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Tour of the Gilded Cottages of the Berkshire Hills

Bob begins his tour of cottages in the Berkshire Hills in Lenox, Massachusetts. Starting with Ventfort Hall, an Elizabethan-style mansion built in 1893 for Sarah Morgan, the sister of J. P. Morgan and recently the backdrop for the movie "Cider House Rules." This home is now the site of the Museum of the Gilded Age. Bellefontaine Mansion built in 1897 is a copy of Louis XIV's Petit Trianon; it is now the home of the Canyon Ranch Spa. Guy Lowell, who later went on to design the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), the New York City Courthouse and hundreds of private residences designed this marble four-story cottage. The next stop is at the Wheatleigh mansion. Designed by the Boston architectural firm of Peabody and Stearns, more than 150 artisans from Italy created the building's intricate carvings, indoors and out. Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of such grand spaces as New York's Central Park, the White House grounds, and the Great Smoky Mountains and Acadia National Parks, sculpted Wheatleigh Park from the surrounding property. Bob takes a longer stop at the Italianate Spring Lawn Mansion where the Shakespeare & Company has their home. Tina Packer, president of Shakespeare & Company, guides Bob around the Spring Lawn Mansion, pointing out the Hampton Staircase inspired by Henry VIII's home. Spring Lawn was the first residence designed by Guy Lowell. The home's outbuildings are being converted to exhibits, small theatres, and teaching areas to further the theatrical education of its visitors. The showpiece of the property is the future site of the New Rose Theatre, a replica of the 1587 Bankside playhouse, Shakespeare's theatre prior to The Globe. More information