Grand Vista Sanitarium in Richmond, California

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 snippe…

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