In 1875 the owner of a large block of land between Beach Road, Rue Jolie and Bruce Terrace sold a section to James Dalglish. Dalglish owned a saw mill at Le Bons Bay and needed a residence at Akaroa while his children attended school.
In 1878 he also bought the section next door on which there was already a cottage (see 154 Rue Jolie). Dalglish built this larger house, now known as The Maples, soon after he bought the land, probably in 1877. Dalglish himself is thought to have drawn up the plans for the house, which is similar to the former Presbyterian manse, built in 1877 in another part of Akaroa.
The two-storey Italianate villa has the rectangular appearance, hipped roof and bracketed eaves typical of the style, but it shares its double verandah posts with several of the town’s smaller, Gothic rather than Italianate, cottages.
