Since the 17th century, the area of Massarelos, on the outskirts of the city, was much sought after by traders, especially foreign ones, to buy land for pleasure estates.

Quinta do Meio, now known as Casa Tait, owes its current name to the fact that it was bought by the Port wine merchant and naturalist William Tait (1844-1925) in 1900, although he had already lived there since 1880 and before him Rev Edward Whitely ran a boys' school there.

The property remained in the possession of the Tait family until 1978, when Muriel Tait died. From then on, the property passed to the Porto City Council.

The gardens were much appreciated for the woodland to the north, the collection of camellias and the rose garden installed on the terrace overlooking the Douro. Of particular note was the monumental Virginia tulip tree [Liriodendrum tulipifera], more than 250 years old, classified as a tree of public interest in 1950, a tree collection of camellias [Camellia japonica L. ], with around 60 specimens, a large-flowered magnolia [Magnolia grandiflora] and another much younger Virginia tulip tree, the latter classified in 2021.