Berkshire Cottages

America's Gilded Age, the post-Civil War and post-Reconstruction era, from 1865 to 1901 saw unprecedented economic and industrial prosperity. As a result of this prosperity, the nation's wealthiest families were able to construct monumental country estates in the Berkshires in Massachusetts.

History

Although most uses of 'cottage' imply a small house, the use of the word in this context refers to an alternative definition, "a summer residence (often on a large and sumptuous scale)".[1]

Cottages

Approximately seventy-six estates were built in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, including:[2][3]

  • Allen Winden
  • Ashintully
  • Beaupré
  • Bellefontaine
  • Belvoir Terrace
  • Blantyre
  • Bluestone Manor
  • Bonnie Brae
  • Breezy Corners
  • Brookhurst
  • Brookside
  • Cherry Hill
  • Chesterwood
  • Clipston Grange
  • Coldbrook
  • Deepdene
  • Eastover
  • Edgewood
  • Elm Court
  • Erskine Park
  • Groton Place
  • Gusty Gables
  • High Lawn
  • Kellogg Terrace
  • Lakeside
  • Merrywood
  • Naumkeag
  • Nestledown
  • Norwood
  • Oakwood
  • Orleton
  • Oronoque
  • Overlee
  • Pine Acre
  • Pine Needles
  • Rock Ridge
  • Searles Castle
  • Shadowbrook
  • Spring Lawn
  • Stonover
  • Summerwood
  • Sunnyridge
  • Tanglewood
  • The Homestead
  • The Mount
  • Valleyhead
  • Ventfort Hall
  • Villa Virginia
  • Wheatleigh
  • Windyside
  • Wyndhurst

See also

References

  1. ^ Sayer, Karen (2000). "Introduction". Country Cottages: A Cultural History. p. 1. ISBN 978-0719047527.
  2. ^ Owens, Carole (1984). The Berkshire Cottages: A Vanishing Era. Cottage Press. ISBN 978-0-918343-00-0. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  3. ^ Gilder, Cornelia Brooke (2017). Edith Wharton's Lenox. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-62585-788-0. Retrieved 16 September 2020.

External links

  • The Museum of the Gilded Age at Ventfort Hall
  • Bob Vila tour of Berkshire cottages