Located in the centre of Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island, The Telegraph House has stood for over 160 years. Once home to telegraph offices and still an operating hotel, it has been owned by the Dunlop family for five generations. Offering a unique place to stay and locally sourced dining, visitors and locals continue to support the longstanding business.

Opening line

Originally from Scotland, the Dunlop family moved to Canada’s East Coast in the middle of the 19th century. In 1857, David A. Dunlop was hired to lay the first transatlantic telegraph cable from Newfoundland to Cape North. Around the same time, his wife noticed a need for lodging in Beddeck, a village in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. So, the couple decided to build a hotel in the area. With their telegraph offices also in the building, they called the inn The Telegraph House.

Messages sent from the family’s telegraph office were some of the first in North America. Their hotel officially opened its doors in 1961 with 19 rooms available for rent.

Notable stays

In 1973, authors Joseph Twichell and Charles Dudley Warner stayed at The Telegraph House and Warner later detailed the experience in his book Baddeck, and That Sort of Thing. He described the Victorian-style inn as a “very unhotel-like appearing hotel”. This caught the attention of Alexander Graham Bell, who stayed at The Telegraph House with his wife in 1885.

Having enjoyed his visit, Graham Bell became a regular guest and later purchased property in the area. The room where he first stayed at The Telegraph House was preserved and is known as Alexander Graham Bell’s Room.

Travelers are drawn to Baddeck for its location in the centre of Cape Breton Island. The village is known for its proximity to Bras d’Or Lake and the popular Cabot Trail. As one of the only hotels on the main street of downtown Baddeck, The Telegraph House offers a prime location to soak in all the village has to offer.

Growing with time

Having undergone many renovations over time, the most significant changes to The Telegraph House occurred in the 1970s and ‘80s under the guidance of fourth-generation owners Buddy and Mary Dunlop. The couple added private bathrooms to all of the rooms in the main building, now known as the main lodge. They also built a motel and cabins on the property to add extra accommodations.

Today, The Telegraph House has 39 total accommodations including 17 rooms in the main lodge, 17 motel rooms, four cabins and one two-bedroom cottage. Another big aspect of the business is its restaurant, The Cable Room, which is popular with locals and travelers. The operation remains in the Dunlop family and is owned by fifth-generation Shawn Dunlop, who now works with his son and daughter.

After 164 years of operations, Dunlop says it works in their favour: “I think people stay here because of the history. Instead of a modern hotel where all the rooms are the same, there are 16 different room types, which makes us unique.”

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