Fritz (Fred) Langbein was born in London in 1858, the eldest of five children. His father, Theodore Emil Ludwig Langbein (1819 - 1893) became a piano dealer in London after emigrating from Germany in 1849-50. Family legend has it that his father, Fred's grandfather Frederick, was a professor of music in Bonn, Germany.

Fred emigrated from England to Nelson, New Zealand in 1886.
Shipping records indicate that he travelled between Nelson and Melbourne, Australia, several times between 1886 and 1888, so it is assumed that this was when he met his future wife, Mary Ross.

Mary Ross was born in Castlemaine, Victoria, in 1865. Her parents were Scottish migrants, from Ross-shire, Scotland. Her father Alexander was a draper, but died when Mary was three years old, leaving her mother Jessie to bring up Mary and her three brothers.

Fred and Mary married in Nelson in 1888 and went on to have six sons and two daughters, all born between 1889 and 1905.

The couple lived at several addresses, including Port Nelson, prior to their purchase of Broadgreen House from Miss Cordelia Buxton in 1901.

As Miss Buxton had already sold off much of the original 100 acres, the property now comprised about 50 acres. The Langbeins, in turn, sold about 10 acres. Of the remaining land, they established an orchard on 30 acres and they ran a small farm, with cows, pigs and hens, plus a large garden for the family, on the other 10 acres.

In 1908 Fred is recorded as having contributed to a considerable collection of over 300 varieties of apples and pears from New Zealand to be shown in the Royal Horticultural Society’s show in London. In 1910, he contributed 50 cases of apples for export to London.

Fred’s main occupation, however, was as a commercial traveller for Bing Harris & Co Ltd, General Merchants and Importers. He covered the areas of Nelson and the West Coast, and there are frequent references to him in the shipping records.

During his travels, he acquired many of the unusual exotic trees in the grounds.

Elizabeth (Bessie) was the eldest of Fred and Mary's eight children, followed by Fritz (Fred), Freda Mary, Charles Henry, Edward (Ted), William Theodore (called 'Theo' on the family tree but known as ‘Big Bill’), Nelson Ross (Ross), and William (called 'Bill' on the family tree but known as ‘Little Willie’).

All of the sons, except Ted, obtained engineering degrees. Ted’s love was for the land and he ran the orchard.

Fred and Mary’s son, Ted Langbein married Diana St John in 1925 and they took over running the property and inherited the house when Fred died in the late 1940s.

Ted and Diana had three sons and a daughter. Two of the sons, Richard and David, carried on the orchard work until 1965, when the land was sub-divided and sold for housing.

Richard and his wife Margaret and their children lived in what was known as Adeline’s cottage for some years until they sold it to Helen and Denis Le Cren early in 1961.