The Manor's History
A House With Many Lives
From a private residence and tuberculosis cure cottage to a Carmelite monastery and, today, a bed & breakfast, this remarkable Saranac Lake home has welcomed people through its doors for more than a century.
Franklin Manor during its years as a cure cottage
THE BEGINNING
The Riddle Years
At the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Franklin Manor's story begins around the turn of the twentieth century, when the house became associated with Daniel Riddle during an extraordinary chapter in Saranac Lake's history.
Like many who came to the Adirondacks during this era, Riddle was drawn to Saranac Lake after developing tuberculosis. The village had become internationally known as a center for the treatment of the disease, shaped in large part by the work of Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau.
Riddle's time here placed the house within that remarkable period of Saranac Lake history—when fresh mountain air, rest, and time spent outdoors were considered essential parts of the cure.
THE CURE COTTAGE ERA
A House for Healing
Part of Saranac Lake's Remarkable Cure Cottage History
As Saranac Lake became one of the country's best-known centers for tuberculosis treatment, homes throughout the village were transformed to accommodate people who came seeking the “fresh-air cure.” Franklin Manor became part of that story.
Patients spent long periods resting in the open air, and houses were adapted with porches and sun-filled spaces where they could take advantage of the Adirondack climate. Franklin Manor's broad porch and generous windows made the house particularly suited to this way of life.
The legacy of that era can still be felt throughout the manor—in its expansive porch, light-filled rooms, and the quiet connection between the house and the landscape beyond it.
The broad front porch during Franklin Manor's cure cottage years
Porches like this were an important part of Saranac Lake's cure cottage architecture, providing patients with places to rest outdoors and take in the mountain air. More than a century later, Franklin Manor's porch remains one of the defining features of the house.
1952 - 1999
A House of Prayer
Fifty Years as a Carmelite Monastery
In 1952, the house entered an entirely different chapter when the property was donated to the Catholic Church and became home to a community of Carmelite nuns.
For the next fifty years, the former residence and cure cottage became a monastery—a place shaped by prayer, contemplation, community, and a quieter rhythm of daily life.
The sisters made the house their home until 1999. Their half-century here remains one of the longest chapters in the manor's history, and traces of that life are still woven into the character of the property today.
1999 - 2021
A Home Once Again
From Monastery to Private Residence
When the Carmelite sisters departed in 1999, the house entered another chapter, returning to life as a private residence.
For more than two decades, the former monastery was once again a family home, carrying forward the architectural character and history shaped by those who had lived within its walls.
In 2021, the doors opened to guests as Franklin Manor Bed & Breakfast—and a new chapter began.
2021 - Today
A The Story Continues
Today, Franklin Manor welcomes guests through the same doors that have opened to families, patients, and a community of Carmelite sisters for more than a century.
Now a bed and breakfast, the manor offers something its walls have provided in many different ways throughout their history: a place to rest, gather, slow down, and experience the Adirondacks.
Each guest who stays here becomes a small part of the house's continuing story.
