It is a rare surviving example of a privately constructed redoubt from that era.

John Cameron bought the property known as Marangai in 1841,[1] but it wasn't until around 1868, when he commissioned a blockhouse to protect his family from what he believed was an impending attack by Māori leader Riwha Titokowaru.

Heightening the fears of settlers was Te Kooti's raid of Poverty Bay that occurred around the same time.

[2] The blockhouse consists of a floor of compacted earth, double-skinned tōtara walls with clay infill and a corrugated iron roof.

[4] The blockhouse was listed as a Historic Place Category 1 on 10 October 1994.