Historic Hotels in Northland

The building was initially known as the "Johnny Johnstons Grog Shop" in 1827. In the 1830s, the port was a popular destination among exhausted whalers and traders after staying a year in the seas. Without law enforcement agencies and an abundance of cheap liquor, prostitution was a lucrative and popular job at the port. Stricken by the everything but ideal scene, Johnny sought to change not just the hotel but also its environment. He changed the hotel's name to "The Duke of Marlborough", the world's richest man to reintroduce elegance and respect on the place. Throughout the years, the building suffered fire and wars but the owners consistently rebuilt its walls.

Listed as a Category II Historic Building, it was built in 1896. The house was used as a boarding house where Roger Lupton served as a headmaster until 1924. After the school moved to Glenbervie in 1991, the property underwent renovations and additions while maintaining its classical atmosphere.

The property was owned and built by a Scotsman, John McIntosh, in 1861. He settled in the nearby Whangaroa on a property with kauri timber, the same timber that was used in the building of the house. As a businessman, he built the Old Oak when the town was flourishing. But even through the decline in whaling in 1870s, flax and kauri milling was still at its peak. So the hotel continued to accommodate guests and travellers as it does today.