Zelda Fitzgerald Sanitorium: A Place of Tragedy

The gothic style manor was built during the Civil War and given the name “Tioranda” but was later renamed “Craig House” by Scottish Dr. Slocum. Craig House became the first privately licensed sanitarium in 1915 and would lead as a perfect example of a sanitarium. The reality of the sanitarium was much darker. The Slocum family believed that with talk therapy, hobbies such as painting and crafts, as well as golf and fine dining that anyone could be cured. However, this was far from the truth.

The first tragedy involved the Fonda family (Peter, Jane and Henry). Famed actor Henry Fonda’s second wife Frances Ford Seymour had a very troubled life. From what is revealed from her daughter Jane, Frances was sexually abused throughout her childhood which caused her irreparable damage. This damage did not go away and it only caused her more trouble later in life. Frances’s first husband was alleged to be an abusive alcoholic by his wife prior to Seymour, and so it is possible that their marriage was suffering. He died suddenly at fifty-five which had a negative impact on Seymour. A year later she married Henry Fonda and life went accordingly, but only for so long. Their marriage was troubled as well and they really only stayed together because of their two children Peter and Jane. This however, did not keep the two together in the long run. Seymour’s demons caught up to her and she was sent to Craig House to recover. Fonda asked her for a divorce and three months after Seymour made a decision: to commit suicide. Frances took a razor blade and slit her own throat in the Craig House in 1950. As heartbreaking and disturbing as this event was, it wasn’t the first nor the last event to take place in the eerie sanitarium.

The second tragedy involved a hedge funder named Robert Wilson. Wilson bought the Craig House in 2003. He owned it for a decade but then the unthinkable happened: he too commit suicide. Wilson was nearly ninety and recently diagnosed with a stroke. It is unsure what drove him to commit suicide but perhaps we will never know. He jumped from his New York City apartment to his death.

The most famous tragedy (or infamous in this case) revolved around writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald’s wife Zelda was a deeply troubled woman and in the early 1930’s she started to display signs of schizophrenia. Fitzgerald portrayed high society of the roaring twenties within his book “The Great Gatsby” but his life had not always paralleled the book. Fitzgerald had severe drinking issues starting from college and continued the rest of his life. He struggled immensely but when his first book became a success he found himself living a life of glamor. With Zelda by his side he continued on the path of inebriation and his life took a turn for the worst. His marriage was filled with infidelity, quarrels and the usual alcoholism on his part, but now mental instability entered into the already unpleasant mix. Zelda was sent to Switzerland to seek treatment for over a year. She was thought to be of sound mind and returned home but quickly relapsed. No one quite knew what was wrong with Zelda, it is thought to be schizophrenia, manic depression or some type of mood disorder. She had extreme lows when life gave her lemons, but when life wasn’t bringing her down she was completely intense with her social life and partying. It didn’t help that Fitzgerald’s friend Ernest Hemingway blamed a lot of Fitzgerald’s career failures on Zelda for her burdensome issue. Zelda suffered from asthma as well as her mental health issues and Fitzgerald decided it be best if she seek help once more. Zelda had tried to commit suicide in the past by overdosing on sleeping pills but she was now in a place of safety in Fitzgerald’s mind. Zelda wrote to Fitzgerald and told him of how much she liked the Craig House. She wrote how she loved the window high above in her bedroom and how she had a little area to paint in her room. The monthly cost to keep Zelda situated there amounted to $750 (which is equal to over $14,000 in 2018). This was an astounding amount of money and it was too much for a struggling Fitzgerald. With his writing career suffering, his alcoholism spiraling out of control and his finances in ruin, Fitzgerald had her moved to a different hospital. Fitzgerald died shortly after due to his alcoholism. A few years later, while awaiting electroshock therapy, a fire broke out in the hospital Zelda was rehoused in and she burned to death in her waiting room.

Another unfortunate event involved the Kennedy family. Rosemary Kennedy was sister to President John F. Kennedy and was a rather rebellious child. Its all too common for children, teens and young adults to be undisciplined and disorderly, but in a family affiliated with politics this was unacceptable. When Rosemary began to have mood swings paired with her rebellious behavior, her father worried that she would bring shame to the family and their influence in politics. Rosemary’s father had a lobotomy scheduled and brought her to the Craig House (without his wife’s knowledge) in order to seek a permanent solution to her disorderly and mentally unstable behavior. Rosemary was only twenty-three at the time and had the controversial procedure done on her. It became evident quite quickly that the lobotomy did not go accordingly: Rosemary recovered but had the IQ of a two-year-old because of the botched procedure.

The beauty of the Craig House masks a dark and depressing history. It seems as if anyone who’s ever gone has unknowingly sealed their fate. A tragic and violent death has taken many who’ve come into contact with the beautiful manor that sits alone, quiet and silent.

The property is privately owned and renovations are being made. There is a police presence and security footage and alarms are in place. Trespassing is forbidden and violators will be prosecuted.