Miramont Castle

Jean Baptiste Francolon, a French Roman Catholic priest, became the parish priest of Manitou Springs in 1893. After a pilgrimage to Rome in 1894, Francolon began building Miramont Castle, incorporating nine styles of architecture from memories of his family home and travels with his diplomat father. Master builders Archie and Angus Gillis and mason William Frizzell constructed the four-story structure mostly of Manitou greenstone, a stone found only in this area and quarried from 1890 until around 1940. The Gillis brothers also built many historic structures in Manitou Springs, including the Community Congregational Church. Francolon and his mother, Marie Francolon de Beaulieu, moved into the castle in 1896. On February 22, 1897, a charity ball honoring George Washington's birthday and their grand home drew three hundred members of Colorado society, who donated to the Manitou Free Reading Room and danced in colonial costume while spectators paid a dollar to watch. The Francolons lived there until 1899, when they abruptly left the area and sold the property to the Sisters of Mercy, who opened a sanitarium there in 1904. The institution closed in 1928, and afterward only visiting Sisters from other parishes stayed there. In 1946, the building was sold and converted into apartments. By July 1976, the Manitou Springs Historical Society had purchased the derelict property and restored it with the help of many local volunteers. The Miramont Castle Museum celebrated its grand opening and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

Manitou Springs, Colorado · United States