1895 Nine-Style Catholic Priest's Mansion in Manitou Springs
9 Capitol Hill Avenue, Manitou Springs, CO 80829
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Self-guided museum admission. Tea Room reservations are separate and may be booked through the Castle.
Access
Limited Access
Multi-level stone building with stairs; the castle is built into a mountainside
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1895 · National Register of Historic Places · Catholic Church History · Tuberculosis Sanatorium History · Colorado Architectural Heritage
Miramont Castle was built in 1895 by Father Jean Baptist Francolon, a French-born Catholic priest assigned to Manitou Springs. The construction cost $14,000 and employed most of the small town's labor force in quarrying the local stone. The completed building incorporates nine distinct architectural styles, including shingle-style Queen Anne, English Tudor, Flemish stepped gables, domestic Elizabethan, Venetian ogee, Byzantine, and Moorish. The chapel features a window-glass mosaic.
Father Francolon's residence at Miramont was brief. Accusations of pedophilia, taken seriously by the Mother Superior of the Sisters of Mercy, led to his hurried departure from Manitou Springs. Local accounts hold that a lynch mob assembled and headed toward the castle, but a doctor learned of the gathering and, with another man, hid Francolon under the seat of a buggy and drove him through the mob to St. Mary's Catholic Church in Colorado Springs. He never returned to the property.
In 1904, the Sisters of Mercy purchased the castle and incorporated it into the Montcalm Sanitarium, treating tuberculosis patients alongside their existing facility nearby. After the original sanitarium burned in 1907, the Sisters moved their patients into Miramont. The building served as a sanatorium for several decades before passing through various uses.
The Manitou Springs Historical Society purchased Miramont in 1975. The castle was added to the National Register of Historic Places and opened to the public in 1977. The building today houses the Society's museum, the Manitou Springs Firefighters Museum, and the Queen's Parlour Tea Room.
Sources
Miramont Castle has a steady reputation as one of the more atmospheric historic properties in the Pikes Peak region. Reports collected by the Denver Gazette, dread central, and the Manitou Springs Historical Society's own materials describe a consistent set of phenomena across decades.
The most-cited apparition is a woman in a black dress, sometimes seen reflected in mirrors and not in the room itself. The figure is generally associated with the Francolon family. A male apparition has also been reported and is similarly attributed to the family. A separate sighting describes a young girl carrying a doll.
A distinct legend, less well-corroborated, describes a pregnant Sister of Mercy who is said to have taken her own life on the property during its sanatorium era. Visitors and staff have reported wooden floors creaking, voices chattering in unoccupied rooms, and doors slamming when a single person was the only one present in the building. The Queen's Parlour Tea Room has its own reports, primarily of the sound of a tea service being moved in adjacent rooms.
The Manitou Springs Historical Society does not market Miramont primarily as a haunted attraction. The folklore is folded into the broader interpretive program rather than packaged as a paranormal event.
Notable Entities
Walk all 40 rooms of Father Francolon's 1895 mansion at your own pace, including the chapel, the eight-sided drawing room, and exhibits run by the Manitou Springs Historical Society. The Manitou Springs Firefighters Museum is housed on the lower level.
Pre-arranged group tours and specialty tours including seasonal themed walks. Reservations made by calling the museum directly.
Afternoon tea service in the Queen's Parlour Tea Room, located inside the castle. Tea seating is separate from museum admission and requires advance reservation.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Denver, CO
The Molly Brown House in Denver was the home of philanthropist and Titanic survivor Margaret Brown from 1894 until her death in 1932. Designed by architect William A. Lang in 1889 in a mixed Queen Anne and Richardsonian Romanesque style, the house has operated as a museum under Historic Denver Inc. since 1971 after a public campaign saved it from demolition.
Duluth, MN
Glensheen is a 39-room Jacobean Revival mansion on twelve acres of Lake Superior shoreline in Duluth, built between 1905 and 1908 for mining magnate Chester Adgate Congdon. The University of Minnesota Duluth has operated the estate as a historic-house museum since 1979. The site became internationally known after the June 27, 1977, murders of heiress Elisabeth Congdon and her night nurse Velma Pietila.
Salem, MA
The Jonathan Corwin House, known as the Witch House, was begun in 1675 by Captain Nathaniel Davenport and completed by Judge Jonathan Corwin (1640-1718). Corwin served on the Court of Oyer and Terminer that condemned 19 people to death by hanging during the 1692 Salem witch trials. The house was restored in 1945 by Historic Salem, Inc. and has operated as a city museum since 1947.