Parlor with Carved Fireplace Mantel, Fergus Falls Kirkbride Building, Minnesota

This parlor sits within the Fergus Falls Regional Treatment Center's Kirkbride building, completed in 1890 to a design by architect Willoughby J. Edbrooke. The carved fireplace mantel and red-tiled hearth mark the room as one of the building's more formal spaces, likely used for staff or administrative purposes rather than patient wards. The Kirkbride plan, developed by psychiatrist Thomas Story Kirkbride, called for large windows and abundant natural light in patient and common areas alike, based on the era's belief that architecture itself could aid mental treatment. The hospital operated until 1999, and the building has stood vacant since, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Photo taken in June 2014.