Bonifels is a large, two-and-a-half-story stone mansion located on a hilltop overlooking the town of Ridgway. The house is T-shaped in plan, with small, one-story wings at the inner corners of the T. It has hipped roofs with hipped roof dormers, a conical tower, and a crenelated square tower.
Bonifels' rusticated stone walls add a castle-like massiveness to the structure. Chimneys are of the same material. The fenestration is uneven, and the windows, one over one, will have a double-hung sash. There is a Palladian window in the third-story gable. All windows have heavy stone lintels and sills. The cornices are denticulated. The conical tower has a row of stone dentils as well.
One story proches as the front and sides have hipped roofs supported by three pillars on stone bases.
Bonifels commands an impressive view and is a remarkable structure on a high hilltop overlooking the town of Ridgway. Built as the home of Norman T. Arnold, it is a fine example of the elaborate castle type mansions constructed during the late 1800s.
The structure is vacant but is in good condition. Much of the original interior woodwork remains in place.
History
Born in New York State, Mr. Arnold moved to Pennsylvania as a young man. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1884.
Mr. Arnold arrived in Ridgway shortly after being admitted to the bar. He came from Wilcox, where he and Mrs. Arnold had both taught the winter before in the public schools. He began law practice here with Dyson Rishell, under the firm names Rishell and Arnold.
Though Mr. Arnold made a fine record as a lawyer, and compelled recogni tion of his fine ability in his profession from all who came in contact, demonstrating that he had a wonderful legal mind and was a safe and wise counselor, yet he had such a talent for busiliess and could see so many opportunities for making money in the business world, that he finally got into business so profoundly and with such good results, that he decided to abandon his practice as an attorney. While still associated with Mr. Barbour in the law firm, Mr. Arnold began to invest in real estate, and he laid out and sold most of the lots in the fine new addition to West Ridgway, which is known as Orchard Park.
He also handled other Ridgway real estate and succeeded in that line. About 1896, Mr. Arnold got interested in the coal business, bought up thousands of acres of coal land in Jay Township, this county, and later disposed of extensive holdings to the Shawmut Mining Company.
With Mr. J. H. Beadle and others, Mr. Arnold still owned coal properties in that section and at Penfield, Clearfield County. He was also primarily interested in real estate, coal, and railroad properties in West Virginia. Some ten or twelve years ago, Mr. Arnold purchased the lands just west of R Ridgway, from which he made his beautiful Mountain Park Farm, and a few years later, he erected the beautiful marble residence known as "Bonifels." Today, it is known as the "Elk County Country Club."
Mr. Arnold was also a trustee of the Alleghany College, Meadville, the American University of Washington, D.C., and the Chautauque Institution at Chautauqua, New York. However, he is best remembered for his work and local support of the Y.M.C.A. and the Methodist Episcopal Church of Ridgway.
