Apa ki Te Rā Tō and Rangitāne
  • Tainui: Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Toa Rangatira
  • Tokomaru: Ngāti Tama, Te Ātiawa

You can read more about particular cultural, spiritual, historical and traditional association of identified site/areas with iwi in Te Tauihu Statutory Acknowledgements.

Find out more about the history of Broadgreen Historic House
The Buxton Family
Edmund and Martha Buxton and their six daughters were the first residents of Broadgreen House.

Design & construction
Broadgreen Historic House is an excellent example of a 19th century English cob construction house.
The Langbein Family
With his wife Mary, Fred Langbein bought Broadgreen House and about 50 acres of surrounding land in 1901.
Inside Broadgreen House
Let us take you on a tour of the house's interior, looking at a few of the highlights.
THE BUXTON FAMILY
Broadgreen House was built around 1853 for Edmund Buxton and his wife Martha who, with their family of six daughters, immigrated to New Zealand from Lancashire, England.

Around the same time, Edmund founded the firm of E. Buxton & Co. Merchants, which sold everything from firearms to sausage skins.
Meet the Buxton family
DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION
Broadgreen Historic House is an excellent example of a 19th century English cob construction house. It was built around 1853 for Edmund Buxton, his wife Martha, and their six daughters.
Learn more about the design & construction
If a building becomes architecture, then it is art
THE LANGBEIN FAMILY
Fred Langbein arrived in New Zealand in 1886. With his wife Mary, he bought Broadgreen House and about 50 acres of surrounding land in 1901. The Langbeins turned 30 acres into orchard, sold about 10 acres, the remaining 10 acres being farm land and garden.

Fred and Mary had six sons and two daughters and their descendants occupied Broadgreen House until 1965, when Nelson City Council bought the property, with the help of a small grant from the New Zealand National Historic Places Trust.

Well-known cook and food writer Annabel Langbein is one of Fred and Mary's descendants and visits the house occasionally.
Meet the Langbein family
INSIDE BROADGREEN HOUSE
Broadgreen Historic House is furnished to represent a family where a nanny was employed for the young children. We don’t know for sure how many servants worked on the estate but there was a permanent cook, probably two housemaids, two gardeners, a horse and carriage man and farm labourers. They all lived on the property and two house-maids slept in the sleeping loft in the house. They had a ladder for access and as the fires were kept on all day and all night they would have been cozy in the winter and very hot in the summer.

With no running water in the house there is no bathroom but every bedroom is equipped with a wash stand and essentials.
Take a peek inside