diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/arrow/CMakeLists.txt
index 77326ce38d754..102a8a1853f3e 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ install(FILES
   api.h
   array.h
   builder.h
+  field.h
   type.h
   DESTINATION include/arrow)
 
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/table/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/arrow/table/CMakeLists.txt
index b51258ffd8b0d..68bf3148a9889 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/table/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/table/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@ SET_TARGET_PROPERTIES(arrow_table PROPERTIES LINKER_LANGUAGE CXX)
 
 # Headers: top level
 install(FILES
+  column.h
+  schema.h
+  table.h
   DESTINATION include/arrow/table)
 
 ADD_ARROW_TEST(column-test)
diff --git a/python/.gitignore b/python/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..80103a1a52942
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+thirdparty/
+CMakeFiles/
+CMakeCache.txt
+CTestTestfile.cmake
+Makefile
+cmake_install.cmake
+build/
+Testing/
+
+# Python stuff
+
+# Editor temporary/working/backup files
+*flymake*
+
+# Compiled source
+*.a
+*.dll
+*.o
+*.py[ocd]
+*.so
+.build_cache_dir
+MANIFEST
+
+# Generated sources
+*.c
+*.cpp
+# Python files
+
+# setup.py working directory
+build
+# setup.py dist directory
+dist
+# Egg metadata
+*.egg-info
+# coverage
+.coverage
+coverage.xml
diff --git a/python/CMakeLists.txt b/python/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..df55bfac9eb4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,464 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+#
+# Includes code assembled from BSD/MIT/Apache-licensed code from some 3rd-party
+# projects, including Kudu, Impala, and libdynd. See python/LICENSE.txt
+
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.7)
+project(pyarrow)
+
+set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH} "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake_modules")
+
+# Use common cmake modules from Arrow C++ if available
+set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH} "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/../cpp/cmake_modules")
+
+include(CMakeParseArguments)
+
+set(BUILD_SUPPORT_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../cpp/build-support)
+
+# Allow "make install" to not depend on all targets.
+#
+# Must be declared in the top-level CMakeLists.txt.
+set(CMAKE_SKIP_INSTALL_ALL_DEPENDENCY true)
+
+set(CMAKE_MACOSX_RPATH 1)
+set(CMAKE_OSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET 10.9)
+
+# Generate a Clang compile_commands.json "compilation database" file for use
+# with various development tools, such as Vim's YouCompleteMe plugin.
+# See http://clang.llvm.org/docs/JSONCompilationDatabase.html
+if ("$ENV{CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS}" STREQUAL "1")
+  set(CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS 1)
+endif()
+
+############################################################
+# Compiler flags
+############################################################
+
+# compiler flags that are common across debug/release builds
+set(CXX_COMMON_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -std=c++11 -Wall")
+
+# compiler flags for different build types (run 'cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=<type> .')
+# For all builds:
+# For CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
+#   -ggdb: Enable gdb debugging
+# For CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=FastDebug
+#   Same as DEBUG, except with some optimizations on.
+# For CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
+#   -O3: Enable all compiler optimizations
+#   -g: Enable symbols for profiler tools (TODO: remove for shipping)
+#   -DNDEBUG: Turn off dchecks/asserts/debug only code.
+set(CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG "-ggdb -O0")
+set(CXX_FLAGS_FASTDEBUG "-ggdb -O1")
+set(CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE "-O3 -g -DNDEBUG")
+
+# if no build build type is specified, default to debug builds
+if (NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
+  set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE Debug)
+endif(NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
+
+string (TOUPPER ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
+
+# Set compile flags based on the build type.
+message("Configured for ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} build (set with cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE={release,debug,...})")
+if ("${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}" STREQUAL "DEBUG")
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS ${CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG})
+elseif ("${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}" STREQUAL "FASTDEBUG")
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS ${CXX_FLAGS_FASTDEBUG})
+elseif ("${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}" STREQUAL "RELEASE")
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS ${CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE})
+else()
+  message(FATAL_ERROR "Unknown build type: ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}")
+endif ()
+
+# Add common flags
+set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CXX_COMMON_FLAGS} ${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS}")
+
+# Determine compiler version
+include(CompilerInfo)
+
+if ("${COMPILER_FAMILY}" STREQUAL "clang")
+  # Using Clang with ccache causes a bunch of spurious warnings that are
+  # purportedly fixed in the next version of ccache. See the following for details:
+  #
+  #   http://petereisentraut.blogspot.com/2011/05/ccache-and-clang.html
+  #   http://petereisentraut.blogspot.com/2011/09/ccache-and-clang-part-2.html
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -Qunused-arguments")
+endif()
+
+set(PYARROW_LINK "a")
+
+# For any C code, use the same flags.
+set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS}")
+
+# Code coverage
+if ("${PYARROW_GENERATE_COVERAGE}")
+  if("${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER}" MATCHES ".*clang.*")
+    # There appears to be some bugs in clang 3.3 which cause code coverage
+    # to have link errors, not locating the llvm_gcda_* symbols.
+    # This should be fixed in llvm 3.4 with http://llvm.org/viewvc/llvm-project?view=revision&revision=184666
+    message(SEND_ERROR "Cannot currently generate coverage with clang")
+  endif()
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} --coverage -DCOVERAGE_BUILD")
+
+  # For coverage to work properly, we need to use static linkage. Otherwise,
+  # __gcov_flush() doesn't properly flush coverage from every module.
+  # See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/28164543/using-gcov-flush-within-a-library-doesnt-force-the-other-modules-to-yield-gc
+  if("${PYARROW_LINK}" STREQUAL "a")
+    message("Using static linking for coverage build")
+    set(PYARROW_LINK "s")
+  elseif("${PYARROW_LINK}" STREQUAL "d")
+    message(SEND_ERROR "Cannot use coverage with static linking")
+  endif()
+endif()
+
+# If we still don't know what kind of linking to perform, choose based on
+# build type (developers like fast builds).
+if ("${PYARROW_LINK}" STREQUAL "a")
+  if ("${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}" STREQUAL "DEBUG" OR
+      "${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}" STREQUAL "FASTDEBUG")
+    message("Using dynamic linking for ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} builds")
+    set(PYARROW_LINK "d")
+  else()
+    message("Using static linking for ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} builds")
+    set(PYARROW_LINK "s")
+  endif()
+endif()
+
+# Are we using the gold linker? It doesn't work with dynamic linking as
+# weak symbols aren't properly overridden, causing tcmalloc to be omitted.
+# Let's flag this as an error in RELEASE builds (we shouldn't release a
+# product like this).
+#
+# See https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=16979 for details.
+#
+# The gold linker is only for ELF binaries, which OSX doesn't use. We can
+# just skip.
+if (NOT APPLE)
+  execute_process(COMMAND ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER} -Wl,--version OUTPUT_VARIABLE LINKER_OUTPUT)
+endif ()
+if (LINKER_OUTPUT MATCHES "gold")
+  if ("${PYARROW_LINK}" STREQUAL "d" AND
+      "${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}" STREQUAL "RELEASE")
+    message(SEND_ERROR "Cannot use gold with dynamic linking in a RELEASE build "
+      "as it would cause tcmalloc symbols to get dropped")
+  else()
+    message("Using gold linker")
+  endif()
+  set(PYARROW_USING_GOLD 1)
+else()
+  message("Using ld linker")
+endif()
+
+# Having set PYARROW_LINK due to build type and/or sanitizer, it's now safe to
+# act on its value.
+if ("${PYARROW_LINK}" STREQUAL "d")
+  set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS ON)
+
+  # Position independent code is only necessary when producing shared objects.
+  add_definitions(-fPIC)
+endif()
+
+# set compile output directory
+string (TOLOWER ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} BUILD_SUBDIR_NAME)
+
+# If build in-source, create the latest symlink. If build out-of-source, which is
+# preferred, simply output the binaries in the build folder
+if (${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR} STREQUAL ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR})
+  set(BUILD_OUTPUT_ROOT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/build/${BUILD_SUBDIR_NAME}/")
+  # Link build/latest to the current build directory, to avoid developers
+  # accidentally running the latest debug build when in fact they're building
+  # release builds.
+  FILE(MAKE_DIRECTORY ${BUILD_OUTPUT_ROOT_DIRECTORY})
+  if (NOT APPLE)
+    set(MORE_ARGS "-T")
+  endif()
+EXECUTE_PROCESS(COMMAND ln ${MORE_ARGS} -sf ${BUILD_OUTPUT_ROOT_DIRECTORY}
+  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/build/latest)
+else()
+  set(BUILD_OUTPUT_ROOT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}")
+  # set(BUILD_OUTPUT_ROOT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${BUILD_SUBDIR_NAME}/")
+endif()
+
+# where to put generated archives (.a files)
+set(CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${BUILD_OUTPUT_ROOT_DIRECTORY}")
+set(ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${BUILD_OUTPUT_ROOT_DIRECTORY}")
+
+# where to put generated libraries (.so files)
+set(CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${BUILD_OUTPUT_ROOT_DIRECTORY}")
+set(LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${BUILD_OUTPUT_ROOT_DIRECTORY}")
+
+# where to put generated binaries
+set(EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH "${BUILD_OUTPUT_ROOT_DIRECTORY}")
+
+## Python and libraries
+find_package(PythonLibsNew REQUIRED)
+include(UseCython)
+
+include_directories(SYSTEM
+  src)
+
+############################################################
+# Testing
+############################################################
+
+# Add a new test case, with or without an executable that should be built.
+#
+# REL_TEST_NAME is the name of the test. It may be a single component
+# (e.g. monotime-test) or contain additional components (e.g.
+# net/net_util-test). Either way, the last component must be a globally
+# unique name.
+#
+# Arguments after the test name will be passed to set_tests_properties().
+function(ADD_PYARROW_TEST REL_TEST_NAME)
+  if(NO_TESTS)
+    return()
+  endif()
+  get_filename_component(TEST_NAME ${REL_TEST_NAME} NAME_WE)
+
+  if(EXISTS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${REL_TEST_NAME}.cc)
+    # This test has a corresponding .cc file, set it up as an executable.
+    set(TEST_PATH "${EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH}/${TEST_NAME}")
+    add_executable(${TEST_NAME} "${REL_TEST_NAME}.cc")
+    target_link_libraries(${TEST_NAME} ${PYARROW_TEST_LINK_LIBS})
+  else()
+    # No executable, just invoke the test (probably a script) directly.
+    set(TEST_PATH ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${REL_TEST_NAME})
+  endif()
+
+  add_test(${TEST_NAME}
+    ${BUILD_SUPPORT_DIR}/run-test.sh ${TEST_PATH})
+  if(ARGN)
+    set_tests_properties(${TEST_NAME} PROPERTIES ${ARGN})
+  endif()
+endfunction()
+
+# A wrapper for add_dependencies() that is compatible with NO_TESTS.
+function(ADD_PYARROW_TEST_DEPENDENCIES REL_TEST_NAME)
+  if(NO_TESTS)
+    return()
+  endif()
+  get_filename_component(TEST_NAME ${REL_TEST_NAME} NAME_WE)
+
+  add_dependencies(${TEST_NAME} ${ARGN})
+endfunction()
+
+enable_testing()
+
+############################################################
+# Dependencies
+############################################################
+function(ADD_THIRDPARTY_LIB LIB_NAME)
+  set(options)
+  set(one_value_args SHARED_LIB STATIC_LIB)
+  set(multi_value_args DEPS)
+  cmake_parse_arguments(ARG "${options}" "${one_value_args}" "${multi_value_args}" ${ARGN})
+  if(ARG_UNPARSED_ARGUMENTS)
+    message(SEND_ERROR "Error: unrecognized arguments: ${ARG_UNPARSED_ARGUMENTS}")
+  endif()
+
+  if(("${PYARROW_LINK}" STREQUAL "s" AND ARG_STATIC_LIB) OR (NOT ARG_SHARED_LIB))
+    if(NOT ARG_STATIC_LIB)
+      message(FATAL_ERROR "No static or shared library provided for ${LIB_NAME}")
+    endif()
+    add_library(${LIB_NAME} STATIC IMPORTED)
+    set_target_properties(${LIB_NAME}
+      PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LOCATION "${ARG_STATIC_LIB}")
+    message("Added static library dependency ${LIB_NAME}: ${ARG_STATIC_LIB}")
+  else()
+    add_library(${LIB_NAME} SHARED IMPORTED)
+    set_target_properties(${LIB_NAME}
+      PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LOCATION "${ARG_SHARED_LIB}")
+    message("Added shared library dependency ${LIB_NAME}: ${ARG_SHARED_LIB}")
+  endif()
+
+  if(ARG_DEPS)
+    set_target_properties(${LIB_NAME}
+      PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES "${ARG_DEPS}")
+  endif()
+
+  # Set up an "exported variant" for this thirdparty library (see "Visibility"
+  # above). It's the same as the real target, just with an "_exported" suffix.
+  # We prefer the static archive if it exists (as it's akin to an "internal"
+  # library), but we'll settle for the shared object if we must.
+  #
+  # A shared object exported variant will force any "leaf" library that
+  # transitively depends on it to also depend on it at runtime; this is
+  # desirable for some libraries (e.g. cyrus_sasl).
+  set(LIB_NAME_EXPORTED ${LIB_NAME}_exported)
+  if(ARG_STATIC_LIB)
+    add_library(${LIB_NAME_EXPORTED} STATIC IMPORTED)
+    set_target_properties(${LIB_NAME_EXPORTED}
+      PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LOCATION "${ARG_STATIC_LIB}")
+  else()
+    add_library(${LIB_NAME_EXPORTED} SHARED IMPORTED)
+    set_target_properties(${LIB_NAME_EXPORTED}
+      PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LOCATION "${ARG_SHARED_LIB}")
+  endif()
+  if(ARG_DEPS)
+    set_target_properties(${LIB_NAME_EXPORTED}
+      PROPERTIES IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES "${ARG_DEPS}")
+  endif()
+endfunction()
+
+## GMock
+find_package(GTest REQUIRED)
+include_directories(SYSTEM ${GTEST_INCLUDE_DIR})
+ADD_THIRDPARTY_LIB(gtest
+  STATIC_LIB ${GTEST_STATIC_LIB})
+
+## Arrow
+find_package(Arrow REQUIRED)
+include_directories(SYSTEM ${ARROW_INCLUDE_DIR})
+ADD_THIRDPARTY_LIB(arrow
+  SHARED_LIB ${ARROW_SHARED_LIB})
+
+############################################################
+# Linker setup
+############################################################
+
+set(PYARROW_MIN_TEST_LIBS
+  pyarrow_test_main
+  pyarrow)
+
+set(PYARROW_MIN_TEST_LIBS
+  pyarrow_test_main
+  pyarrow
+  ${PYARROW_BASE_LIBS})
+
+set(PYARROW_TEST_LINK_LIBS ${PYARROW_MIN_TEST_LIBS})
+
+############################################################
+# "make ctags" target
+############################################################
+if (UNIX)
+  add_custom_target(ctags ctags -R --languages=c++,c --exclude=thirdparty/installed)
+endif (UNIX)
+
+############################################################
+# "make etags" target
+############################################################
+if (UNIX)
+  add_custom_target(tags etags --members --declarations
+  `find ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src
+   -name \\*.cc -or -name \\*.hh -or -name \\*.cpp -or -name \\*.h -or -name \\*.c -or
+   -name \\*.f`)
+  add_custom_target(etags DEPENDS tags)
+endif (UNIX)
+
+############################################################
+# "make cscope" target
+############################################################
+if (UNIX)
+  add_custom_target(cscope find ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
+  ( -name \\*.cc -or -name \\*.hh -or -name \\*.cpp -or
+    -name \\*.h -or -name \\*.c -or -name \\*.f )
+  -exec echo \"{}\" \; > cscope.files && cscope -q -b VERBATIM)
+endif (UNIX)
+
+############################################################
+# "make lint" target
+############################################################
+if (UNIX)
+  # Full lint
+  add_custom_target(lint ${BUILD_SUPPORT_DIR}/cpplint.py
+  --verbose=2
+  --filter=-whitespace/comments,-readability/todo,-build/header_guard
+    `find ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src -name \\*.cc -or -name \\*.h`)
+endif (UNIX)
+
+############################################################
+# Subdirectories
+############################################################
+
+add_subdirectory(src/pyarrow)
+add_subdirectory(src/pyarrow/util)
+
+set(PYARROW_SRCS
+  src/pyarrow/init.cc
+)
+
+set(LINK_LIBS
+  pyarrow_util
+  arrow
+)
+
+add_library(pyarrow SHARED
+  ${PYARROW_SRCS})
+target_link_libraries(pyarrow ${LINK_LIBS})
+set_target_properties(pyarrow PROPERTIES LINKER_LANGUAGE CXX)
+
+if(APPLE)
+  set_target_properties(pyarrow PROPERTIES LINK_FLAGS "-undefined dynamic_lookup")
+endif()
+
+############################################################
+# Setup and build Cython modules
+############################################################
+
+foreach(pyx_api_file
+    arrow/config.pyx
+    arrow/parquet.pyx)
+    set_source_files_properties(${pyx_api_file} PROPERTIES CYTHON_API 1)
+endforeach(pyx_api_file)
+
+set(USE_RELATIVE_RPATH ON)
+set(CMAKE_BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH TRUE)
+
+set(CYTHON_EXTENSIONS
+  config
+  parquet
+)
+
+foreach(module ${CYTHON_EXTENSIONS})
+    string(REPLACE "." ";" directories ${module})
+    list(GET directories -1 module_name)
+    list(REMOVE_AT directories -1)
+
+    string(REPLACE "." "/" module_root "${module}")
+    set(module_SRC arrow/${module_root}.pyx)
+    set_source_files_properties(${module_SRC} PROPERTIES CYTHON_IS_CXX 1)
+
+    cython_add_module(${module_name}
+      ${module_name}_pyx
+      ${module_name}_output
+      ${module_SRC})
+
+    if (directories)
+        string(REPLACE ";" "/" module_output_directory ${directories})
+        set_target_properties(${module_name} PROPERTIES
+          LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${module_output_directory})
+    endif()
+
+    if(APPLE)
+        set(module_install_rpath "@loader_path")
+    else()
+        set(module_install_rpath "$ORIGIN")
+    endif()
+    list(LENGTH directories i)
+    while(${i} GREATER 0)
+        set(module_install_rpath "${module_install_rpath}/..")
+        math(EXPR i "${i} - 1" )
+    endwhile(${i} GREATER 0)
+
+    # for inplace development for now
+    set(module_install_rpath "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/arrow/")
+
+    set_target_properties(${module_name} PROPERTIES
+      INSTALL_RPATH ${module_install_rpath})
+    target_link_libraries(${module_name} pyarrow)
+endforeach(module)
diff --git a/python/LICENSE.txt b/python/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..078e144ded1c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+## 3rd-party licenses for code that has been adapted for the Arrow Python
+   library
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Some code from pandas has been adapted for this codebase. pandas is available
+under the 3-clause BSD license, which follows:
+
+pandas license
+==============
+
+Copyright (c) 2011-2012, Lambda Foundry, Inc. and PyData Development Team
+All rights reserved.
+
+Copyright (c) 2008-2011 AQR Capital Management, LLC
+All rights reserved.
+
+Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
+met:
+
+    * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+       notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+
+    * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
+       copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
+       disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
+       with the distribution.
+
+    * Neither the name of the copyright holder nor the names of any
+       contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
+       from this software without specific prior written permission.
+
+THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER AND CONTRIBUTORS
+"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
+A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
+OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
+DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
+THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
+(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
+OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Some bits from DyND, in particular aspects of the build system, have been
+adapted from libdynd and dynd-python under the terms of the BSD 2-clause
+license
+
+The BSD 2-Clause License
+
+    Copyright (C) 2011-12, Dynamic NDArray Developers
+    All rights reserved.
+
+    Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+    modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
+    met:
+
+        * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+           notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+
+        * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
+           copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
+           disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
+           with the distribution.
+
+    THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
+    "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+    LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
+    A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
+    OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+    SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+    LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
+    DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
+    THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
+    (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
+    OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+
+Dynamic NDArray Developers list:
+
+ * Mark Wiebe
+ * Continuum Analytics
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Some source code from Ibis (https://github.com/cloudera/ibis) has been adapted
+for Arrow. Ibis is released under the Apache License, Version 2.0.
diff --git a/python/README.md b/python/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c79fa9786f476
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+## Python library for Apache Arrow
+
+This library provides a Pythonic API wrapper for the reference Arrow C++
+implementation, along with tools for interoperability with pandas, NumPy, and
+other traditional Python scientific computing packages.
+
+#### Development details
+
+This project is layered in two pieces:
+
+* pyarrow, a C++ library for easier interoperability between Arrow C++, NumPy,
+  and pandas
+* Cython extensions and pure Python code under arrow/ which expose Arrow C++
+  and pyarrow to pure Python users
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/python/arrow/__init__.py b/python/arrow/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e69de29bb2d1d
diff --git a/python/arrow/compat.py b/python/arrow/compat.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..2ac41ac8abf89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/arrow/compat.py
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+# flake8: noqa
+
+import itertools
+
+import numpy as np
+
+import sys
+import six
+from six import BytesIO, StringIO, string_types as py_string
+
+
+PY26 = sys.version_info[:2] == (2, 6)
+PY2 = sys.version_info[0] == 2
+
+
+if PY26:
+    import unittest2 as unittest
+else:
+    import unittest
+
+
+if PY2:
+    import cPickle
+
+    try:
+        from cdecimal import Decimal
+    except ImportError:
+        from decimal import Decimal
+
+    unicode_type = unicode
+    lzip = zip
+    zip = itertools.izip
+
+    def dict_values(x):
+        return x.values()
+
+    range = xrange
+    long = long
+
+    def tobytes(o):
+        if isinstance(o, unicode):
+            return o.encode('utf8')
+        else:
+            return o
+
+    def frombytes(o):
+        return o
+else:
+    unicode_type = str
+    def lzip(*x):
+        return list(zip(*x))
+    long = int
+    zip = zip
+    def dict_values(x):
+        return list(x.values())
+    from decimal import Decimal
+    range = range
+
+    def tobytes(o):
+        if isinstance(o, str):
+            return o.encode('utf8')
+        else:
+            return o
+
+    def frombytes(o):
+        return o.decode('utf8')
+
+
+integer_types = six.integer_types + (np.integer,)
diff --git a/python/arrow/config.pyx b/python/arrow/config.pyx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..8f10beb3a2e72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/arrow/config.pyx
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# cython: profile=False
+# distutils: language = c++
+# cython: embedsignature = True
+
+cdef extern from 'pyarrow/init.h' namespace 'arrow::py':
+    void pyarrow_init()
+
+pyarrow_init()
diff --git a/python/arrow/includes/__init__.pxd b/python/arrow/includes/__init__.pxd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e69de29bb2d1d
diff --git a/python/arrow/includes/arrow.pxd b/python/arrow/includes/arrow.pxd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..3635ceb868596
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/arrow/includes/arrow.pxd
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+# distutils: language = c++
+
+from arrow.includes.common cimport *
+
+cdef extern from "arrow/api.h" namespace "arrow" nogil:
+    pass
diff --git a/python/arrow/includes/common.pxd b/python/arrow/includes/common.pxd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..f2fc826625e45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/arrow/includes/common.pxd
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+# distutils: language = c++
+
+from libc.stdint cimport *
+from libcpp cimport bool as c_bool
+from libcpp.string cimport string
+from libcpp.vector cimport vector
+
+# This must be included for cerr and other things to work
+cdef extern from "<iostream>":
+    pass
+
+cdef extern from "<memory>" namespace "std" nogil:
+
+    cdef cppclass shared_ptr[T]:
+        T* get()
+        void reset()
+        void reset(T* p)
diff --git a/python/arrow/includes/parquet.pxd b/python/arrow/includes/parquet.pxd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..62342f3066969
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/arrow/includes/parquet.pxd
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+# distutils: language = c++
+
+from arrow.includes.common cimport *
+
+cdef extern from "parquet/api/reader.h" namespace "parquet_cpp" nogil:
+    cdef cppclass ColumnReader:
+        pass
+
+    cdef cppclass BoolReader(ColumnReader):
+        pass
+
+    cdef cppclass Int32Reader(ColumnReader):
+        pass
+
+    cdef cppclass Int64Reader(ColumnReader):
+        pass
+
+    cdef cppclass Int96Reader(ColumnReader):
+        pass
+
+    cdef cppclass FloatReader(ColumnReader):
+        pass
+
+    cdef cppclass DoubleReader(ColumnReader):
+        pass
+
+    cdef cppclass ByteArrayReader(ColumnReader):
+        pass
+
+    cdef cppclass RowGroupReader:
+        pass
+
+    cdef cppclass ParquetFileReader:
+        pass
diff --git a/python/arrow/includes/pyarrow.pxd b/python/arrow/includes/pyarrow.pxd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..dcef663f3894d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/arrow/includes/pyarrow.pxd
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+# distutils: language = c++
+
+from arrow.includes.common cimport *
+
+cdef extern from "pyarrow/api.h" namespace "pyarrow" nogil:
+    pass
diff --git a/python/arrow/parquet.pyx b/python/arrow/parquet.pyx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..23c3838bcad1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/arrow/parquet.pyx
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+# cython: profile=False
+# distutils: language = c++
+# cython: embedsignature = True
+
+from arrow.compat import frombytes, tobytes
+from arrow.includes.parquet cimport *
diff --git a/python/arrow/tests/__init__.py b/python/arrow/tests/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e69de29bb2d1d
diff --git a/python/cmake_modules/CompilerInfo.cmake b/python/cmake_modules/CompilerInfo.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e66bc2693eead
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/cmake_modules/CompilerInfo.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+#
+# Sets COMPILER_FAMILY to 'clang' or 'gcc'
+# Sets COMPILER_VERSION to the version
+execute_process(COMMAND "${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER}" -v
+                ERROR_VARIABLE COMPILER_VERSION_FULL)
+message(INFO " ${COMPILER_VERSION_FULL}")
+
+# clang on Linux and Mac OS X before 10.9
+if("${COMPILER_VERSION_FULL}" MATCHES ".*clang version.*")
+  set(COMPILER_FAMILY "clang")
+  string(REGEX REPLACE ".*clang version ([0-9]+\\.[0-9]+).*" "\\1"
+    COMPILER_VERSION "${COMPILER_VERSION_FULL}")
+# clang on Mac OS X 10.9 and later
+elseif("${COMPILER_VERSION_FULL}" MATCHES ".*based on LLVM.*")
+  set(COMPILER_FAMILY "clang")
+  string(REGEX REPLACE ".*based on LLVM ([0-9]+\\.[0.9]+).*" "\\1"
+    COMPILER_VERSION "${COMPILER_VERSION_FULL}")
+
+# clang on Mac OS X, XCode 7. No version replacement is done
+# because Apple no longer advertises the upstream LLVM version.
+elseif("${COMPILER_VERSION_FULL}" MATCHES "clang-700\\..*")
+  set(COMPILER_FAMILY "clang")
+
+# gcc
+elseif("${COMPILER_VERSION_FULL}" MATCHES ".*gcc version.*")
+  set(COMPILER_FAMILY "gcc")
+  string(REGEX REPLACE ".*gcc version ([0-9\\.]+).*" "\\1"
+    COMPILER_VERSION "${COMPILER_VERSION_FULL}")
+else()
+  message(FATAL_ERROR "Unknown compiler. Version info:\n${COMPILER_VERSION_FULL}")
+endif()
+message("Selected compiler ${COMPILER_FAMILY} ${COMPILER_VERSION}")
diff --git a/python/cmake_modules/FindArrow.cmake b/python/cmake_modules/FindArrow.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..3d9983849ebb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/cmake_modules/FindArrow.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+# - Find ARROW (arrow/api.h, libarrow.a, libarrow.so)
+# This module defines
+#  ARROW_INCLUDE_DIR, directory containing headers
+#  ARROW_LIBS, directory containing arrow libraries
+#  ARROW_STATIC_LIB, path to libarrow.a
+#  ARROW_SHARED_LIB, path to libarrow's shared library
+#  ARROW_FOUND, whether arrow has been found
+
+set(ARROW_SEARCH_HEADER_PATHS
+  $ENV{ARROW_HOME}/include
+)
+
+set(ARROW_SEARCH_LIB_PATH
+  $ENV{ARROW_HOME}/lib
+)
+
+find_path(ARROW_INCLUDE_DIR arrow/array.h PATHS
+  ${ARROW_SEARCH_HEADER_PATHS}
+  # make sure we don't accidentally pick up a different version
+  NO_DEFAULT_PATH
+)
+
+find_library(ARROW_LIB_PATH NAMES arrow
+  PATHS
+  ${ARROW_SEARCH_LIB_PATH}
+  NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
+
+if (ARROW_INCLUDE_DIR AND ARROW_LIB_PATH)
+  set(ARROW_FOUND TRUE)
+  set(ARROW_LIB_NAME libarrow)
+  set(ARROW_LIBS ${ARROW_SEARCH_LIB_PATH})
+  set(ARROW_STATIC_LIB ${ARROW_SEARCH_LIB_PATH}/${ARROW_LIB_NAME}.a)
+  set(ARROW_SHARED_LIB ${ARROW_LIBS}/${ARROW_LIB_NAME}${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_SUFFIX})
+else ()
+  set(ARROW_FOUND FALSE)
+endif ()
+
+if (ARROW_FOUND)
+  if (NOT Arrow_FIND_QUIETLY)
+    message(STATUS "Found the Arrow library: ${ARROW_LIB_PATH}")
+  endif ()
+else ()
+  if (NOT Arrow_FIND_QUIETLY)
+    set(ARROW_ERR_MSG "Could not find the Arrow library. Looked for headers")
+    set(ARROW_ERR_MSG "${ARROW_ERR_MSG} in ${ARROW_SEARCH_HEADER_PATHS}, and for libs")
+    set(ARROW_ERR_MSG "${ARROW_ERR_MSG} in ${ARROW_SEARCH_LIB_PATH}")
+    if (Arrow_FIND_REQUIRED)
+      message(FATAL_ERROR "${ARROW_ERR_MSG}")
+    else (Arrow_FIND_REQUIRED)
+      message(STATUS "${ARROW_ERR_MSG}")
+    endif (Arrow_FIND_REQUIRED)
+  endif ()
+endif ()
+
+mark_as_advanced(
+  ARROW_INCLUDE_DIR
+  ARROW_LIBS
+  ARROW_STATIC_LIB
+  ARROW_SHARED_LIB
+)
diff --git a/python/cmake_modules/FindCython.cmake b/python/cmake_modules/FindCython.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..9df3b5d59d274
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/cmake_modules/FindCython.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# Find the Cython compiler.
+#
+# This code sets the following variables:
+#
+#  CYTHON_EXECUTABLE
+#
+# See also UseCython.cmake
+
+#=============================================================================
+# Copyright 2011 Kitware, Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#=============================================================================
+
+find_program( CYTHON_EXECUTABLE NAMES cython cython.bat )
+
+include( FindPackageHandleStandardArgs )
+FIND_PACKAGE_HANDLE_STANDARD_ARGS( Cython REQUIRED_VARS CYTHON_EXECUTABLE )
+
+mark_as_advanced( CYTHON_EXECUTABLE )
diff --git a/python/cmake_modules/FindNumPy.cmake b/python/cmake_modules/FindNumPy.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..58bb531f5324a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/cmake_modules/FindNumPy.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+# - Find the NumPy libraries
+# This module finds if NumPy is installed, and sets the following variables
+# indicating where it is.
+#
+# TODO: Update to provide the libraries and paths for linking npymath lib.
+#
+#  NUMPY_FOUND               - was NumPy found
+#  NUMPY_VERSION             - the version of NumPy found as a string
+#  NUMPY_VERSION_MAJOR       - the major version number of NumPy
+#  NUMPY_VERSION_MINOR       - the minor version number of NumPy
+#  NUMPY_VERSION_PATCH       - the patch version number of NumPy
+#  NUMPY_VERSION_DECIMAL     - e.g. version 1.6.1 is 10601
+#  NUMPY_INCLUDE_DIRS        - path to the NumPy include files
+
+#============================================================================
+# Copyright 2012 Continuum Analytics, Inc.
+#
+# MIT License
+#
+# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
+# a copy of this software and associated documentation files
+# (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
+# without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
+# distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit
+# persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
+# the following conditions:
+#
+# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
+# in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+#
+# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
+# OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL
+# THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR
+# OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE,
+# ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR
+# OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+#
+#============================================================================
+
+# Finding NumPy involves calling the Python interpreter
+if(NumPy_FIND_REQUIRED)
+    find_package(PythonInterp REQUIRED)
+else()
+    find_package(PythonInterp)
+endif()
+
+if(NOT PYTHONINTERP_FOUND)
+    set(NUMPY_FOUND FALSE)
+    return()
+endif()
+
+execute_process(COMMAND "${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE}" "-c"
+    "import numpy as n; print(n.__version__); print(n.get_include());"
+    RESULT_VARIABLE _NUMPY_SEARCH_SUCCESS
+    OUTPUT_VARIABLE _NUMPY_VALUES_OUTPUT
+    ERROR_VARIABLE _NUMPY_ERROR_VALUE
+    OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE)
+
+if(NOT _NUMPY_SEARCH_SUCCESS MATCHES 0)
+    if(NumPy_FIND_REQUIRED)
+        message(FATAL_ERROR
+            "NumPy import failure:\n${_NUMPY_ERROR_VALUE}")
+    endif()
+    set(NUMPY_FOUND FALSE)
+    return()
+endif()
+
+# Convert the process output into a list
+string(REGEX REPLACE ";" "\\\\;" _NUMPY_VALUES ${_NUMPY_VALUES_OUTPUT})
+string(REGEX REPLACE "\n" ";" _NUMPY_VALUES ${_NUMPY_VALUES})
+list(GET _NUMPY_VALUES 0 NUMPY_VERSION)
+list(GET _NUMPY_VALUES 1 NUMPY_INCLUDE_DIRS)
+
+string(REGEX MATCH "^[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+" _VER_CHECK "${NUMPY_VERSION}")
+if("${_VER_CHECK}" STREQUAL "")
+    # The output from Python was unexpected. Raise an error always
+    # here, because we found NumPy, but it appears to be corrupted somehow.
+    message(FATAL_ERROR
+        "Requested version and include path from NumPy, got instead:\n${_NUMPY_VALUES_OUTPUT}\n")
+    return()
+endif()
+
+# Make sure all directory separators are '/'
+string(REGEX REPLACE "\\\\" "/" NUMPY_INCLUDE_DIRS ${NUMPY_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+
+# Get the major and minor version numbers
+string(REGEX REPLACE "\\." ";" _NUMPY_VERSION_LIST ${NUMPY_VERSION})
+list(GET _NUMPY_VERSION_LIST 0 NUMPY_VERSION_MAJOR)
+list(GET _NUMPY_VERSION_LIST 1 NUMPY_VERSION_MINOR)
+list(GET _NUMPY_VERSION_LIST 2 NUMPY_VERSION_PATCH)
+string(REGEX MATCH "[0-9]*" NUMPY_VERSION_PATCH ${NUMPY_VERSION_PATCH})
+math(EXPR NUMPY_VERSION_DECIMAL
+    "(${NUMPY_VERSION_MAJOR} * 10000) + (${NUMPY_VERSION_MINOR} * 100) + ${NUMPY_VERSION_PATCH}")
+
+find_package_message(NUMPY
+    "Found NumPy: version \"${NUMPY_VERSION}\" ${NUMPY_INCLUDE_DIRS}"
+    "${NUMPY_INCLUDE_DIRS}${NUMPY_VERSION}")
+
+set(NUMPY_FOUND TRUE)
diff --git a/python/cmake_modules/FindPythonLibsNew.cmake b/python/cmake_modules/FindPythonLibsNew.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c70e6bc26a719
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/cmake_modules/FindPythonLibsNew.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,236 @@
+# - Find python libraries
+# This module finds the libraries corresponding to the Python interpeter
+# FindPythonInterp provides.
+# This code sets the following variables:
+#
+#  PYTHONLIBS_FOUND           - have the Python libs been found
+#  PYTHON_PREFIX              - path to the Python installation
+#  PYTHON_LIBRARIES           - path to the python library
+#  PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS        - path to where Python.h is found
+#  PYTHON_SITE_PACKAGES       - path to installation site-packages
+#  PYTHON_IS_DEBUG            - whether the Python interpreter is a debug build
+#
+#  PYTHON_INCLUDE_PATH        - path to where Python.h is found (deprecated)
+#
+# A function PYTHON_ADD_MODULE(<name> src1 src2 ... srcN) is defined
+# to build modules for python.
+#
+# Thanks to talljimbo for the patch adding the 'LDVERSION' config
+# variable usage.
+
+#=============================================================================
+# Copyright 2001-2009 Kitware, Inc.
+# Copyright 2012-2014 Continuum Analytics, Inc.
+#
+# All rights reserved.
+#
+# Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+# modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
+# are met:
+#
+# * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+# notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+#
+# * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
+# notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
+# documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
+#
+# * Neither the names of Kitware, Inc., the Insight Software Consortium,
+# nor the names of their contributors may be used to endorse or promote
+# products derived from this software without specific prior written
+# permission.
+#
+# THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
+# "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+# LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
+# # A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
+# HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+# SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+# LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
+# DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
+# THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
+# (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
+# OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+#=============================================================================
+# (To distribute this file outside of CMake, substitute the full
+#  License text for the above reference.)
+
+# Use the Python interpreter to find the libs.
+if(PythonLibsNew_FIND_REQUIRED)
+    find_package(PythonInterp REQUIRED)
+else()
+    find_package(PythonInterp)
+endif()
+
+if(NOT PYTHONINTERP_FOUND)
+    set(PYTHONLIBS_FOUND FALSE)
+    return()
+endif()
+
+# According to http://stackoverflow.com/questions/646518/python-how-to-detect-debug-interpreter
+# testing whether sys has the gettotalrefcount function is a reliable,
+# cross-platform way to detect a CPython debug interpreter.
+#
+# The library suffix is from the config var LDVERSION sometimes, otherwise
+# VERSION. VERSION will typically be like "2.7" on unix, and "27" on windows.
+#
+# The config var LIBPL is for Linux, and helps on Debian Jessie where the
+# addition of multi-arch support shuffled things around.
+execute_process(COMMAND "${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE}" "-c"
+    "from distutils import sysconfig as s;import sys;import struct;
+print('.'.join(str(v) for v in sys.version_info));
+print(sys.prefix);
+print(s.get_python_inc(plat_specific=True));
+print(s.get_python_lib(plat_specific=True));
+print(s.get_config_var('SO'));
+print(hasattr(sys, 'gettotalrefcount')+0);
+print(struct.calcsize('@P'));
+print(s.get_config_var('LDVERSION') or s.get_config_var('VERSION'));
+print(s.get_config_var('LIBPL'));
+"
+    RESULT_VARIABLE _PYTHON_SUCCESS
+    OUTPUT_VARIABLE _PYTHON_VALUES
+    ERROR_VARIABLE _PYTHON_ERROR_VALUE
+    OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE)
+
+if(NOT _PYTHON_SUCCESS MATCHES 0)
+    if(PythonLibsNew_FIND_REQUIRED)
+        message(FATAL_ERROR
+            "Python config failure:\n${_PYTHON_ERROR_VALUE}")
+    endif()
+    set(PYTHONLIBS_FOUND FALSE)
+    return()
+endif()
+
+# Convert the process output into a list
+string(REGEX REPLACE ";" "\\\\;" _PYTHON_VALUES ${_PYTHON_VALUES})
+string(REGEX REPLACE "\n" ";" _PYTHON_VALUES ${_PYTHON_VALUES})
+list(GET _PYTHON_VALUES 0 _PYTHON_VERSION_LIST)
+list(GET _PYTHON_VALUES 1 PYTHON_PREFIX)
+list(GET _PYTHON_VALUES 2 PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR)
+list(GET _PYTHON_VALUES 3 PYTHON_SITE_PACKAGES)
+list(GET _PYTHON_VALUES 4 PYTHON_MODULE_EXTENSION)
+list(GET _PYTHON_VALUES 5 PYTHON_IS_DEBUG)
+list(GET _PYTHON_VALUES 6 PYTHON_SIZEOF_VOID_P)
+list(GET _PYTHON_VALUES 7 PYTHON_LIBRARY_SUFFIX)
+list(GET _PYTHON_VALUES 8 PYTHON_LIBRARY_PATH)
+
+# Make sure the Python has the same pointer-size as the chosen compiler
+# Skip the check on OS X, it doesn't consistently have CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P defined
+if((NOT APPLE) AND (NOT "${PYTHON_SIZEOF_VOID_P}" STREQUAL "${CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P}"))
+    if(PythonLibsNew_FIND_REQUIRED)
+        math(EXPR _PYTHON_BITS "${PYTHON_SIZEOF_VOID_P} * 8")
+        math(EXPR _CMAKE_BITS "${CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P} * 8")
+        message(FATAL_ERROR
+            "Python config failure: Python is ${_PYTHON_BITS}-bit, "
+            "chosen compiler is  ${_CMAKE_BITS}-bit")
+    endif()
+    set(PYTHONLIBS_FOUND FALSE)
+    return()
+endif()
+
+# The built-in FindPython didn't always give the version numbers
+string(REGEX REPLACE "\\." ";" _PYTHON_VERSION_LIST ${_PYTHON_VERSION_LIST})
+list(GET _PYTHON_VERSION_LIST 0 PYTHON_VERSION_MAJOR)
+list(GET _PYTHON_VERSION_LIST 1 PYTHON_VERSION_MINOR)
+list(GET _PYTHON_VERSION_LIST 2 PYTHON_VERSION_PATCH)
+
+# Make sure all directory separators are '/'
+string(REGEX REPLACE "\\\\" "/" PYTHON_PREFIX ${PYTHON_PREFIX})
+string(REGEX REPLACE "\\\\" "/" PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR ${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR})
+string(REGEX REPLACE "\\\\" "/" PYTHON_SITE_PACKAGES ${PYTHON_SITE_PACKAGES})
+
+if(CMAKE_HOST_WIN32)
+    if("${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID}" STREQUAL "MSVC")
+        set(PYTHON_LIBRARY
+            "${PYTHON_PREFIX}/libs/Python${PYTHON_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}.lib")
+    else()
+        set(PYTHON_LIBRARY "${PYTHON_PREFIX}/libs/libpython${PYTHON_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}.a")
+    endif()
+elseif(APPLE)
+     # Seems to require "-undefined dynamic_lookup" instead of linking
+     # against the .dylib, otherwise it crashes. This flag is added
+     # below
+    set(PYTHON_LIBRARY "")
+    #set(PYTHON_LIBRARY
+    #    "${PYTHON_PREFIX}/lib/libpython${PYTHON_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}.dylib")
+else()
+    if(${PYTHON_SIZEOF_VOID_P} MATCHES 8)
+        set(_PYTHON_LIBS_SEARCH "${PYTHON_PREFIX}/lib64" "${PYTHON_PREFIX}/lib" "${PYTHON_LIBRARY_PATH}")
+    else()
+        set(_PYTHON_LIBS_SEARCH "${PYTHON_PREFIX}/lib" "${PYTHON_LIBRARY_PATH}")
+    endif()
+    message(STATUS "Searching for Python libs in ${_PYTHON_LIBS_SEARCH}")
+    # Probably this needs to be more involved. It would be nice if the config
+    # information the python interpreter itself gave us were more complete.
+    find_library(PYTHON_LIBRARY
+        NAMES "python${PYTHON_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}"
+        PATHS ${_PYTHON_LIBS_SEARCH}
+        NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
+    message(STATUS "Found Python lib ${PYTHON_LIBRARY}")
+endif()
+
+# For backward compatibility, set PYTHON_INCLUDE_PATH, but make it internal.
+SET(PYTHON_INCLUDE_PATH "${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR}" CACHE INTERNAL
+          "Path to where Python.h is found (deprecated)")
+
+MARK_AS_ADVANCED(
+  PYTHON_LIBRARY
+  PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR
+)
+
+# We use PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR, PYTHON_LIBRARY and PYTHON_DEBUG_LIBRARY for the
+# cache entries because they are meant to specify the location of a single
+# library. We now set the variables listed by the documentation for this
+# module.
+SET(PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS "${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR}")
+SET(PYTHON_LIBRARIES "${PYTHON_LIBRARY}")
+SET(PYTHON_DEBUG_LIBRARIES "${PYTHON_DEBUG_LIBRARY}")
+
+
+# Don't know how to get to this directory, just doing something simple :P
+#INCLUDE(${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/FindPackageHandleStandardArgs.cmake)
+#FIND_PACKAGE_HANDLE_STANDARD_ARGS(PythonLibs DEFAULT_MSG PYTHON_LIBRARIES PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS)
+find_package_message(PYTHON
+    "Found PythonLibs: ${PYTHON_LIBRARY}"
+    "${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE}${PYTHON_VERSION}")
+
+
+# PYTHON_ADD_MODULE(<name> src1 src2 ... srcN) is used to build modules for python.
+FUNCTION(PYTHON_ADD_MODULE _NAME )
+  GET_PROPERTY(_TARGET_SUPPORTS_SHARED_LIBS
+    GLOBAL PROPERTY TARGET_SUPPORTS_SHARED_LIBS)
+  OPTION(PYTHON_ENABLE_MODULE_${_NAME} "Add module ${_NAME}" TRUE)
+  OPTION(PYTHON_MODULE_${_NAME}_BUILD_SHARED
+    "Add module ${_NAME} shared" ${_TARGET_SUPPORTS_SHARED_LIBS})
+
+  # Mark these options as advanced
+  MARK_AS_ADVANCED(PYTHON_ENABLE_MODULE_${_NAME}
+    PYTHON_MODULE_${_NAME}_BUILD_SHARED)
+
+  IF(PYTHON_ENABLE_MODULE_${_NAME})
+    IF(PYTHON_MODULE_${_NAME}_BUILD_SHARED)
+      SET(PY_MODULE_TYPE MODULE)
+    ELSE(PYTHON_MODULE_${_NAME}_BUILD_SHARED)
+      SET(PY_MODULE_TYPE STATIC)
+      SET_PROPERTY(GLOBAL  APPEND  PROPERTY  PY_STATIC_MODULES_LIST ${_NAME})
+    ENDIF(PYTHON_MODULE_${_NAME}_BUILD_SHARED)
+
+    SET_PROPERTY(GLOBAL  APPEND  PROPERTY  PY_MODULES_LIST ${_NAME})
+    ADD_LIBRARY(${_NAME} ${PY_MODULE_TYPE} ${ARGN})
+    IF(APPLE)
+      # On OS X, linking against the Python libraries causes
+      # segfaults, so do this dynamic lookup instead.
+      SET_TARGET_PROPERTIES(${_NAME} PROPERTIES LINK_FLAGS
+                          "-undefined dynamic_lookup")
+    ELSE()
+      TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(${_NAME} ${PYTHON_LIBRARIES})
+    ENDIF()
+    IF(PYTHON_MODULE_${_NAME}_BUILD_SHARED)
+      SET_TARGET_PROPERTIES(${_NAME} PROPERTIES PREFIX "${PYTHON_MODULE_PREFIX}")
+      SET_TARGET_PROPERTIES(${_NAME} PROPERTIES SUFFIX "${PYTHON_MODULE_EXTENSION}")
+    ELSE()
+    ENDIF()
+
+  ENDIF(PYTHON_ENABLE_MODULE_${_NAME})
+ENDFUNCTION(PYTHON_ADD_MODULE)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/python/cmake_modules/UseCython.cmake b/python/cmake_modules/UseCython.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e7034db52f335
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/cmake_modules/UseCython.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,164 @@
+# Define a function to create Cython modules.
+#
+# For more information on the Cython project, see http://cython.org/.
+# "Cython is a language that makes writing C extensions for the Python language
+# as easy as Python itself."
+#
+# This file defines a CMake function to build a Cython Python module.
+# To use it, first include this file.
+#
+#   include( UseCython )
+#
+# Then call cython_add_module to create a module.
+#
+#   cython_add_module( <target_name> <pyx_target_name> <output_files> <src1> <src2> ... <srcN> )
+#
+# Where <module_name> is the desired name of the target for the resulting Python module,
+# <pyx_target_name> is the desired name of the target that runs the Cython compiler
+# to generate the needed C or C++ files, <output_files> is a variable to hold the
+# files generated by Cython, and <src1> <src2> ... are source files
+# to be compiled into the module, e.g. *.pyx, *.c, *.cxx, etc.
+# only one .pyx file may be present for each target
+# (this is an inherent limitation of Cython).
+#
+# The sample paths set with the CMake include_directories() command will be used
+# for include directories to search for *.pxd when running the Cython complire.
+#
+# Cache variables that effect the behavior include:
+#
+#  CYTHON_ANNOTATE
+#  CYTHON_NO_DOCSTRINGS
+#  CYTHON_FLAGS
+#
+# Source file properties that effect the build process are
+#
+#  CYTHON_IS_CXX
+#  CYTHON_IS_PUBLIC
+#  CYTHON_IS_API
+#
+# If this is set of a *.pyx file with CMake set_source_files_properties()
+# command, the file will be compiled as a C++ file.
+#
+# See also FindCython.cmake
+
+#=============================================================================
+# Copyright 2011 Kitware, Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#=============================================================================
+
+# Configuration options.
+set( CYTHON_ANNOTATE OFF
+  CACHE BOOL "Create an annotated .html file when compiling *.pyx." )
+set( CYTHON_NO_DOCSTRINGS OFF
+  CACHE BOOL "Strip docstrings from the compiled module." )
+set( CYTHON_FLAGS "" CACHE STRING
+  "Extra flags to the cython compiler." )
+mark_as_advanced( CYTHON_ANNOTATE CYTHON_NO_DOCSTRINGS CYTHON_FLAGS )
+
+find_package( Cython REQUIRED )
+find_package( PythonLibsNew REQUIRED )
+
+set( CYTHON_CXX_EXTENSION "cxx" )
+set( CYTHON_C_EXTENSION "c" )
+
+# Create a *.c or *.cxx file from a *.pyx file.
+# Input the generated file basename.  The generate files will put into the variable
+# placed in the "generated_files" argument. Finally all the *.py and *.pyx files.
+function( compile_pyx _name pyx_target_name generated_files pyx_file)
+  # Default to assuming all files are C.
+  set( cxx_arg "" )
+  set( extension ${CYTHON_C_EXTENSION} )
+  set( pyx_lang "C" )
+  set( comment "Compiling Cython C source for ${_name}..." )
+
+  get_filename_component( pyx_file_basename "${pyx_file}" NAME_WE )
+
+  # Determine if it is a C or C++ file.
+  get_source_file_property( property_is_cxx ${pyx_file} CYTHON_IS_CXX )
+  if( ${property_is_cxx} )
+    set( cxx_arg "--cplus" )
+    set( extension ${CYTHON_CXX_EXTENSION} )
+    set( pyx_lang "CXX" )
+    set( comment "Compiling Cython CXX source for ${_name}..." )
+  endif()
+  get_source_file_property( pyx_location ${pyx_file} LOCATION )
+
+  # Set additional flags.
+  if( CYTHON_ANNOTATE )
+    set( annotate_arg "--annotate" )
+  endif()
+
+  if( CYTHON_NO_DOCSTRINGS )
+    set( no_docstrings_arg "--no-docstrings" )
+  endif()
+
+  if(NOT WIN32)
+      if( "${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}" STREQUAL "Debug" OR
+            "${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}" STREQUAL "RelWithDebInfo" )
+          set( cython_debug_arg "--gdb" )
+      endif()
+  endif()
+
+  # Determining generated file names.
+  get_source_file_property( property_is_public ${pyx_file} CYTHON_PUBLIC )
+  get_source_file_property( property_is_api ${pyx_file} CYTHON_API )
+  if( ${property_is_api} )
+      set( _generated_files "${_name}.${extension}" "${_name}.h" "${name}_api.h")
+  elseif( ${property_is_public} )
+      set( _generated_files "${_name}.${extension}" "${_name}.h")
+  else()
+      set( _generated_files "${_name}.${extension}")
+  endif()
+  set_source_files_properties( ${_generated_files} PROPERTIES GENERATED TRUE )
+  set( ${generated_files} ${_generated_files} PARENT_SCOPE )
+
+  # Add the command to run the compiler.
+  add_custom_target(${pyx_target_name}
+    COMMAND ${CYTHON_EXECUTABLE} ${cxx_arg} ${include_directory_arg}
+    ${annotate_arg} ${no_docstrings_arg} ${cython_debug_arg} ${CYTHON_FLAGS}
+    --output-file "${_name}.${extension}" ${pyx_location}
+    DEPENDS ${pyx_location}
+    # do not specify byproducts for now since they don't work with the older
+    # version of cmake available in the apt repositories.
+    #BYPRODUCTS ${_generated_files}
+    COMMENT ${comment}
+    )
+
+  # Remove their visibility to the user.
+  set( corresponding_pxd_file "" CACHE INTERNAL "" )
+  set( header_location "" CACHE INTERNAL "" )
+  set( pxd_location "" CACHE INTERNAL "" )
+endfunction()
+
+# cython_add_module( <name> src1 src2 ... srcN )
+# Build the Cython Python module.
+function( cython_add_module _name pyx_target_name generated_files)
+  set( pyx_module_source "" )
+  set( other_module_sources "" )
+  foreach( _file ${ARGN} )
+    if( ${_file} MATCHES ".*\\.py[x]?$" )
+      list( APPEND pyx_module_source ${_file} )
+    else()
+      list( APPEND other_module_sources ${_file} )
+    endif()
+  endforeach()
+  compile_pyx( ${_name} ${pyx_target_name} _generated_files ${pyx_module_source} )
+  set( ${generated_files} ${_generated_files} PARENT_SCOPE )
+  include_directories( ${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS} )
+  python_add_module( ${_name} ${_generated_files} ${other_module_sources} )
+  add_dependencies( ${_name} ${pyx_target_name})
+  target_link_libraries( ${_name} ${PYTHON_LIBRARIES} )
+endfunction()
+
+include( CMakeParseArguments )
diff --git a/python/setup.py b/python/setup.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..f6b0a4bee8316
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/setup.py
@@ -0,0 +1,244 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+import glob
+import os.path as osp
+import re
+import shutil
+from Cython.Distutils import build_ext as _build_ext
+import Cython
+
+import sys
+
+import pkg_resources
+from setuptools import setup
+
+import os
+
+from os.path import join as pjoin
+
+from distutils.command.clean import clean as _clean
+from distutils import sysconfig
+
+# Check if we're running 64-bit Python
+is_64_bit = sys.maxsize > 2**32
+
+# Check if this is a debug build of Python.
+if hasattr(sys, 'gettotalrefcount'):
+    build_type = 'Debug'
+else:
+    build_type = 'Release'
+
+if Cython.__version__ < '0.19.1':
+    raise Exception('Please upgrade to Cython 0.19.1 or newer')
+
+MAJOR = 0
+MINOR = 1
+MICRO = 0
+VERSION = '%d.%d.%d' % (MAJOR, MINOR, MICRO)
+
+
+class clean(_clean):
+
+    def run(self):
+        _clean.run(self)
+        for x in []:
+            try:
+                os.remove(x)
+            except OSError:
+                pass
+
+
+class build_ext(_build_ext):
+
+    def build_extensions(self):
+        numpy_incl = pkg_resources.resource_filename('numpy', 'core/include')
+
+        for ext in self.extensions:
+            if (hasattr(ext, 'include_dirs') and
+                    numpy_incl not in ext.include_dirs):
+                ext.include_dirs.append(numpy_incl)
+        _build_ext.build_extensions(self)
+
+    def run(self):
+        self._run_cmake()
+        _build_ext.run(self)
+
+    # adapted from cmake_build_ext in dynd-python
+    # github.com/libdynd/dynd-python
+
+    description = "Build the C-extensions for arrow"
+    user_options = ([('extra-cmake-args=', None,
+                      'extra arguments for CMake')] +
+                    _build_ext.user_options)
+
+    def initialize_options(self):
+        _build_ext.initialize_options(self)
+        self.extra_cmake_args = ''
+
+    def _run_cmake(self):
+        # The directory containing this setup.py
+        source = osp.dirname(osp.abspath(__file__))
+
+        # The staging directory for the module being built
+        build_temp = pjoin(os.getcwd(), self.build_temp)
+
+        # Change to the build directory
+        saved_cwd = os.getcwd()
+        if not os.path.isdir(self.build_temp):
+            self.mkpath(self.build_temp)
+        os.chdir(self.build_temp)
+
+        # Detect if we built elsewhere
+        if os.path.isfile('CMakeCache.txt'):
+            cachefile = open('CMakeCache.txt', 'r')
+            cachedir = re.search('CMAKE_CACHEFILE_DIR:INTERNAL=(.*)',
+                                 cachefile.read()).group(1)
+            cachefile.close()
+            if (cachedir != build_temp):
+                return
+
+        pyexe_option = '-DPYTHON_EXECUTABLE=%s' % sys.executable
+        static_lib_option = ''
+        build_tests_option = ''
+
+        if sys.platform != 'win32':
+            cmake_command = ['cmake', self.extra_cmake_args, pyexe_option,
+                             build_tests_option,
+                             static_lib_option, source]
+
+            self.spawn(cmake_command)
+            self.spawn(['make'])
+        else:
+            import shlex
+            cmake_generator = 'Visual Studio 14 2015'
+            if is_64_bit:
+                cmake_generator += ' Win64'
+            # Generate the build files
+            extra_cmake_args = shlex.split(self.extra_cmake_args)
+            cmake_command = (['cmake'] + extra_cmake_args +
+                             [source, pyexe_option,
+                              static_lib_option,
+                              build_tests_option,
+                             '-G', cmake_generator])
+            if "-G" in self.extra_cmake_args:
+                cmake_command = cmake_command[:-2]
+
+            self.spawn(cmake_command)
+            # Do the build
+            self.spawn(['cmake', '--build', '.', '--config', build_type])
+
+        if self.inplace:
+            # a bit hacky
+            build_lib = saved_cwd
+        else:
+            build_lib = pjoin(os.getcwd(), self.build_lib)
+
+        # Move the built libpyarrow library to the place expected by the Python
+        # build
+        if sys.platform != 'win32':
+            name, = glob.glob('libpyarrow.*')
+            try:
+                os.makedirs(pjoin(build_lib, 'arrow'))
+            except OSError:
+                pass
+            shutil.move(name, pjoin(build_lib, 'arrow', name))
+        else:
+            shutil.move(pjoin(build_type, 'pyarrow.dll'),
+                        pjoin(build_lib, 'arrow', 'pyarrow.dll'))
+
+        # Move the built C-extension to the place expected by the Python build
+        self._found_names = []
+        for name in self.get_cmake_cython_names():
+            built_path = self.get_ext_built(name)
+            if not os.path.exists(built_path):
+                print(built_path)
+                raise RuntimeError('libpyarrow C-extension failed to build:',
+                                   os.path.abspath(built_path))
+
+            ext_path = pjoin(build_lib, self._get_cmake_ext_path(name))
+            if os.path.exists(ext_path):
+                os.remove(ext_path)
+            self.mkpath(os.path.dirname(ext_path))
+            print('Moving built libpyarrow C-extension', built_path,
+                  'to build path', ext_path)
+            shutil.move(self.get_ext_built(name), ext_path)
+            self._found_names.append(name)
+
+        os.chdir(saved_cwd)
+
+    def _get_inplace_dir(self):
+        pass
+
+    def _get_cmake_ext_path(self, name):
+        # Get the package directory from build_py
+        build_py = self.get_finalized_command('build_py')
+        package_dir = build_py.get_package_dir('arrow')
+        # This is the name of the arrow C-extension
+        suffix = sysconfig.get_config_var('EXT_SUFFIX')
+        if suffix is None:
+            suffix = sysconfig.get_config_var('SO')
+        filename = name + suffix
+        return pjoin(package_dir, filename)
+
+    def get_ext_built(self, name):
+        if sys.platform == 'win32':
+            head, tail = os.path.split(name)
+            suffix = sysconfig.get_config_var('SO')
+            return pjoin(head, build_type, tail + suffix)
+        else:
+            suffix = sysconfig.get_config_var('SO')
+            return name + suffix
+
+    def get_cmake_cython_names(self):
+        return ['config', 'parquet']
+
+    def get_names(self):
+        return self._found_names
+
+    def get_outputs(self):
+        # Just the C extensions
+        cmake_exts = [self._get_cmake_ext_path(name)
+                      for name in self.get_names()]
+        regular_exts = _build_ext.get_outputs(self)
+        return regular_exts + cmake_exts
+
+
+extensions = []
+
+DESC = """\
+Python library for Apache Arrow"""
+
+setup(
+    name="arrow",
+    packages=['arrow', 'arrow.tests'],
+    version=VERSION,
+    package_data={'arrow': ['*.pxd', '*.pyx']},
+    ext_modules=extensions,
+    cmdclass={
+        'clean': clean,
+        'build_ext': build_ext
+    },
+    install_requires=['cython >= 0.21'],
+    description=DESC,
+    license='Apache License, Version 2.0',
+    maintainer="Apache Arrow Developers",
+    maintainer_email="dev@arrow.apache.org",
+    test_suite="arrow.tests"
+)
diff --git a/python/src/pyarrow/CMakeLists.txt b/python/src/pyarrow/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e20c3238b5f78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/src/pyarrow/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+#######################################
+# Unit tests
+#######################################
diff --git a/python/src/pyarrow/api.h b/python/src/pyarrow/api.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c2285de77bf10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/src/pyarrow/api.h
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+#ifndef PYARROW_API_H
+#define PYARROW_API_H
+
+#endif // PYARROW_API_H
diff --git a/python/src/pyarrow/init.cc b/python/src/pyarrow/init.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c36f413725532
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/src/pyarrow/init.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+#include "pyarrow/init.h"
+
+namespace arrow {
+
+namespace py {
+
+void pyarrow_init() {
+}
+
+} // namespace py
+
+} // namespace arrow
diff --git a/python/src/pyarrow/init.h b/python/src/pyarrow/init.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..1fc9f10102696
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/src/pyarrow/init.h
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+#ifndef PYARROW_INIT_H
+#define PYARROW_INIT_H
+
+namespace arrow {
+
+namespace py {
+
+void pyarrow_init();
+
+} // namespace py
+
+} // namespace arrow
+
+#endif // PYARROW_INIT_H
diff --git a/python/src/pyarrow/util/CMakeLists.txt b/python/src/pyarrow/util/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..60dc80eb38cb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/src/pyarrow/util/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+#######################################
+# pyarrow_util
+#######################################
+
+set(UTIL_SRCS
+)
+
+set(UTIL_LIBS
+)
+
+add_library(pyarrow_util STATIC
+  ${UTIL_SRCS}
+)
+target_link_libraries(pyarrow_util ${UTIL_LIBS})
+SET_TARGET_PROPERTIES(pyarrow_util PROPERTIES LINKER_LANGUAGE CXX)
+
+#######################################
+# pyarrow_test_main
+#######################################
+
+add_library(pyarrow_test_main
+  test_main.cc)
+
+if (APPLE)
+  target_link_libraries(pyarrow_test_main
+    gmock
+    dl)
+  set_target_properties(pyarrow_test_main
+        PROPERTIES LINK_FLAGS "-undefined dynamic_lookup")
+else()
+  target_link_libraries(pyarrow_test_main
+    gtest
+    pthread
+    dl
+  )
+endif()
diff --git a/python/src/pyarrow/util/test_main.cc b/python/src/pyarrow/util/test_main.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..00139f36742ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/src/pyarrow/util/test_main.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+#include <gtest/gtest.h>
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv) {
+  ::testing::InitGoogleTest(&argc, argv);
+
+  int ret = RUN_ALL_TESTS();
+
+  return ret;
+}