frederick waymouth and his wife alice purchased four acres of land and had a homestead built in 1899–1900, designed by architect joseph maddison. waymouth, who called the homestead karewa, was the managing director of canterbury frozen meats. maddison was a well-known christchurch architect, who amongst other buildings designed the freezing works in the christchurch suburb of belfast. it is thought that this connection between waymouth and maddison led to this commission.