[1] The buildings making up the lodge include the Gibbons Homestead, cabins, a kitchen and dining hall, a former post office, and a dairy shed.

One of Nicholas' sons, Fred Gibbons continued to live at the property alongside his wife.

Due to the lack of a road connecting Whatipu to Auckland and the only boat contact being fortnightly they largely survived off what they grew and took from the ocean.

[3][7] Following the recreation of a tramway along the west Auckland coast in 1910 the number of travellers to Whatipu had increased.

Later that same year Fred built a new homestead behind the original, which was serving as accommodation for paying guests.

[3] Following the First World War the Whatipu Lodge became quite a busy place as the nearby caves had been used as a ballroom for dances since 1899.

People came from all over the Auckland region to partake in the dances in the Whatipu cave, fishing, and pig hunting.

[3] The Douglases had decided to leave the City of Auckland for a more sylvan life at Whatipu with their children.

During that time they installed a septic tank and moved the former post office from Paratutai to the lodge grounds.

During their time as owners of the lodge they advertised it as Whatipu House and built a tennis court.

Gibson wanted to create a high end service complete with catering staff; however, his changes proved unpopular with holiday makers and he was unable to cover his costs and the lodge became neglected.

[2] Phil would restore the lodge by repairing buildings, removing gorse, upgrading the water supply, and installed a stove from an old Huia property.

During Phil's tenure the amount of land was reduced following interest by the Auckland Regional Authority in managing the wider area as a park.

[3] The council upgraded the road to Whatipu after Phil had cleared out overgrown gorse manually.

Phil had to manually install the telephone poles and wiring himself with funding provided by the local government.

[7] At one point Sharp had suggested all buildings in the area besides the Gibbons Homestead be demolished and a motel be built.

[9] The lodge saw a new boom in popularity following appearances in Shortland Street and in two different movies starring Cybill Shepherd and Ian Mune respectively.

[9] In 2002 Whatipu was declared a scientific reserve by the Crown with the Auckland Regional Council having authority.

[c] The Auckland Regional Authority took ownership of the property in 1984 and it has been used as accommodation for park rangers and contractors.

[3] An early draft plan for the Auckland Centennial Park involved the removal of the cottages.

[3] Liebergreen Cottage has a saltbox roof, built-in furniture, a step where the two huts were merged, and a fireplace.