Imagine a big, welcoming house. Light streams in through the open windows. Surrounding the house are acres of green lawns, meandering footpaths, and sweet-smelling gardens. The food here is nutritious and plentiful. The staff is pleasant and friendly.

You spend your days doing things that give your life meaning. If you enjoy sewing, you sew all day. If you are a carpenter, you build cabinets or tables. If your family is wealthy, you bring in your own servants to take care of you in well-appointed rooms. All of your troubles melt away.

Is this a luxury resort or hotel? No. It is a 19th-century insane asylum.

In the mid-1800s, America built a slew of beautiful, even spectacular, mental hospitals. They called them "asylums" because the word meant “place of refuge.” Asylums were billed as the ultimate escape from the worries of life. “Hospitals,” on the other hand, were associated with poverty and death.

If you had a mental breakdown, or perhaps suffered from crippling depression, you might commit yourself (or your family could commit you) to one of these places. Many were quite grand, with dairy farms, gardens, stables, and workshops. Best of all, according to some of the boastful pamphlets and ads, they had upwards of 99........

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