Welcome to Papawai House
Relax and enjoy a spacious country home just minutes from Greytown, in the heart of the Wairarapa.
Papawai House is a comfortable, self-contained home ideal for families, friends and groups looking for somewhere peaceful to stay while enjoying everything the region has to offer.
With plenty of space to unwind and a relaxed country setting, it’s a place to settle in and make yourself at home.
Everything you need for a comfortable stay
Papawai House is a spacious, self-contained country home with room for families and groups.
• Sleeps up to 8 guests
• 1 king, 2 queen and 2 single beds
• Fully equipped kitchen
• Comfortable living and dining areas
• Plenty of space indoors and out
• Peaceful country setting
• Just minutes from Greytown
Giving a little back 🌱
- Papawai House contributes 1% of payments made through Stripe to carbon-removal projects through Stripe Climate.
A little bit of Seatoun in Pāpāwai
Papawai House began life in Seatoun, Wellington. When we made the move over the hill to Pāpāwai, the house came with us — transported across from Wellington and given a new life in the Wairarapa countryside.
So in a way, we were Wellington refugees who brought our own accommodation with us. :))
Today it has a slightly unusual combination — an old Wellington house surrounded by the rural landscape and remarkable history of Pāpāwai.
Pāpāwai — a remarkable place
Papawai House sits within the historic settlement of Pāpāwai, just a few minutes from Greytown.
In the late nineteenth century, Pāpāwai became a thriving Māori cultural, political and commercial centre, with a population of around 3,000 people. It became known as the “Māori capital” and was a major centre of the Kotahitanga Māori Parliament movement. The Parliament met at Pāpāwai Marae in 1897 and 1898, bringing Māori leaders and representatives together from throughout Aotearoa.
The whare tūpuna Hikurangi was opened in 1888. Pāpāwai also had a flour mill and later its own national Māori newspaper, Te Puke ki Hikurangi. The agreement concerning Wairarapa Moana was made at Pāpāwai between Ngāti Kahungunu and the Crown in January 1896.
The Pāpāwai–Mangarara Stream
The Pāpāwai–Mangarara Stream is another important part of this story.
Much of its water originates from the Waiōhine, travelling underground before emerging through springs east of Greytown. For generations the stream was a source of food and water and a place of recreation for mana whenua. Tuna, kōkopu and kōura were once abundant.
Today the local community is working to restore the mauri of the awa. Thousands of native plants have been planted, willows and blackberry removed, waterways fenced and the health of the stream monitored, with the aim of once again providing healthy habitat for native fish and other freshwater life.
When you stay at Papawai House, you're staying within a small rural community with an extraordinary history — and a landscape that local people are working to restore for future generations.
