Belrock Mansion

The Bell Mansion, or Belrock Mansion as it became known, is in Sudbury, Ontario.  The largest city in Northern Ontario, Sudbury was founded in 1883 when Tom Flanagan, a Canadian Pacific Railway blacksmith, discovered nickel ore.  Flanagan noticed a rust-coloured patch of rock in an area where the railway crew had just blasted.

In 1896, William and Katherine Bell arrived in Sudbury from Pembroke, Ontario.  William Bell was born on July 29th 1858, in Pembroke.  His wife, Katherine, was the daughter of Senator James Skead and was born in Ottawa.  William, a lumberjack, was originally employed by the Hale and Booth Lumber Company, but soon moved to the Spanish River Lumber Company, where he became a manager.  By 1924, William had gained control of the Spanish River Lumber Company, and he remained president until 1932, when the company was sold.  

An entrepreneur, William's interests were not limited to the lumber industry, and he became president of Cochrane - Dunlop Hardware Company and the National Grocer Ltd.  He established mining operations along Lake Wanapitei, and named the community that housed the operations Skead, in honour of his wife and her family. 

Having become a prosperous couple, the Bells built the Bell Mansion in 1907 on 155 acres adjacent to Lake Ramsey.  Constructed from local stone, the mansion was 6000 square feet.  There was a detached servants' quarters that was reportedly linked to the main house by a tunnel.  There was also a greenhouse gazebo, stables and a coach house.  The gardens were crafted by a gardener that was employed throughout the entire residency of the Bells.  The architect of the building is unknown, but there has been conjecture that it was a Scottish architect. 

Bell died in 1945 and bequeathed 110 acres of the estate to Sudbury.  When Katherine died, childless, at the age of 90 in 1954, she left the Mansion and most of its contents to Memorial Hospital, which used the building as a staff residence.  On December 3rd 1955, the Bell Mansion was gutted by fire, with only the outer shell remaining.  It was rebuilt and purchased by The Nickel Lodge Masons.  Zoning issues resulted in the building being boarded up for nearly a decade.  In 1966, it was purchased by the Centennial Committee of the Chamber of Commerce.  It was then officially transferred to Laurentian University in 1968, which went on to lease the space to the Sudbury Art Gallery. 

There have been many reports of paranormal activity at the Bell Mansion.  There have been orbs photographed around the building.  A witness reportedly saw a woman in Edwardian dress walking along a corridor and through a door into Gallery 3.  Footsteps and crying children have been heard in the building when it was supposedly empty.  It's also said that, if you stand in the building and sing, Katherine will sing along with you.

I loved this building.  It is built from unique materials, and has a beautiful facade.