This two-storey Italianate styled villa was designed by Charles Petrie for Robert Orr. Little is known of Petrie. The house was built by Stephen Strand in 1885-1887. Orr established extensive market gardens on his 17-acre [6.9 hectares] property, sometimes employing up to 40 people at one time. Most of the Orr estate was subdivided in the 1960s. The house was constructed using totara, rimu and matai. It is essentially symmetrical in design with two square bay windows on the principal façade flanking the entranceway. The porch features ornate pillars. The windows on the first floor are arched. In 1972 the house was repiled and resited approximately 25 metres north of its original position.