Lincoln Grange has historical value for its association with the Rhodes brothers, particularly prominent Hawke’s Bay landowner and local politician, Joseph Rhodes, who helped shape the history of the province. Joseph Rhodes is said to have been the person who first suggested that Hawke’s Bay secede from Wellington and become its own province, which it did in 1858. The house originally known as Milton Grange, built in the 1860s or 1870s, was the townhouse of Rhodes and his wife. Although it has been subject to alterations over the decades, the form of the house and its remaining original fabric, characteristic of a Victorian residence, indicates its historic value.

The Rhodes brothers were some of New Zealand’s early colonial settlers, who each owned vast tracts of land throughout the country and held prominent roles in provincial and central government. Eldest brother William Barnard Rhodes (1807-1878) arrived in New Zealand in 1839. Three of his brothers followed him, George (1816-1864) and Joseph (1826-1905) in 1843, and Robert Heaton (1815-1884) in 1850. Under William Barnard’s direction they built a pastoral empire in both islands - during the 1850s the brothers controlled over 300,000 acres between them. Joseph established a chain of properties in the Hawke’s Bay and East Coast, including Clive Grange, Kidnappers, Matapiro, Springhill and Edenham stations, among numerous other parcels of suburban and rural land.

The town of Napier was first surveyed for Crown Grants in 1852. On 22 September 1859 suburban sections 58, 59 and 423 were granted to George and Robert Heaton Rhodes. It is unknown if the house originates from this tenure, however it is most strongly associated with Joseph Rhodes and his wife. Joseph Rhodes was a member of the Provincial Council for the whole of its existence (1859-1876), and served as the province’s Deputy Superintendent and Speaker during the 1860s. He was also President of the Napier Land and Building Society, a trustee of the first Methodist Church and a member of local boards such as the Napier Gas Company. Previously Mr and Mrs J. Rhodes lived at their large country estate, Clive Grange, but around 1869 took up residence at Milton Grange; the property was named after the road it used to be accessed from.

A photo dated 21 July 1874 shows a wedding party outside the eight-bedroom, two-storey timber dwelling, the form of which is still discernible in the building today. Double gables are oriented north-south, from which two cross-gables radiate east, and one to the west. The western gable end and longer gable to the south contain bay windows, and a verandah, glassed in at its eastern end, wraps around the northwest corner. Two chimneys indicate the location of internal fireplaces. Rectangular double-hung sash windows are spaced around the upper storey, occasionally roofed by gabled dormers. The house is distinguished by decorative verandah posts and scrolled bargeboards at each gable and dormer, with cut-out designs giving a trellis-like effect.

Joseph Rhodes died in 1905, but the year before had put the estate up for subdivision into 14 residential sites. The house retained the largest lot, surrounded by orchard and outbuildings including sheds, a dairy, stables and hot houses. His son, Frank Rhodes, a solicitor, remained in the house until the mid-1920s, when it was bought by prominent Crown Prosecutor and New Zealand cricketer Hugh Butler Lusk and his wife Elizabeth; a large glasshouse replaced many of the older outbuildings during their occupancy. The next owner, Arnold Clifford Davidson, converted the building into flats in the 1960s; it was known as the Grange Flats. Further alterations were carried out by the Hawke’s Bay Health Board in the 1980s, when a mental-health service residence was run from the property. In the mid-2000s it was converted back into a single private residence.