Occupied by commercial premises since 1876, the same year the Railway Station was constructed, the corner of Kelly and Matai Streets in Inglewood has historical significance as one of the town’s first buildings, and associations with a former mayor, and with the first president of the New Zealand National Party. The area that became Inglewood is in rohe of the Te Atiawa Iwi. Inglewood was first settled by Pākehā in 1875, and was reachable by rail as of 1876. The site, which faces the railway station, was purchased by George Newsham Curtis in June 1875 and developed as a butcher shop by his brother Herbert Bloomer Curtis. The Curtis brothers ran a number of businesses in Inglewood and Stratford and, as early as January 1876, Curtis’ butcher shop was a local landmark. At the time of his death in 1915, H.B. Curtis was described as Inglewood’s “first and most prominent settler,” and longest-serving mayor. His action as a lieutenant in a volunteer unit during the New Zealand Wars was also mentioned. In 1900, Emil Gernhoeffer who had worked for Curtis in his late teens took over the business, buying it outright in 1904. Unfortunately, in 1906 Gernhoeffer collapsed in the Inglewood Hotel and died. His widow continued to work the shop for several more years before selling it to Joseph Gibbs in 1910. Gibbs then sold it to the legal firm of Weston & Weston in 1911. Weston & Weston operated offices in New Plymouth and Inglewood. Claude Weston, one of the partners in the firm, went on to become a King’s Counsel in 1934 and Judge Advocate-General during WWII, as well as the first president of the New Zealand National Party. Over the course of seven decades, the firm continued to change its name based on its partnerships. Weston & Weston became Weston & Billing then Billing & Deem, and eventually Deem & Shearer. Debate exists as to whether the current structure was constructed in the 1870s or in 1911. However, a comparison of photographs of the building in 1910 and 1983 shows a consistent roofline and Kelly Street façade suggesting modification in 1911 rather than a completely new building. While as late as 1967 the lot was still being transferred as a single entity, by 1977 it had been divided into two and a party wall had been constructed within the structure. The large verandah which extends the roofline out over the footpaths has also been modified a number of times. The 1910 image indicates the verandah reaching to the street on the Kelly and Matai facades. By 1983, the verandah on the Matai Street side had been removed. In 1993, the building underwent extensive renovations in adapting it to serve as a café. As of 2019, the verandah has been restored on Matai Street and the building has been further extended along Kelly Street.