St. Hilda's was built in 1907 by R S Phillips for James Griffiths. The architects were Ward and Carleton. Griffiths had migrated to Australia in 1873 and founded the successful tea business of the same name. Both Griffiths and his wife were committed to Christian missionary work and in 1902 Mrs Griffiths was appointed President of the Women's Missionary Council. Almost immediately the house was completed it was given in trust to the Christian Missionary Society to become a Church of England Missionary Training Home. In the 1930s the house changed use to become the St Hilda's Church of England Deaconess House. In the 1960s it was sold and converted into apartments. From 1982 until 2001 the building was the offices of Bates Smart, architects.