Constructed in the 1880s, the site housed the first Benedictine mission in New Zealand and later the Sisters of St Joseph for almost a century.

Along Alex Evans Street is a retaining wall with memorial tablets to the priests of the parish.

The jambs of the doors and windows are made from Oamaru stone is used for other stonework Malmsbury bluestone.

The road facing side is asymmetrical and has exposed brickwork with the rest of the exterior being plastered.

An open porch with a steep gable encloses the entrance which has a Gothic fanlight and door.

The archway leading to the hall is ornate with Corinthian capital trusses[1] The club rooms is a single-storeyed Arts and Crafts building constructed with plastered brick.

[2] In 1879 Walter Steins Bisschop, the Archbishop of the Diocese of Auckland and Dom Raffaele Cesta, the Abbot General of the Benedictines in Subiaco, agreed to establishing a mission in New Zealand.

The parish centred around St Benedict's extended both west and south of the city.

The fathers came from the St Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate, an outpost near Gawler, South Australia, and Subiaco.

An early 13th century style English Gothic kauri timber church designed by Edward Mahoney was constructed in 1881–1882 for the Benedictines.

[1] John Edmund Luck was appointed Bishop of Auckland in August 1882, although he did not arrive in New Zealand until November.

The date of completion is unknown but it likely finished around the time St Benedict's Church opened.

Like the church, financial constraints resulted in the final building being less grand than what was originally planned.

The guild was founded by James Michael Liston, parish priest and later Bishop of Auckland, for the purpose of explaining Catholic teachings on social issues.

Under Gillan some modifications were made to the church: boundary railings were added in 1900, the interior walls were plastered in 1905, and an organ was installed in 1907.

Initially the sisters lived in a small wooden cottage opposite the church.

By 1885 the sisters had moved to Sussex Street in Grey Lynn to work at a church school.

The school's opening resulted in the sisters returning to the cottage and in 1901 Mary MacKillop had purchased the property.

[2] E. Mahoney & Son was hired to design the convent and James Job Holland was contracted to build it.

Notable attendees included the Mayor of Auckland, Arthur Myers and the chairman of the parliamentary Education Committee, Frederick Baume.

[2] The Sisters of St Joseph continued to expand their scope and influence in Auckland: new initiatives were established in Balmoral (1912), St Heliers (1927), Point Chevalier (1930), Three Kings (1946), Mission Bay (1949), Owairaka (1954), Mount Roskill (1987), Onehunga (1992), and Glenfield (1995).

[1] From 1953 to 1955 a porch, offices, and a lady chapel were added; in addition, the sanctuary and sacristy—which were intended to be temporary—were replaced with brick.

The presbytery had its top floor modified; Reginald Ford was the architect for all of these additions and modifications.

[1] St Benedict's School roll had declined, largely in part due to the Auckland Motorway's construction resulting in the displacement of many of Newton's residents and Newton being cut off from the central city by the motorway.