Grand Vista Sanitarium in Richmond, California

Most Popular PlacesRandom PlaceListsItinerariesAdd a PlaceDownload the App Grand Vista Sanitarium Ancient Hon Chuong Cham Tower 18th Century Pirate’s Jolly Roger Southwick House The Best Haunted Hotels to Book for a Spooky Getaway 2 days ago Is Alton, Illinois America’s Most Haunted Small Town? 6 days ago 14 Real Places That Haunt the Pages of Literature 8 days ago All the United States California Richmond Grand Vista Sanitarium A popular East Bay hiking trail houses the ruins of a sanitarium that was destroyed in a blaze 50 years ago. Palm trees along the loop trail Mistress of the Bark / Atlas Obscura User Palm trees along the loop trail Mistress of the Bark / Atlas Obscura User The Bay Area’s regional parks are one of the many jewels that make the Bay the gem that it is, but few are aware of the ruins of a once-grand sanitarium nestled right within the hills of Wildcat Canyon Regional Park. The remnants of the estate are all that remain of a place that once housed and cared for some of the Bay Area’s sickest patients.

Wildcat Canyon Regional Park in Richmond is a frequent destination for hikers, offering spectacular views, free grazing cows and groves of coastal live oak, black berry brambles, and eucalyptus trees that blanket the hillside. Although it doesn’t take an eagle-eyed wanderer to notice the scattering of out-of-place palm trees and crumbling foundations that call back to a time when the land housed a sanitarium to care for patients suffering from physical and mental ailments. Established in 1914 by Dr.

Hendrick Nelsen Belgum, the Grand Vista Sanitarium, or Belgum Sanitarium was a sprawling estate of orchards, gardens, and palm groves designed to nurture its patients. Dr Belgum promoted a restorative approach to healing touting, “an abundance of fresh, wholesome, nourishing foods, so essential to the restoration of health” according to a snippet from one of its brochures. The sanitarium had access to fresh dairy, poultry, fruit orchards, vegetable gardens, plant conservatories and a spring water system designed just for patients and residents.

Some neighbors referred to it as “the crazy house”, others remembered it more fondly as a sprawling estate with beautiful views, well tended gardens, and patients who were largely harmless and quiet fixtures of the community. Belgum cared for the land and patients until 1948 when he died from a heart attack after fighting off a brush fire that was threatening the estate. Ownership fell to his siblings who cared for the remaining patients, however without the medical guidance and devotion of Dr Belgum, the sanitarium dwindled.

In 1963, Dr Belgum’s brother passed away and without any heirs to the estate, the property was left to the elements, slowly becoming reclaimed by nature until it was reduced to ashes by arsonists in 1977. Now, the crumbling foundation and pockets of palms, and a placard detailing the sites history are the final vestiges of the mansion. The remnants can be spotted along the Bonitas Gate and appropriately named Belgum Trail Loop.

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