Miramont

About this property

Miramont Castle is a museum located in Manitou Springs, Colorado at the base of the Pike's Peak Cog Railway and infamous Manitou Incline. The Castle was originally built in 1895 as a private home for Father Jean Baptist Francolon, a French-born Catholic priest. Today, the castle serves as a historic house museum. Located in the Manitou Springs Historic District, it is a National Register of Historic Places listing. Father Francolon was born in France in 1854 into a wealthy aristocratic family. He immigrated to the United States in 1878 at the age of 24 after being recruited by Bishop Lamy of Santa Fe, New Mexico to serve as an assistant priest at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi. After moving around the southwestern United States for nine years to oversee mission churches for various Native American tribes and eighteen small chapels, Father Francolon returned to France for health reasons in late 1886. He would resume his parish duties in the United States a year later and continue into 1892. To restore his failing health, Father Francolon relocated to Manitou Springs, Colorado in 1892. This area was known for its healing mineral mountain spring waters and clean air. His mother would join him in Manitou in July 1893. The property is located on a parcel of land whose earliest deed dates back to 1862. The land was once owned by one of Colorado's most controversial men, Colonel John Chivington, commander of the infamous Sand Creek Massacre of 1864. Records show he sold the land in 1867 through his son-in-law who had power of attorney, but later filed a lawsuit claiming he had not given the power of attorney. Colonel Chivington would lose the lawsuit, and the land would move from The Colorado Springs Company from 1871-1882 until being sold to the City of Manitou. Father Francolon had collected architectural ideas from his early years of travelling the world with his diplomat father, and would spend hours describing his plans in detail with his contractors. Construction began in the Fall of 1895, where the Manitou Springs Journal would report progress. Miramont gets its name by translating to "look at the mountain," a fitting name for Manitou Springs' mountain town feel. The castle was built with indoor plumbing and electricity. Father Francolon and his mother were deemed recluse by the local community, despite their efforts to give back to the community by hosting two fundraising balls at the castle in 1897. Unexpectedly, the Francolons left Manitou in 1900, leaving behind their furniture to their beloved castle. Madam Francolon would return to France where she would pass away in 1907, and Father Francolon spent his final years in New York City where he would pass away in 1922.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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