In 1932 Governor-General Lord Bledisloe and his wife gifted to the nation the former house of the British Resident James Busby at Waitangi, and the surrounding land. It was on the grounds outside the house that the Treaty of Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840. The building was in a dilapidated condition. Rather than being restored to how it had looked when the treaty was signed, it was enlarged to better serve its new purpose as a monument of state. This would be seen as poor conservation practice in the 2010s but was acceptable in the 1930s.