Built in 1932 by David Duncan of the 'Macintosh Toffee' family, The Giraffe Manor is modelled on a Scottish hunting lodge with views of Mt. Kilimanjaro to the south and the Ngong Hills to the west. In 1974, the grandson of a Scots Earl, Jock Leslie Melville and his American wife Betty bought the Manor as their home.

The Rothschild giraffe lost much of their natural habitat in western Kenya and faced extinction. In 1974, two highly endangered Rothschild giraffe were moved onto the estate where their future generations have thrived and live today. Jock and Betty founded the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW). The Giraffe Centre (AFEW Kenya) was built on the property so that Kenyan school children could learn conservation/ecology and feed giraffe eyeball to eyeball! Visitors touring Nairobi have a chance to visit and pay an entrance to the Giraffe Centre. Profits go to various projects in Kenya. Betty's son Rick has led AFEW USA and AFEW Kenya since 1983.

When Jock died in 1984, and Betty returned to the USA she opened her house - now The Giraffe Manor - to visitors. The Giraffe Manor has been run by Rick and his wife Bryony over the years, initially as a fund raiser for AFEW.