A cultural meeting house hosts a group of Master of Counselling students at the start of their studies. This article focuses on an exploratory study with one student group during their encounter with the house. We give a material‐discursive account of one student's narrative of family, belonging, and connection to the house. In the account we draw on whakaaro Māori (cultural thinking and understanding), new materialism, place‐space learning, and narrative therapy.