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Dr Morgan Grace was of Irish birth and Arles was the name of his homeland estate. The name originated from Arle in France, where the Grace family fled during a period of religious persecution. Dr Grace built a two-storey structure adjoining the original cottage in 1885.
In 1902 he sold the property to John McGregor, a son-in-law of the famous Jock McGregor of Cherrybank.
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IIn 1913 the property was split up and Dr Grace’s son Russell, bought the homestead along with 9 acres. He moved the cottage 400 yards upriver. The cottage became home for four gardeners employed by Mr Russell Grace to care for the extensive lawns and gardens. The house was enlarged and modernised with a new wing added on the top storey giving a master bedroom with large bathroom, plus servant's rooms and bathroom. In 1930 the ‘Guest Room’ was added.
This is now the Elms suite.
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Upon Russell’s death in 1945, his son Dr Micheal Grace, who was one year old when he came to live at Arles, took over the house along with his new wife, Jean. In the early 1950s the swimming pool, one of Wanganui’s earliest, was dug by hand over a weekend, to a depth of 11’6” at the deep end, by Michael Grace’s son Bill along with his friends from Collegiate School. The pool had a diving board of which only the concrete plinths remain and the depth is now about 5’. In 2002 the pool was refurbished by the present owners.
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The gardens contain many long-established trees including the southernmost Queensland kauri, the ‘trampled’ oak, two huge Norfolk Island pines and a lovely lilly-pilly tree. These were all reputed to have been brought to New Zealand by Dr Morgan Grace. There are also maples, magnolias, camellias, azaleas, rhododendrons, palms, a stand of bamboo and a range of NZ native trees including rimu, karaka, kowhai, rata, puka, titoki, puriri and tree ferns.
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Fruit trees include lemon, orange, grapefruit, apple, peach, feijoa and fig. Several very old plum trees scattered throughout the property are retained for the delight of the native wood pigeons and other feathered friends. We delight in watching the kereru (wood pigeon) increase on the property. In 2002 we counted only two birds. Now there appear to be five permanent residents.
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In the conservatory is an indoor grape vine. It is not known whether the conservatory was built to accommodate an existing outdoor vine or added after the conservatory was built in 1980.
Arles has a delightful micro-climate and is sheltered from the drying westerly winds. The temperature is generally one or two degrees warmer than in the city. This all makes for rampant growth in the garden.
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