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During the 18th century, a property was bought by Charles Murray, who was also the English Consul at the time. The property was none other than the Monte located to the southern part of the church. It was bought and converted in to a heavenly estate. It was called Quinta do Prazer which means The Pleasure Estate. As the 19th century arrived, a few rich families from Madeira, who had some vast estates themselves, came to live here whenever they came to visit Funchal.

Around the middle of the 20th century, after the estate had changed a few hands, it was taken up by financial institution by the name of Caixa Economia do Funchal. By 1987, this institution also sold it off to an entrepreneur by the name of Jose Manuel Rodrigues Berardo. He was the one who turned it over to a Foundation created by him. Since then the estate has been turned in to a picturesque garden that has not left a single visitor unimpressed.

The garden has been enriched by introducing a fish called Koi inside the lakes that span various regions of the garden. Later two more lakes were built artificially but only to maintain the water plants and the diverse species of fishes that were growing with each passing day. Instead of suffocating them in the same lake, some were shifted on to the new lakes. The two lakes can accommodate 300,000 L of water. The original lake was a simple one but the other two have been incorporated with highly equipped filtration systems. There are water purifiers too which do not use any chemicals. This ensures that fishes get a natural habitat for their survival and procreation. The colors of these fishes are so vibrant that they look fabulous as you see them sliding from one area of the lake to the other.

The estates vast area has been transformed into gardens with lanes decorated with sculptures in cut or natural stone, blazonry, pagodas, lanterns from several regions of the world, squared stones, windows, niches and idols of Buddhas. There is also a place in the garden which is full of ceramic tiles preserved from the 15th century. Some of them also belong to the later period from 16th century onwards till the 20th century. There is also a panel of several terracotta tiles named as The adventure of the Portuguese in Japan. There are 40 such panels showing the History of Portugal. They feature all the significant events of the Republics and the kingdoms.

Other places worth visiting in the Monte are the Orchids and other flora accumulated from various regions of the world, The Monte Palace Museum and Mother Natures Secrets, located on lower floor. Flights to Funchal can be boarded from all the major airports to directly reach Funchal for a vacation.