John Styles came to Dunedin in 1849, met and married Rachel Bentley in 1852, and bought 65 "steep" acres in Broad Bay in 1856. The first house was a hut, but as the family expanded, a new house was needed. This was completed in 1866: it had a wooden floor, garret windows, a double-gabled roof, two exterior chimneys and a verandah out front.