As Karl ventured through Canada, he couldn't help but encounter Sir William Van Horne, the influential President of the Canadian Pacific Railway (C.P.R.). Van Horne began working on railroads at just 14 years old and worked his way up to become the C.P.R.'s general manager before ultimately becoming president in 1888. He played a significant role in overseeing the transcontinental railway and expanding the C.P.R. into sea transport and luxury hotels, personally designing the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City and Chateau Lake Louise in Alberta.

In 1889, Van Horne purchased a house on Minister's Island, a 500-acre tidal island accessible via a sandbar road at low tide near St. Andrews, New Brunswick. Over time, he transformed the house into a vast summer estate for his family, which he named "Covenhoven." The mansion expanded to 10,000 square feet with 50 rooms, utilizing red sandstone quarried from the island. Van Horne was an avid antiquity collector and decorated the house with over eighty works of art, including many of his own paintings inspired by the local island scenery. The grounds featured a large barn for breeding prize-winning Clydesdale horses, a creamery, smaller barns, living quarters for workers, a windmill, a gas house, a carriage house, and a gardener's cottage. One of the most stunning features was the two-level bathhouse Van Horne constructed at the southern tip of Minister's Island, which offered access to the beach, changing rooms, an in-ground tidal swimming pool, and an upper level for admiring the panoramic view. All of these features and more attracted many dignitaries during Van Horne's life and have since drawn countless tourists since being designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1996.