Scottish immigrants Robert and Mary Crawford arrived in Auckland in 1842, on the "Duchess of Argyle" with four sons and a daughter.  One of their sons, John, married Bridget McInnes in 1851, the daughter of Fencible Laughlan McInnes. John Crawford was a Master Mariner who ran a scow, taking goods between Howick and Auckland.

John and Bridget Crawford had nine children. In 1883, two of their sons, John and Thomas started a horse bus service between Auckland and Howick. This service continued until 1944 when it was taken over by the Howick Bus Company. John Crawford (II) stayed on under the new owners. He married Sarah Frances Warr (Fanny) and the couple had four children - Henry, John (III)Thomas and Annie. The two eldest boys, John and Henry, joined their father in the Howick Bus Co. Sadly, Thomas was killed in World War I.  John and Sarah Crawford built a wooden homestead in 1880 at the top of their land

In 1930, Crawford Villa was built by Sarah Crawford, after she was widowed. Sarah lived in the seven bedroom villa with Henry, John, Annie and her husband, Dufty Bell, a Pakuranga farmer.
Next door to the bus company depot, Henry and John (III) ran a small office from the villa. Henry used a small office off his bedroom to count money and run the accounts.

One of the first families to have a telephone, the family became the main information line for the bus services. They dispensed timetable, fares and other information, becoming a focal point of communication for the isolated Howick. When John III married Ethel, they moved to a home on Mellons Bay Road, just around the corner. Their daughter, Lenice Farrow, remembers dropping into Crawford House for 'a drink of water and a chat with my grandmother' every day after school.

"My grandmother Sarah had a dairy on the side of the house and she used to store and grade eggs. Crawfords kept cows, turkeys, hens and sheep on about 10 acres either side of Mellons Bay Road. Their land was subdivided in 1941."

Being next door to the bus company, Sarah Crawford would sometimes play host to newly employed bus drivers. "Occasionally, if new bus drivers were starting with the company, my grandmother would let them stay at Crawford House until they found somewhere to lodge." says Lenice.

The entry to the current medical centre used to be a veranda, a prime spot for enjoying the breathtaking sea views over Howick Beach.

More recently, the house was owned by Keith Boyd, a former Deputy Mayor of Howick. Dr Bruce Greenfield bought the house in 1979 and it has been a medical centre since then.