Built in 1875, as the home of the Beresford Street Congregational Independents, Hopetoun Alpha's elegant Greek Doric architecture was the design of a local architect, Philip Herepath, who also designed the nearby Gothic style Pitt Street Methodist Church.

The Congregationalists were an austere Protestant denomination and the choice of the Greek revival style was possibly a symbol of their return to the fundamentals of the Early or "Primitive" Christian church. The New Testament was written in Greek and that was probably the language which Christ and his disciples spoke to each other in as they came from several different nationalities.

In 1965 the nearby St James Church in Union Street burnt down and the two  congregations combined. The Beresford Street Church was renamed St James at this time.

Because of the construction of the Auckland motorway system in the 1960s the population of inner city Auckland, especially  Freemans Bay dropped dramatically. The Beresford Street Congregationalist Church was one of several churches in the area to experience hardship from dealing with an ageing building and a dwindling number of members.

The Beresford Street building was over a hundred years old and in need of many repairs. The expense of earthquake strenghtening in particular was beyond the ability of the congregation. Eventually the decision to relocate was made and the building put up for sale.

                          St James Church circa 1985 with the church hall to the left.

The building had no heritage protection at this time so it was very fortunate that Ashton Wylie purchased the building in 1994 with a view to preserving it. The Aston Wylie Trust proceeded to renovate this unique and stunning architectural building to an exceptionally high standard.