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Room rates at former Craig House start at $513
Local and county officials gathered in Beacon on Thursday afternoon (May 7) for the ribbon-cutting of the luxury Mirbeau Inn & Spa on Route 9D, which opens today for guests with rooms ranging from $513 to $693 per night.
The Mirbeau Companies, which owns a day spa in Albany and three resorts (in Rhinebeck and Skaneateles, New York, and Plymouth, Massachusetts), purchased the 64-acre estate for $10 million in 2022. Its centerpiece is a 14,000-square-foot, neo-Gothic mansion built in 1859 for Civil War Gen. Joseph Howland and his wife, Eliza. It later became a private psychiatric hospital, Craig House, that closed in 1999 and had sat empty since.
Mirbeau began construction in February 2024. As unveiled on Thursday, the mansion is a spiffed-up pink brick jewel surrounded by incipient plantings, newly sodded lawns and a pool and water feature with a bridge and winding paths. Mirbeau tore down a 1978 hospital wing and built a chateau with the spa and 63 rooms in its place.
In his remarks, Ed Kellogg, the general manager, admitted that finishing the project went "right down to the wire." Beacon Mayor Lee Kyriacou confirmed this, saying he received a call from Kellogg at 11 that morning saying the city's Building Department had just issued the certificate of occupancy required for opening.
Kellogg noted that Craig House, the treatment center of choice for the rich and famous such as Zelda Fitzgerald and Jackie Gleason, had a "long history of wellness and rehabilitation. We're excited about that." He praised the city and the Planning Board as "wonderful," hailing their professionalism. "It was a challenge," he said, but "it was a great experience."
Kyriacou thanked Mirbeau founders Linda and Gary Dowers and "the entire Mirbeau team for bringing this gem of a historic asset back to life." He said that Dia art museum coming to Beacon in 2003 was a "first huge leap" for the city. "This is the second leap for us," he said.
"I want to say how important I think this will be for Beacon to take that next step of becoming a destination for tourism, for the arts and for people to come here and help enjoy our Main Street and keep it alive, keep it going," Kyriacou said. "I will say that we will be adding more catalysts in short order: The Fjord Trail and the Beacon Rail Trail are coming soon and will be important additions and very natural fits" for the spa.
Restoring a historic property comes with a plethora of rules and regulations. "This was the most challenging project we've ever undertaken," said Michael Dal Pos, the CEO of Mirbeau Hospitality Services. "But the results speak for themselves."
Kellogg noted that Mirbeau was not able to add an elevator in the original home because it would have altered the roofline and jeopardized the company's historic preservation tax credits. Instead, guests reach the second-floor rooms by climbing a wooden staircase. Mirbeau installed a dumbwaiter to move luggage.
The main suite was the Howlands' original bedroom. Its furnishings play up the antique look with a wooden vanity, plush upholstery and draperies. The bathroom in this primary suite is bigger than many New York City studio apartments and has a clawfoot tub and lavish-looking glass-enclosed shower.
On the ground floor, there is a suitably dark lounge and library with an adjoining game room dominated by an ornate 1873 Johnson & Company 58-pipe organ. There is a bar and several pretty dining rooms, with a few blank spots on the walls (and signs begging pardon for work in progress).
A large banquet room has views toward the river. There are several outside terraces furnished with tables, chairs and umbrellas that have views of the manicured grounds, but also look down on a wooded area and parking lots.
Photos by Ross Corsair
The chateau's lower floor houses the spa, which includes a gym, yoga room and solarium that are flooded with natural light. Doors lead out to a Monet Garden (the...
Local and county officials gathered in Beacon on Thursday afternoon (May 7) for the ribbon-cutting of the luxury Mirbeau Inn & Spa on Route 9D, which opens today for guests with rooms ranging from $513 to $693 per night.
The Mirbeau Companies, which owns a day spa in Albany and three resorts (in Rhinebeck and Skaneateles, New York, and Plymouth, Massachusetts), purchased the 64-acre estate for $10 million in 2022. Its centerpiece is a 14,000-square-foot, neo-Gothic mansion built in 1859 for Civil War Gen. Joseph Howland and his wife, Eliza. It later became a private psychiatric hospital, Craig House, that closed in 1999 and had sat empty since.
Mirbeau began construction in February 2024. As unveiled on Thursday, the mansion is a spiffed-up pink brick jewel surrounded by incipient plantings, newly sodded lawns and a pool and water feature with a bridge and winding paths. Mirbeau tore down a 1978 hospital wing and built a chateau with the spa and 63 rooms in its place.
In his remarks, Ed Kellogg, the general manager, admitted that finishing the project went "right down to the wire." Beacon Mayor Lee Kyriacou confirmed this, saying he received a call from Kellogg at 11 that morning saying the city's Building Department had just issued the certificate of occupancy required for opening.
Kellogg noted that Craig House, the treatment center of choice for the rich and famous such as Zelda Fitzgerald and Jackie Gleason, had a "long history of wellness and rehabilitation. We're excited about that." He praised the city and the Planning Board as "wonderful," hailing their professionalism. "It was a challenge," he said, but "it was a great experience."
Kyriacou thanked Mirbeau founders Linda and Gary Dowers and "the entire Mirbeau team for bringing this gem of a historic asset back to life." He said that Dia art museum coming to Beacon in 2003 was a "first huge leap" for the city. "This is the second leap for us," he said.
"I want to say how important I think this will be for Beacon to take that next step of becoming a destination for tourism, for the arts and for people to come here and help enjoy our Main Street and keep it alive, keep it going," Kyriacou said. "I will say that we will be adding more catalysts in short order: The Fjord Trail and the Beacon Rail Trail are coming soon and will be important additions and very natural fits" for the spa.
Restoring a historic property comes with a plethora of rules and regulations. "This was the most challenging project we've ever undertaken," said Michael Dal Pos, the CEO of Mirbeau Hospitality Services. "But the results speak for themselves."
Kellogg noted that Mirbeau was not able to add an elevator in the original home because it would have altered the roofline and jeopardized the company's historic preservation tax credits. Instead, guests reach the second-floor rooms by climbing a wooden staircase. Mirbeau installed a dumbwaiter to move luggage.
The main suite was the Howlands' original bedroom. Its furnishings play up the antique look with a wooden vanity, plush upholstery and draperies. The bathroom in this primary suite is bigger than many New York City studio apartments and has a clawfoot tub and lavish-looking glass-enclosed shower.
On the ground floor, there is a suitably dark lounge and library with an adjoining game room dominated by an ornate 1873 Johnson & Company 58-pipe organ. There is a bar and several pretty dining rooms, with a few blank spots on the walls (and signs begging pardon for work in progress).
A large banquet room has views toward the river. There are several outside terraces furnished with tables, chairs and umbrellas that have views of the manicured grounds, but also look down on a wooded area and parking lots.
Photos by Ross Corsair
The chateau's lower floor houses the spa, which includes a gym, yoga room and solarium that are flooded with natural light. Doors lead out to a Monet Garden (the...