Te Mata Park was gifted in 1927 to the people of Hawke's Bay by members of the Chambers family and administered by a trust board which must contain a male descendant of the Chambers family.
The road to the top of Te Mata Peak was completed in the late 1930s, mostly by work schemes. As a road now went past a picturesque building site, it was suggested by the trust board that a tea kiosk and a caretaker's cottage would be a suitable addition to the park.
It however would take 25 years before the building was opened on August 17, 1967. The previous year the trust board had sent a letter to the Hawke's Bay County Council (abolished in 1989), who had oversight of Te Mata Peak Rd, to seek permission to put the building near the roadway.
The trust board also apologised for saying that they had already called for building tenders, and could you please respond urgently. The council did, and permission was given. The council was also supportive in that it widened the road and agreed to tarseal the road to the building by the end of 1967.
They also gave an interest free loan of $5000 to assist with the building costs. In order to save enough money to build, the trust board had for the previous 12 years saved their grazing money, annual contributions and proceeds of plantations.