Mirbeau Inn & Spa Beacon

• The famed estate of Civil War General and former NYS Treasurer Joseph Howland and his wife Eliza Howland, known as “Tioronda,” has been a place of healing – a sanctuary for physical and mental wellness in various forms – for many notable individuals. 

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• The name “Tioronda” came from the Native American word describing the “meeting of the waters” or the convergence of Fishkill Creek and the Hudson River, which perfectly represents the truly serene setting. 

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• The Mansion on Tioronda, erected in 1859, was designed by Frederick Clarke Withers, one of the great architects responsible for introducing the High Victorian Gothic style to America. Withers practiced architecture alongside partner Calvert Vaux, and together completed many notable projects such as the Third Judicial District Courthouse (now the Jefferson Market Library), Hudson River State Hospital, Gallaudet University, and Olana State Historic Site.  

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• The Howlands were friends and neighbors with Henry Winthrop Sargent, one of the fathers of American Landscape Architecture, and it was Sargent who curated the horticulture of Tioronda. He laid out and planted the grounds between 1861 and 1862. 

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• Sargent’s Wodenethe, a 20-acre estate in Fishkill Landing (now Beacon), was less than a couple of miles away from Tioronda, located opposite where the Sargent Elementary School is today. Often called ''the most beautiful 20 Acres in America," Sargent was inspired by the gardens of Europe and he purchased many species of plants to bring back home. His most considerable influence, however, was Andrew Jackson Downing, a renowned landscape designer, horticulturist, and writer whose home and gardens were just across the river in Newburgh. 

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• Sargent’s direct influence is still present at Tioronda today. One of four original specimens of Sargent’s Weeping Hemlock, discovered by Howland in the Fishkill Mountains, still thrives here. As well as the oldest specimen of lacebark pine in America, the Pinus Bungeana from China. And, in front of the Mansion’s Music Room Addition, a garden wall, very similar to one at Sargent’s Wodenethe estate, remains.  

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• In 1865, Joseph Howland called Frederick Clarke Withers back to Tioronda to design The Tioronda School building on his estate for the education of the neighborhood children. 

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• Later, in 1872, Joseph Howland commissioned Richard Morris Hunt, his longtime friend and brother-in-law, to design the Music Room Wing which houses the 1872 Johnson Opus 411 Organ. Some of Hunt’s most notable work includes the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty; Vanderbilt Mansions: Biltmore, Marble House, The Breakers; Metropolitan Museum of Art; and many more, including the Howland Cultural Center still operating here in Beacon, NY.  

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• The Howlands were deeply involved in his community of Matteawan (later merging with Fishkill Landing to become the City of Beacon in 1913). At their own expense, they commissioned Richard Morris Hunt to design the Howland Cultural Center, the Howland Circulating Library, Highland Hospital, and a new Presbyterian Church.  

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• The Howlands philanthropic efforts extended beyond Beacon. Joseph had an active role in establishing Cornell University and the Hudson River State Hospital where he advocated for the humane treatment of patients seeking mental health treatment.  

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• In 1911, before her death, Eliza Howland continued the Howland family legacy of community philanthropy by donating Tioronda to the University Settlement House in Manhattan, to develop a sleep-away camp for Jewish children, which eventually sold most of the estate to Dr. Clarence Jonathan Slocum, a local psychiatrist. The remaining 51 acres to the east of 9D would become Mt. Beacon Park after a deal between the Settlement, NYS Department of Parks, and the conservation group Scenic Hudson.

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• Dr. Clarence Jonathan Slocum purchased Tioronda to open The Craig House in 1915, Dr. Slocum was a pioneer of mental health treatment, and in 1935, The Craig House was rated by Fortune Magazine as one of the best sanitariums in America. ​

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• Dr. Slocum referred to patients as ‘guests’ and created an environment with a residential feel complete with comforts such as fine dining, athletics like tennis and swimming, painting, and an emphasis on nature. Under Dr. Slocum’s ownership, The Tioronda School was converted into a hydrotherapy center and gymnasium, and just outside, adjacent to the building, were tennis courts. After he died in 1950, Dr. Slocum’s son, Jonathan, continued his father’s philosophies and practices rooted in talk therapy, art therapy, and nature therapy at The Craig House. 

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• After over 80 years of providing its guests – many with celebrity status like Jackie Gleason, Marilyn Monroe, Frances Seymour, Rosemary Kennedy, Truman Capote, and Zelda Fitzgerald – with a countryside retreat for mental health, The Craig House closed its doors in 1999.