This hostel, constructed in 1909, has great representative significance for its part in over 150 years of Māori education on this site. It was built by the Ōtaki and Porirua Trust from an educational endowment set up in 1848 by Māori of the area, in partnership with Governor Sir George Grey and Anglican Bishop, George Selwyn. In 1852-1853 a Māori college and boarding hostel was set up by the Church Missionary Society on this site, and in close association with the Anglican Māori church Te Rangiātea (built 1851, destroyed by fire in 1995). Although the hostel was closed in 1868, the school continued as a day school. In 1903 the hostel and school were burnt down. In 1907 the administration of the endowment was taken from the Church Missionary Society and given to the newly formed Ōtaki and Porirua Trust Board. The Empowering Act 1907 enabled the trust to build a new hostel and classrooms. The plans for the new facilities were drawn up by architect E. W. G. Coleridge, and the buildings were built by James Craig. When built the two-storey timber hostel provided accommodation for 20 boarders and staff of the college. It was designed to allow for future additions, and over the years a number of structures have been added to the building.

The new facilities were opened by the Governor General Lord Plunket on 4 October 1909. The school operated for a further 30 years before it was closed in 1939. Between 1939 and 1981 the hostel was used for a variety of purposes. In 1981 the hostel became the home of Te Wānanga-o-Raukawa, a tertiary educational facility, which offers a range of degree courses including Te Reo (Māori language), developmental studies and administration, art and design, all with a particular focus on Māori issues. In 1985 a meeting-house porchway was built over the main entry, and in the l990s a large additional was built on the south side of the building.