Eventide was constructed as a home for 40 elderly people at a cost of $60,000, largely due to the local Society of the Friends of the Aged and community fundraising. Reginald Thorrold Jaggard was the architect. Its foundation stone was laid by J.R. Hanan, Minister of Health, 23 February 1957 and the building was officially opened by Lord Cobham, the Governor General, 6 December 1957. In 1961 it was renamed Brightwater Home.