Massachusetts Travel: Discoveries in the Berkshires -- Stockbridge and Lenox

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• published: 02 Nov 2010
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Finally, after three days of drizzle, Wednesday September 29, 2010 was forecast to be a sunny and warm day. While sending my husband to do some outlet shopping in Lee, I continued about 10 minutes further west to the historic town of Stockbridge. Another very picturesque town, Stockbridge is known as the home of the Norman Rockwell Museum, and of Chesterwood, a historic mansion that used to be the summer estate and studio of Daniel Chester French, a famous American sculptor. I had planned a visit to the Red Lion Inn, one of the few American inns that has been in continuous use since the 18th century. Carol Bosco Baumann took me on a tour of this historic property which is also owned by the Kilpatrick family who bought this property in 1968 and saved it from demolition. The inn is a huge historic building that dates back to 1897 and features more than 100 guest rooms, each one uniquely appointed with antiques, artwork and china. There are several adjacent guest houses that can be rented as well. Some of the long hallways in the main inn are a little slanted, and together with the historically inspired décor, this adds to the authentic feel of the Red Lion Inn as a Victorian-era property. Carol even told me a few ghost stories about the good-natured spirits that are still said to inhabit some of the rooms at the Red Lion Inn. After snapping some photos on Stockbridge's picturesque main street I picked up my husband and we drove to another historic hospitality establishment: the Cranwell Resort, Spa and Golf Club. In the late 1880s, during the Gilded Age, the Berkshires were a popular resort destination for many of the wealthy industrialists and financiers of the era. Families like the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers and Carnegies built lavish mansions that were simply called "cottages", although they had dozens of bedrooms and luxurious amenities. One of these cottages, actually a gorgeous chateau-like stone mansion, is today's Cranwell Resort, and over the years it has played host to notable guests like Harriet Beecher Stowe, the Vanderbilt family and President William McKinley. Construction on today's mansion was completed in 1894. Norma Probst from the resort gave me a tour through this venerable property which also features cottage suites and town homes in addition to the luxuriously appointed suites in the mansion. Cranwell Resort is the only Small Luxury Hotels of the World resort in Massachusetts and a member of the Historic Hotels of America. After the hotel tour we played a round of golf on the 18-hole championship golf course that was built in 1926 by golf course designers Wayne Styles and John Van Kleek. We could not have picked a better day for an enjoyable round of golf in the beautiful rolling hills of the Berkshires. In the evening we settled in for dinner in the nearby town of Lenox, location of Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home. Many ultra-rich families built summer estates here during the Gilded Aged from 1880 to 1920 and real estate prices skyrocketed in the area. Many of these mansions have today been converted into vacation condominiums, yoga centers, theatre companies or museums. Lenox boasts numerous upscale eateries and galleries.