A relative of James Morgan, the man who in the early 20th century designed the intricate quarry gardens that made Southlands estate such a unique corner of Bermuda, has spoken of his relief that the proposed Jumeirah-run hotel will not mean the loss of the estate’s most outstanding features.

David Morgan was only six years-old when his famous relative James died in 1932, leaving behind the unusual legacy of the intricate network of folly-esque gardens dotted around the hillside on the northern portion of the Southlands Estate in Warwick.

Mr. Morgan, 80, is the author of the book “The Morgans of Montreal” which traces the history of the Morgan family from its roots in Scotland to Canada where the family name became synonymous in the retail world. His grandfather Colin worked at the famous Morgans department store in the Quebec city alongside James Morgan.

James Morgan eventually left and came to Bermuda where he bought Southlands around 1912 and turned it into a remarkable botanical garden-type retreat full of rare flowers and plants, using the abandoned quarry workings on the property to create individual and inter-linked gardens and ponds.

Visiting Bermuda with his wife Alice, Mr. Morgan this week said he had kept up to date with the plans for Southlands from reading newspaper reports and had visited the old house to meet Southlands co-owner Craig Christensen. “I’d visited Southlands before and when I heard about the hotel I thought the house was going to be demolished, but I’m delighted to find out that the old house will be kept and become a museum,” said Mr. Morgan.

“My worst fear was that the old house was going to go. Two other things that I liked are the Banyon Trees and (royal) palm trees, and I thought either one or both would go if the hotel was built, but I gather they will not go either.”

According to Mr. Morgan the Morgan family was known for having two distinct types of family members - the retailers and the visionaries. James Morgan, he said, was from the visionary side of the family and when he created the gardens he had a different flower featured in each of the many quarries.

“I’ve been told the quarry gardens are going to be restored to the way they were when James had them. I never got to see them as he saw them.

“When I first came in 1980 they were already crumbling away. So this news is fantastic,” said Mr. Morgan.

He is delighted Southlands is in the news and that his fear that a monolithic “19-storey” hotel might destroy the estate is not the developers’ intention.

Mr. Morgan, who was given a tour of some of the estate’s hidden quarry gardens in a golf cart by Michelle Christensen, added: “It was delightful to meet Mr. Christensen, who is history-orientated. He wants to know what really happened with Southlands.”