Originally a single-gable, plain weatherboard cottage, Golder's House and associated outbuildings provide valuable insight into colonial domestic life. The house was built in 1876-1877 by John Golder (1849-1902). Golder was a road builder for the Wellington Provincial Council and, later, for the Hutt County Council, where he eventually rose to prominence. He married Jane Martin in 1877 and together they raised 12 children. The additions to the house in 1880, 1900 and 1920 reflect the growing size of the Golder family. The property also contains a hen house, laundry, toilet, dairy, water pump, and foodstore (also registered as a Historic Place, Category II). The property remained in the family until 1985 when the house and associated outbuildings were acquired by the Upper Hutt City Council. In 1987 the Golder's Homestead Museum Society took over the management of the property. The society carried out restoration work and now runs the house as a museum.

Golder's House was owned by the same family for over one hundred years. It, and its associated outbuildings, provide a rare insight into the life of families living in late nineteenth-century and twentieth-century New Zealand.