Maori lived here for close to 1000 years because of its plentiful natural resources. Wenderholm was the focal point of Maori settlement in the Mahurangi District and the site of an historic peace making agreement (mihirau) between the Kawerau and Hauraki tribes in the 1780s. Prominent Auckland politician and entrepreneur Robert Graham became the first European owner in 1868. Graham built a homestead (Wenderholm) on the flat, to use while he spent time at his Waiwera thermal resort in winter. The house is now known as Couldrey House after its last private owner. It has been restored and is run by volunteers as a museum, open to the public on weekends. Historic trees are also a feature at Wenderholm with Caucasian fir, bunya bunya pine, Moreton Bay fig, Holm oak, cork oak, magnolia, coral trees and others planted as long as the 1860s. Many of these were gifts to Robert Graham from Sir George Grey.