The Matapiro Station land was owned by Ngāti Upokoiri who sold the leasehold to a succession of European settlers from 1858. [In 1873 Joseph Rhodes sold the Matapiro run comprising 22, 700 leasehold acres and 15 000 long-woolled sheep along with his Clive property The Grange for £30 000. The properties were purchased by Messrs Thomas Calcutt, Harris and Francis Dyer Rich of Otago. The Grange was subsequently re-sold to Sir George Whitmore and in 1874 Mr Walter Shrimpton of Dunedin (Rich’s son-in-law) bought in to Matapiro Station. Shrimpton was born in Yorkshire, England in 1841 and had emigrated to New Zealand with his family in 1853. The family initially settled in Canterbury and Shrimpton later purchased a farm in Otago before relocating to the Hawke’s Bay. Rich and Shrimpton managed Matapiro in partnership for several years and brought the land under the Land Transfer Act in 1880. Shortly thereafter, Shrimpton became the sole owner of Matapiro.]

Shrimpton was the first to bring hares and greyhounds to Hawke’s Bay and in 1876 he brought red deer from the South Island to Matapiro. The herd thrived but eventually had to be exterminated because they menaced plantations and crops. Shrimpton was also chairman of the Hawke’s Bay County Council (1896-1926) and Hawke’s Bay Hospital Board (1909-34). About 1910 he donated funds to the Napier Hospital for the establishment of the Shrimpton Children's Ward. This was in memory of his son who died at the age of six.

The first homestead at Matapiro Station was built near the river in 1878 on what is now the Omapere property. In 1886 it was sledged up the river and still exists as part of the manager's house and single men's quarters. In the 1880s the present site was chosen for the erection of a new homestead, near the site of the old Te Whakairo carved house. Early photographs show a large single storeyed house set on a terrace. In 1902 Shrimpton decided to enlarge the house. The work was undertaken to the design of C.T. Natusch in stages over the next eight years.

[Matapiro was divided up in the first half of the twentieth century but remained a sizeable property of 1882 hectares.] Shrimpton died in 1936. He was survived by his second wife, Edith, who continued to live at the homestead until her death in 1953. [Thereafter the homestead and gardens were maintained by a series of caretakers living in the rear servants’ quarters, including Shrimpton’s grandson Matt Forde and his wife Val from 1997 to 2004 when the property was sold, ending 130 years of ownership by the Shrimpton family and descendants. It was purchased by Auckland businessman Ken Syminton of Wilson Hellaby Meats and Wilson Foods Ltd.]