VIDEO: Historic main lodge at Inverary Resort destroyed by fire

BADDECK, N.S. - A fire ripped through the main lodge at Inverary Resort in Baddeck overnight.

The 11-acre resort is located on the shores of Cape Breton's Bras d’Or Lakes.

• UPDATE: Fire guts reception building at Inverary Inn
• Loss of a Baddeck landmark
• Resort guests saddened by Inverary blaze
• Man who called 911 didn’t think Baddeck fire was serious

The main lodge was built in 1850. According to the resort’s website, it was built by Cape Breton native “Millionaire” MacNeil to show off the fortune he accumulated in Boston. Originally it was a three-storey house with a barn and wagon house made from materials shipped from Boston. He built it across the water from his childhood home.

After the Second World War, brothers Chad and Jamie Fownes bought the property and, with their mother, ran the Inverary Inn, named after Inverary Castle in Scotland.

Overnight fire destroys main reception building at Inverary Inn Baddeck. pic.twitter.com/eg329T4pbi

— Cape Breton Post (@capebretonpost) June 7, 2018

The MacAulay family became the innkeepers in 1971 and added several buildings to the estate, turning it into a resort. The estate is under the third generation of MacAulay management.

My heart is broken. The home that was the foundation for the Inverary Inn, ca 1898. From the Beaton, ref# 77-207-341 pic.twitter.com/BwW56GcyX4

— Sarah (@sar_nich) June 7, 2018