Step Inside the Stately Home of Famous Inventor Alexander Graham Bell

In 1885, Alexander Graham Bell and his wife, Mabel, discovered Cape Breton’s serene Bras d’Or Lake and fell in love with its surroundings. They purchased the land and built the historic mansion over the course of two years, which cost just under $25,000. The name “Beinn Bhreagh” is Gaelic for “beautiful mountain.”

The home still falls within the Victorian era, but is designed in a Queen Anne architectural style. As one of the largest and finest examples of this type of architecture in Canada, the residence’s predominant design features include a large wrap-around porch, towers, peaked roofs, ornate detailing and L-shaped asymmetry.

A laboratory was built on the property, and while Bell didn’t invent the telephone in this home, he did invent other significant achievements on the estate, such as the Hydrofoil.

The inventor is not the only one in the home with a creative mind! Mrs. Bell and her daughters completed a DIY project for the dining room. They collected tiny snail shells and strung them in a criss-cross pattern that was placed above the room’s entry, as seen in this photo.

Bell was not only a genius inventor, but also the president of the National Geographic Society. This library is where he worked and held meetings with its members. The room also contains a storage case concealed behind the sailboat painting, which houses maps originally published by the society.

After Bell invented the telephone, he demonstrated his creation to Queen Victoria herself via an international phone call. One of the mansion’s original rooms is appropriately named the “Victoria Room” after the monarch.

Over the years, the Bells hosted many guests, and kept a guest book to record their visitors. One of the most notable was Helen Keller, who stayed at the mansion for two weeks at the end of August one year.

Beinn Bhreagh Hall is a recognized heritage site. The estate is still owned by Bell’s descendants and they have maintained the home’s original design features including the windows, walls, fireplaces and furniture. The estate is not open to the public, so this is the first time its beautiful doors have opened for much of the world to see.

Want more? Tour this historic home and more inspiring spaces with design star Tommy Smythe in our Great Canadian Homes documentary.