Jacobs House was originally designed by Cecil Wood as part of larger reorganisation for the development of the Quad.  Only this building came to fruition as planned.  It was opened in 1931 with fifty boys drawn from four other houses, plus some new boys.

The House is named after College’s first Headmaster, Henry Jacobs, who arrived in New Zealand as a Canterbury Association chaplain on board the Sir George Seymour. The House is on the site of the first Headmaster’s house.

Within the House Library is a stone fireplace, in memory of Guy Spencer Bryan-Brown, Chaplain of Christ’s College who was killed in the First World War.

The House was refurbished in 2003 and the concrete block addition at the rear of the House was constructed at this time.

The Jacobs House symbol is a red or Tudor rose and can be seen on the College Crest.  It is also  part of the Arms of Christ Church Oxford, where John Robert Godley and many of the founders of Canterbury had attended University.  The motto  Non Sibi translates as “ Not for one’s self”.