This typical Akaroa cottage was for long the home of John and Elizabeth Staples. John came to New Zealand as a child. Settling in Akaroa, he served as manager of Garwood’s Store on the waterfront, became an Akaroa Borough Councillor and was a faithful member of the local Presbyterian Church. He married in 1877.
This cottage was built by his brother Edward. John and his wife took up residence in it soon after their marriage. It has the typical floor plan of cottages of this vintage, with four rooms and a scullery downstairs and two attic rooms under the steeply pitched roof. A family of six children was raised in the cottage.
The Staples were renowned for their garden, from which they supplied both residents and visitors with fruit and vegetables. John died in 1923. A kitchen was added in 1940, and the two dormers in 1969. Otherwise the cottage remains much as it was when first built.