Colorado possesses some wonderful architecture dating back many years. Wealthy families built grand residences and buildings to escape the hard, early American West life. Many of these structures remain and have found new life. However, there are some old lives who haven’t quite left.
Miramont Castle - Manitou Springs
Miramont Castle in Manitou Springs dates back to the 1890′s and was first occupied by Jean Baptiste Francolon, a Catholic priest and son of a wealthy French diplomat. He intended the structure to be a home for he and his mother Marie Francolon.
Father Francolon incorporated all architectural styles he liked into the Castle. What stands is a remarkable structure with nine distinct styles: Shingle-style Queen Anne, Romanesque, English Tudor, Flemish stepped gables, domestic Elizabethan, Venetian Ogee, Byzantine, Moorish, and half-timber Chateau are used randomly throughout the four stories. Father Francolon did not hire an architect, rather he and the builder, Angus Gillis, executed the designs on site.
In the early 20th century, the building was used as a sanatarium by the Sisters of Mercy. The building was converted to apartments for many years and was ultimately purchased by the Manitou Springs Historical Society in the early 1970′s. It now serves as a museum and Victorian tea room.
There are also many ghost stories told about the castle. Voices, children playing in different rooms, ghosts wandering the grand staircase. In these photos, you can see what appears to be an apparition in Lady Francolon’s bed chamber.
After leaving the castle to return to France, Mrs. Francolon passed away. Perhaps Marie Francolon made her way back to Miramont Castle and she wants her room back?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
GREAT article!!
thats crazy
I’ve been there, & seen one of the “…resident spirits…” I thought it was a child, turned away to alert an adult: that their little one had been left behind in the doll room, & it was too close to the stairs to be safe for the little girl to be wandering around alone. No one else was within sight. When I turned back (thinking okay I better take that little girl to one of the museum staff) & she had disappeared. I didn’t tell anyone, but learned later this is not an uncommon occurance there. This is a wonderful place to see but it does have some spooky aspects.