Comments on: The Belgum Sanitarium

By: xensen

xensen — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 05:02:02 +0000

Bill, I’m so happy to hear from you. Thank you for sharing your recollections.

By: bill hoffland

bill hoffland — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 04:06:13 +0000

Hi, I am the Belgum’s great nephew. My mothers mom was the Belgum’s sister Marie. As a little kid we would make the long trek from SF to Richmond to visit uncle Barney and Aunt Cristine who lived one block from San Pablo Ave. And there was old aunt Inga and aunt Ida the spinster sisters who were living in the old sanitarium. Even though I was probably five years old or younger the memories are vivid. The place was interesting and very strange for a little kid, huge rooms, that I still remember that painted a picture in my mind that can’t go away. The library with it’s newspapers stacked to the cieling. The king chair in the hallway, the old cow painting on the landing of the stairs, painted by a famous CA artist that my cousin now owns. The huge dining room we had thanksgiving dinner in. The kitchen that Barney spent all his time in in his later years as he was not walking and was wheel chair bound. The billiard room with the antique pool table, which my cousin now owns with thousands of dead bees all along the walls and floor, the barn with the old wagons up a hill……. vivid memories for a five year old… my cousin who is ten years older has more info because he was older. We still visit the old place, check out the ruins, see the view, the fruit trees, the black berries and think about what might have been if my mom and aunt would have won … or done better in their legal matters trying to get part of the estate…. but we all feel good as folks who enjoy nature that it is in it’s natural state and part of the ebrp system. Enjoy a hike, pick some berries, and imagine like me what it was like back in the 20’s,,,, the 60’s a far different world than we live in today. Enjoy it. Bill

By: xensen

xensen — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 00:36:01 +0000

Thanks, Zoomie. There’s not much left but if you use your imagination you can kind of picture it.

By: Zoomie

Zoomie — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:48:31 +0000

Most interesting! I live in Richmond but never knew this place existed. Thanks for a most informative post!

By: xensen

xensen — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 01:17:34 +0000

thanks, jello. i’ll be in touch.

By: jello

jello — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:21:13 +0000

nice entry, interesting and well-written
the cows over there are fearless!
i had that book out from the richmond library last year for a paper, it’s good and i bet you’ve looked at it briefly–worth another visit. i wonder if there are any old photos from the sanitorium? i can potentially look it up on some primary source sites.
xo