Miramont Castle

When I think of castles I think of old European countries with a rich history. I think of Kings and Queens and royalty. I don’t usually think of castles and Colorado together though. But believe it or not, Colorado has castles too. Actually, there are quite a few scattered around our beautiful state. One such castle was Miramont Caste or castle with a mountain view, located in Manitou Springs.

The Castle was built for $14,000 in 1895. Construction took three years and must have employed most of Manitou with quarrying all of the building’s stone. It features nine architecture styles fancied by the priest, Fr. Francolon, including shingle-style Queen Anne, English Tudor, Flemish stepped gables, domestic Elizabethan, Venetian ogee, Byzantine and Moorish. The estate has more than 40 rooms, including eight-sided rooms, a 16-sided room and a solarium, and is worth more than $43 million today.

The construction of Miramont Castle started in 1895, and was completed in 1898. It was built by the Francolon Family from France. Fr. Francolon, a French priest and his mother, who lived in the house for a short period of time after moving to Manitou Springs from France, when Fr. Francolon was poisoned from sipping from a poisoned chalice during mass.

Though Fr. Francolon and Madame Francolon lived in the house for a short period of time, the house was always intended as a house to home and heal people suffering from tuberculosis, and was immediately donated to The Sisters of Mercy. At the time it was believed that the cool, crisp mountain air would help heal the lungs. The Sisters of Mercy were good at healing the sick.

But just like the castles of Europe, Miramont Castle has a dark history, full of scandals too. Fr. Francolon never accepted the “vow of poverty” associated with the life of a priest. He said it was his mother’s money, not his, therefore he had no problem living the life of luxury. “But it was mother’s money that built the castle. You compare this castle to French castles, and this is poverty. He was judged harshly because he did come from wealth. So a lot of people targeted him,” as was quoted from one of the workers in the gift shop.

Part of the reason the Francolons did not live long in Miramont Castle was because of strong rumors and accusations of pedophilia by Fr. Francolon. The Mother Superior of The Sisters of Mercy was also convinced of the accusations, and Fr. Francolon fled Manitou Springs, never to return. It was believed the rumor festered for awhile before coming to a head when a lynch mob formed and headed to the castle. A doctor at Montcalme got word of the mob and, along with another man, hid Francolon under the seat of a buggy. They drove him down Ruxton Avenue, through the mob, and deposited the priest at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Colorado Springs. He departed Manitou in 1900, never to return. His mother returned to France a few months later and soon died.

The Sisters of Mercy moved into the Miramont full time in 1907. They were housed at the smaller, sister house, dubbed as the Montcalme Sanitarium to the Sisters of Mercy, from 1904-1907. They occupied the Miramont full time from 1907-1946, when they sold the castle into private hands and effectively began the building’s so-called apartment era. Converted into apartments, tenants included returning World War II generals. These were hard years for the property, as the building repeatedly changed hands. Upkeep was difficult to maintain for such a large property and it fell into disrepair. Historical items, such as the furniture, also vanished, as tenants were allowed to take whatever they wanted when they left.

In 1975 the Manitou Springs Historical Society purchased the castle and it was opened to the public in 1977 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Miramont is also known as a “spirited and haunted” house as well. The walls definitely have a lot of stories to tell.

Today, The Miramont is also home to the Manitou Springs Firefighters Museum. It also has an impressive collection of WWI and WWII historical pieces, and other odds and end pieces of local history as well.

The Gardens

A Fire Fighters’ Tribute

Inside the castle walls.

It is rumored that this fireplace has a false back and stores a secret compartment, though no one has found it yet, or knows what it was used for.

FR. Francolon’s private apartment.

Other oddities of the house.

Miramont Castle is definitely an eccentric, eclectic place to visit. It is full of all kinds of history, of all different sorts. It is truly one-of-a-kind, like nothing else I’ve ever seen. You can also have high tea at the Castle, everyday except Mondays, from 11-1. You definitely have to make reservations in advance though.

Miramont Castle Museum – 9 Capitol Hill Avenue, Manitou Springs, CO (719) 685-1011 – http://www.miramontcastle.org; http://www.facebook.com/miramontcastlemuseum