I love a good house tour so when I was in Colorado Springs, I stopped in at the Miramont Castle Museum.
Miramont Castle History
Miramont Castle is interesting in that it’s built right into the hillside. Cars parked on the street behind are right at the house’s roofline! The mansion was built in 1895 by Catholic Priest Jean Baptiste Francolon for him and his wealthy French mother. While it’s primarily a Victorian house, you can see a variety of architectural styles are used, from Gothic windows to Tudor beams to crenulated castle-like walls.
The Francolons left abruptly for France by 1900, where the mother died soon after. By 1904, the Sisters of Mercy started using it as a tuberculosis sanitarium until 1927, then for various other uses until they sold it in 1946. Then it was broken up into apartments and rented through the ’50s-’70s. In 1976, Miramont Castle was placed on the National Historic Register and restored for use as a museum.
Visiting Miramont Castle
If you want to visit Miramont Castle, it’s a five-minute walk slightly uphill from the main downtown Manitou Springs area, or there are two small parking lots adjacent to the house. It doesn’t get a ton of visitors, so I was able to park to the side of the house where there are about five spots. For more parking, drive to the left and up behind the house for a larger parking lot. (This lot is the site of Father Francolon’s first house, which he then donated to the Sisters of Mercy for their first sanitarium. There is still an original tuberculosis isolation hut up here.)
Walk in the front door to buy your tickets. There’s also a small bathroom nearby, and two bathrooms on the third floor. At the front desk, they’ll give you a sheet for your self-guided tour. There are also framed information boards in most rooms (though they don’t seem the most up-to-date.)
Not only is the house refurbished as a Victorian home, but there are also rooms dedicated to general Manitou Springs history. At the start of the tour is a Fire Department Museum in the original basement. Later, there’s a “Spoils of War” exhibit, the Nuremberg trials, and a room of local history.
First Floor
The first floor of Miramont Castle is kind of the basement, though there is a beautiful front door and entry. The ticket desk is straight ahead, the bathroom to the left, and the Fire Museum to the right. A set of stairs leads to the second floor to continue the tour.
Second Floor
At the top of the stairs is a grand Victorian parlor with a huge stone fireplace, dug seven feet into the side of the mountain. (Which I apparently did not get a picture of!! Arg.) Miramont Castle also features a Tea Room, which is on this floor in the old greenhouse.
Continuing the tour takes you through small kitchen and dining areas and into an eastern addition that features a grand staircase and a chapel. The large chapel used to be Father Francolon’s dining room, and a small smoking room/office is to one side. There’s also a set of rooms set up to display the offices of Judge Young, a Colorado Native. (I can’t find evidence of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice named Young, so it must be the Colorado Supreme Court.)
Third Floor
At the top of the grand staircase to the third floor is a large solarium. This room used to have a glass roof for even more light, which served as a conservatory for the Francolons and a surgery suite for the Sisters of Mercy. There’s a public bathroom off this room.
A 16-sided room serves as a guest suite, while a corridor holds Maria Francolon’s rooms, including a sitting room, large bathroom, and bedroom. A grand hall serves as a picture gallery for a local Manitou Springs artist. A large tower room on the end is Father Francolon’s bedroom, with one room of the suite turned into a local history museum. Another small bathroom is located in Farther Francolon’s room.
There is a fourth floor with a gift shop and what was the servant’s quarters. Unfortunately, I did not pay attention to the time and got booted out promptly at the 4 pm closing time! Due to the nature of how the house is built in the mountain, there is ground-floor access on every level. Normally, you would proceed up another staircase to a tower room and exit into the Victorian gardens near the top-level parking deck, where you can see an old tuberculosis hut.
Tea Room
On the second floor of Manitou Castle is the Queen’s Parlor Tea Room with its own entrance on the side. It’s open Tuesday-Sunday in two seatings, 11:00-12:30 and 1:00-2:30, and reservations are required. High Tea is $45 per person (though that includes taxes and tips) and comes with two flavors of tea, scones, fruit, sandwiches, and desserts. A Light Victorian Tea for $35 loses one pot of tea and the fruit course, and for $30, your children can join the fun with a kid-friendly prince/princess tea. And with tea, you are eligible for $1 off a castle tour.
Hours & Tickets
Manitou Springs definitely seems to be a town that rolls up its sidewalks around 4-5 pm at night. I found a restaurant and coffee shop still open in the evening but not much else! Likewise, the Miramont Castle Museum is open from 10-4 Tuesday-Sunday, with final entry at 3:30 pm.
Tickets cost $14 for adults, $13 for seniors 60+, and $10 for kids 4-12, with 3 and under free. You can also get in free with an active military ID or active firefighter ID. And it’s $1 off those prices if you have tea in the tea room.
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