A native of Maine, Margaret married Larry Graham, son of Bill and Tena Graham of Judique. They lived in Judique for a short time and then moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1972. They have two grown children, Ted and Laura.

In Halifax, she established Verbatim Inc., a court reporting business with 22 employees which she ran for 26 years.

During her many trips back to Judique, Margaret was inspired by her in-laws, Bill and Tena Graham, to love the Scottish culture, the community of Judique, and its people.

In 1986 Margaret and Larry purchased a farm in Judique which her father-in-law, Bill Graham, named "Kintyre Farm" as Kintyre was the first Scottish settlement in Scotland and Judique was the first Scottish settlement in Cape Breton. Over the years, Larry and Margaret vacationed at the farm, but it was Bill Graham who mowed the many acres around the farm to make it the idyllic place it is today. In 1992 the Grahams allowed the farm property to be used for the Kintyre Farm Concert with proceeds going to the Judique Community Centre. That popular concert continues to this day.

In 2002, Margaret and Larry retired to Kintyre Farm. At that time the community had suffered the loss of their school after a prolonged battle; young people continued to move away from the community, and morale was low. That inspired Margaret to build the Tartan Gardens to lift spirits, and as a way of saying "Thank you" to Bill and Tena and to the people of Judique for their kindness. It was her dream to create beautiful gardens which would make people smile…it was the people of Judique who made that dream come true.