Pompallier House, Heritage building in Russell, New Zealand.

Pompallier House is a colonial building in Russell constructed using rammed earth techniques. The structure contains spaces for printing operations, living quarters, and storage areas that together formed an early mission station.

The building was established in the mid-1800s as the center of a French Catholic mission. It produced thousands of books and documents in Māori language before its operations eventually ceased.

The Gaveaux press, brought from France in the early 1840s, printed over 30,000 books and tracts between 1842 and 1849, including some of the first texts in Māori. In 1857 Waikato Māori requested the press; King Tāwhiao used it to print the newspaper Te Paki o Matariki. Māori Queen Te Atairangikaahu returned it in the 1990s, and it is now restored to working order.

The building is open daily to visitors and offers guided tours throughout the day. It sits in the town center of Russell and staff members are available to answer questions about what you are seeing.

The building is one of the oldest structures in New Zealand and used a rare construction method of compressed earth. This technique is seldom seen in this region today.