There are some beautifully-placed bungalows along the shore, one of the number belonging to George Kennan, where that litterateur and energetic traveller may be seen gardening in his moments of leisure.
On a beautiful estate of a thousand acres, not far from Baddeck, the eminent scientist and inventor, Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, has his summer home. Wherever the telephone has reached, Dr. Bell’s name is known; and that is tantamount to saying he is one of the best-known men of the world. Dr. Bell is the exemplar of the scientific inventor, the type that builds on sound knowledge, rational induction and logical experiment, building up patiently and through years of toil and diligent application, step by step, a scientific edifice that would once have been deemed a daring conception of an imaginative mind. More fortunate than other inventors, who, like the alchemists of old, have toiled without rest or intermission—and the fruits of whose labors have been denied them—Dr. Bell has reaped the reward due to an honored member of that profession which advances the progress of civilization by bounds of a thousand years at a time; and here in Beinn Bhreagh, or “lovely mountain,” he lives a life that is one of enjoyment—although not one of ease in the sense that he “does nothing.”
The estate is one that may be termed a perfect heaven for the absorbed worker in scientific, literary or other mental effort requiring surroundings favorable for concentration of thought. Here with machine and wood-working shops, electrical laboratory, erecting places and store houses for aeroplanes, wharves, shelter houses and lake for testing hydroplanes, the busy inventor works away a good part of the year when not at his Washington home.
Dr. Bell also gives time to scientific stock-farming, and keeps elaborate records of the excellent results that are gained from time to time. He has a competent staff of workers, all housed in the midst of ideal surroundings on his estate.
Professor Bell’s Estate, Beinn Bhreagh, C.B.
The drives about Beinn Bhreagh are exceedingly lovely, and the ever-changing water view is a continual source of delight. “Surprise View,” well above the level of the lake, has been well-named, for in following the winding woodland road a glorious panoramic scene of great beauty suddenly springs into view as if by magic.
A fine observation tower crowns the heights over all. From it an unsurpassed view may be had of ocean, lake, woodland crest, high mountain and pastoral valley.