The Southlands estate dates back to the eighteenth century.

The main house was built in 1745 and inhabited by the Ministers of Christ Church in Warwick. During the late 1700s, when Warwick Academy fell into disrepair, the ministers taught the pupils at Southlands.

Towards the end of the eighteenth century, Southlands became a limestone quarry. Much of the stone was used to build the City of Hamilton, which became the Island's capital in 1815. During the nineteenth century however, little is known about the estate.

The next known owner, James Morgan, a Glaswegian, bought the land in 1911. Morgan (1846-1932) also bought up the adjoining properties, extending the estate to cover more than 80 acres. As the co-owner of Morgan's of Montreal with his brother Henry, he built up a successful business and the Canadian department store was seen as the Harrod's of its day. It was eventually sold to the Hudson Bay Company in 1960.

Under Morgan's artistic eye, Southlands blossomed. He developed the estate into a wonderland of quarry gardens, exotic plant life, ponds, peacocks, aviaries and horses. Morgan filled in the holes left by the quarrying of the nineteenth century, creating ten ponds and surrounding pathways. He also extended the main house in 1913.

The businessman was also a benefactor of Warwick Academy. His generosity (1918-1928) made possible the extension of buildings around a quadrangle area, which still remains the heart of the school. He also contributed towards an assembly hall (now the gymnasium) and a science laboratory.

Morgan was a friend of headmaster Dr. Francis Landy Patton and encouraged students' gardening skills by providing them with plots in which to plant vegetables and flowers. Annual prizes were given to the plots showing the most originality.

Morgan also donated a large sum to build Morgan's Hall. The road next to Warwick Academy, Morgan's Road, is named after him.

The businessman also contributed to Bermuda's heritage by lobbying for legislation for residents to paint their roofs white. He was later offered a knighthood for his civic contributions, which he declined.

James Morgan died in 1932 and was buried in the same mausoleum as his late wife, Anna E. Lyman Morgan of Connecticut (1847-1929), on the Southlands estate.

The next owner of Southlands was Brigadier Dunbar Maconochie. He levelled out the beachfront and used it as a training ground for US soldiers, called the Southlands Anti-Aircraft School.

In 1977 the Willowbank Foundation then purchased the property. They planned to build a retirement complex but after this failed to materialise, plans were put forward for 130 residential units amid the natural beauty of the grounds. After this proposal also failed to come to fruition, the Trustees of the Willowbank Foundation sold the estate to Southlands Ltd. in 2005.