Bodnant Garden's five formal Italianate terraces were designed and built in the new Arts and Crafts style between 1904 and 1914 by Henry McLaren of the donor family. His mother Laura McLaren, Lady Aberconway, influenced the planting with her passion for native herbaceous and cottage garden flowers.
Henry created two rose gardens, upper and lower, linked by a series of garden rooms, ornamental pools and pergola walkways. Over the following decades he added adornments such as classical statues and the 18th century fountain on the Croquet Terrace. In 1938 he added the finishing flourish to the Canal Terrace; he bought the derelict Pin Mill building at auction and moved it from its Gloucestershire home to Bodnant Garden.