[3][4] The south-eastern Hillsborough area near the Manukau Harbour was traditionally referred to as Rangiaowhia, the name of a settlement and waka landing site south of Onehunga High School which was partially covered up by the construction of State Highway 20 in 1975.

[5] The name may reference the view of the cloudy sky above the high point of the Hillsborough ridge, Pukekāroro.

[4] In the 1830s, Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, a powerful Tainui chief who later became the first Māori King, would spend time in various places around the Manukau Harbour and Auckland isthmus, including at Koheraunui in Hillsborough (modern-day Monte Cecilia).

[6] Pōtatau Te Wherowhero and his brother Kati Takiwaru occupied Koheraunui until 1840, when they settled at coastal Māngere.

Various organisations established facilities on the smaller but still spacious properties that resulted from the subdivision; a Franciscan Friary, Marcellin College for boys, Roskill Masonic Hospital, and Liston Village (a residential home which includes the historic Pah Stable Block).

Other parts of the property were purchased by the Hillsborough Bowling Club, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who built a church on Pah Road, Sanitarium Wholefoods and Holeproof Enterprises who built factories on Pah Road and Auckland City Council who created Seymour Park.

The rest of the extensive farmland was redeveloped as suburban housing although a portion to the south of Herd Road is still utilised for grazing land probably because it is very steep.

[citation needed] The Pah Mansion was eventually purchased by the Roman Catholic Church in 1913 and renamed Monte Cecilia.

The house has been renovated and is now being used to display Sir James Wallace's extensive collection of New Zealand Modern art.