[1]: 77 Van der Stel built the house and used the land to produce wine as well as other fruit and vegetables, and for cattle farming.

In 1779 the portion of the estate including Van der Stel's Cape Dutch-style manor house was sold to the Cloete family,[1]: 78  who planted extensive vineyards and extended and improved the mansion by commissioning the architect Louis Michel Thibault.

[1]: 78  The house remained in the possession of the Cloete family until 1885, during which period the estate became famous for its production of Constantia dessert wine.

[4] In 1969 the manor house became part of the South African Cultural History Museum, and in 1993 the estate passed into the ownership of the Groot Constantia Trust.

The exhibition in the house is managed by Iziko South African Museum, and is particularly focused on rural slavery and the life of slaves during the early Cape colonial period.