“Sometimes, the most important thing you can do when you have something really good is keep it the same.”
— Dan Giddings, co-owner of The Dream Away Lodge
When the winds shift slightly, the temps grow crisper, and the fall routines re-emerge, urging visitors from their seasonal rentals back to their cityscapes, there’s a different feel in the Berkshires. It’s one locals secretly wait for, and business owners welcome, albeit hesitantly letting go of bigger reservation lists, ticket sales, and crowds. That’s when the nearby lakes—once filled with campers learning to ski and jet skis zipping in circles—return to the kayaks and fishing boats, traffic in town no longer requires a Waze reroute, and restaurants resume their year-round clientele. Collectively, we look forward to it as much as putting on our favorite wool sweater again.
When Dennis Thompson, a close neighbor of The Dream Away Lodge who used to draft letters for its original owner, Mamma Frasca, popped by the historic restaurant last spring to “meet the new owners,” the mayflies were biting relentlessly. Co-owner Dan Giddings asked if they could move inside. The exchange that followed went something like this:
Giddings: “When do the mayflies leave?”
Thompson: “When the deerflies arrive.”
Giddings: “When do the deerflies leave?”
Thompson: “When the horseflies arrive.”
Giddings: “When do all of the flies leave?”
Thompson: “Late August/early September—and so do the people, and that’s my favorite time of year.”
A place with a storied past
In a world of high-speed everything, The Dream Away Lodge is the antidote to all that ails you. Just as you begin to wonder if your GPS has dropped off, the long line of cars parked along the road signals that you’re in the right place. Walking up the path, you smell the smoke of the fire pit, hear old friends conversing on the porch, see the lit signs, and enter a venue where time stands still—if only for an evening.
The Dream Away Lodge’s farmhouse dates back over 200 years (some claim it was once a brothel/speakeasy). However, its popularity as a music venue and meeting place started when Mamma Maria Frasca (“a recording artist, movie star, natural healer, Italian chef, and friend of people” per the website) took over in 1947. Back then, it was simply known as “Mamma’s.”
The left wall of the music room, filled with black and white photos, gives a sense of the venue’s rich history, attracting music greats like Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Jack Elliott, Arlo Guthrie, Bob Neuwirth, and Pete Seeger during the years Frasca ran the show. The website’s “music + word” page affirms that it’s still attracting great musicians today—supported by a loyal patronage built over the years and a growing number of new fans.
Loyal staff and a new partnership bring it into the future
Scott Levy (owner of Eastern Effects) and Sheryl Victor Levy (CMO/CSO of The Paley Center for Media), who have owned a home nearby since 2004, partnered with Andy McDowell (owner of Pete’s Candy Store, a well-known bar and venue in Brooklyn) to purchase the Dream Away Lodge last year, saving it from an unknown future. Dan Giddings (a restaurateur) and his wife, April Wilson (an editor/co-producer for “60 Minutes”), bought McDowell’s share and reopened The Dream Away Lodge this spring.
Giddings, who has years of experience growing restaurants and venues in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Wilton (Connecticut), feels lucky to have “wonderful staff members, both front and back of house.” When he came on the scene, executive chef Amy Loveless was already widely known for her talent. Giddings hired back Kristen Parker (who had been bar manager before the pandemic) to serve as general manager. “She rebuilt the happy, hardworking culture she had developed previously with a brand new staff,” he acknowledges.
The first person Giddings got to know closely when he and Wilson became involved with the lodge was Loveless. “Amy and I would meet up to try different types of food and make plans for reopening the lodge,” he recalls. “One of the most memorable things she said early on was that The Dream Away Lodge reminded her of the simplicity of nature—no high tech, just spending time with friends in an environment where you’re not distracted.”
“Everyone’s just chill—relaxing and enjoying themselves. No one’s in a rush,” a bartender confirms, noting the contrast to venues in nearby towns. It’s a place where time seems to stand still—or at least not matter for a little while.
“When I was pondering ‘What’s my responsibility here?’ I started by listening to Amy, Daniel Osman (the previous owner), and our long-term guests and thinking of all the values that make up the essence of this place,” Giddings continues. “Many of our staff have long roots here. Lucy, a server, told me her parents got married here (Osman performed the ceremony!), and she learned to walk on the carpet on our music room floor. Many other staffers are kids of people who met here as well.”
“Hippies use side door”
The lodge is widely known and loved because of Mamma Frasca and Daniel Osman, an actor in the New York Theatre Workshop (the incubator for Broadway shows like “Rent” and “Once”) who first came to the Berkshires in 1979 to act with Shakespeare & Company. He bought the rambling farmhouse (which he describes as “at the top of the mountain at the end of the world”) in 1997 and owned it until 2020.
“I asked Daniel to come back and share the details of how he created Dream Away’s magical environment,” Giddings says. “For example, instead of setting up croquet in a field, he engages guests by leaving a set by the door—the invitation to set up the game yourself is more intriguing.” Osman’s current roles directing weddings/special events, greeting guests, and giving his epic “tip jar speech” when he’s in-house are equally important, both to him and to the lodge.
“Let the music play on”
Wednesday nights are music circle nights, a tradition the Berkshire Folk Society started in the 1950s as a “community music share.” As Giddings notes, “There is such great talent—some unknown and some only locally known—but all accomplished musicians.” He recalls hearing a musician named Milton for the first time, thinking he should be more famous, and then realizing later, “That’s not the goal or measure of a person around here. People appreciate music, theater, and art for what it is, not the fame gained in making it.”
You’ll find live music on Thursday through Sunday nights as well by bands and musicians such as The Lucky Five, Bandits on the Run, Bobby Sweet and Lara Tupper, and Christopher and Sienna Sears. At a recent appearance, as the Sears siblings are setting up for their gig, they describe what sets Dream Away apart. “Performing has a different meaning in this space,” Christopher shares. Is it the ambiance? The staff? The people who come to listen? All of that and more. “It’s not precious, but more of an enigma they’ve created and nurtured over the years. People come in to see who’s playing tonight.” He adds.“There aren’t a lot of places that want you to play out what you’ve got. Most are looking for 15 minutes of music an hour, but Dream Away respects your time and the alchemy of the space.”
In fact, the last time Sears performed there (with Bandits on the Run), they finished the set at around 10:30 p.m., but people were still hanging out, so they kept playing well past midnight. “The crowds here don’t want the night to be over—no one does,” he points out.
Another connection to Dream Away’s past is its free entry. Despite pressure to impose a cover charge for live music because it’s expensive to provide, the owners have resisted that trend. “You’ve got to put in money toward the tip jar, feed the musicians, and give them lodging,” Giddings explains. “But if you can get yourself here, we want you to enjoy the music. Everything bounces off that.”
The key to its success? Dream Away Lodge is intimate and unpretentious, with a relaxed sense of time. As the Sears play their first set, the words, “This place is mine, I’ll take my time,” from their song “Play for Free” reinforce the sentiment. The room is filled two hours into their set, and no one is leaving. “We have our local heroes, and people come to see them,” explains a rapt yoga instructor in the audience.
Keeping on keeping on
What surprises Giddings nearing the end of his first summer season? “I am used to starting a restaurant from a concept, building it out, hiring people intentionally, and then running it very personally. When you start a business, people that come to you are attached to you. When Scott came to me and said, ‘I think this project would speak to you,’ my first thought was that it was someone else’s project/historic place. I was surprised by how much we liked and connected with the guests and staff.”
There’s a sense of relief—and trust—when people return. Giddings recently welcomed an “old timer” on tour from San Francisco who frequented the lodge back in Mamma’s day and had not been back since she owned it. “I got anxious when I grew closer,” the man admitted, “scared it would have changed, but as soon as I walked in the front door, I was relieved to see it was still the same.”
Giddings maintains, “When the world is moving too quickly, Dream Away Lodge offers a counterbalance to what we experience everywhere else. The number of people who have come here and met, married, become lifelong friends, and reconnected over the years is just one indication of its magic. It’s an environment where people can focus on each other without distractions.” (In this spirit, he took the Wi-Fi information down from the walls shortly after they reopened to encourage people to experience the firepit and gardens, sip their drinks, and listen to the music.)
Expanding options to meet the growing demand
“One of the reasons we decided to clean up the shed in the back was that we often have requests for birthday parties of 12 or more guests. Because those celebrating an occasion have a different rhythm than the rest of the service, handling those larger groups was a challenge,” Giddings admits. He knew they needed to expand, so they turned the back shed into the Doodle-Do, a private event space accommodating up to 40 people.
Sebastian Piekutowski (a former staff member turned contractor) and Ron Botting (a long-time friend of Daniel Osman and Dream Away, who now lives in Portland) donated their time to help Giddings reimagine the space in the shed, and Giddings (a former builder/contractor) crafted the bar out of longtime librarian Cathy Buffoni’s old desk at the Stockbridge Library. “We recently held celebrations for people turning 80, 85, and 95. The older generation is still going strong here in the Berkshires!” Giddings grins.
The 53-acre property also lends itself well to weddings and special events. Osman, no stranger to producing great plays, acts as stage director/producer for those celebrations, which he describes in a memorable original rap as “five-act plays.” The website promises, “We take away all the stress of planning a wedding with our on-site wedding planner, complete floral package, in-house chef and staff, and 50 sprawling acres of beautiful gardens and glades.”
“When we’re busy in the summer, we haven’t been able to say yes to all the demand. We tap out around 200 reservations when we could have 400, so we’re also trying to add outside service,” Giddings shares. To that end, they decided to cook barbecue out back, in keeping with their roadhouse roots.
When Alvaro Dalmau, an Argentinian chef who worked with Giddings on a project in the city, expressed a desire to “move somewhere with more lakes and hiking,” Giddings invited him to come to the Berkshires for the spring opening, and he stayed on to manage the grill. And when Hugh Mangum, Giddings’ partner in Rise Doughnuts in Wilton, Conn., purchased a new smoker, he gave his older one to Dream Away (they hope to have it fired up this fall). Long-term goals include adding a chef residency project and offering espresso, fresh juices, pastries, and breakfast sandwiches so people can enjoy the beautiful property during the day.
Heart, soul, and happiness
“I’ve enjoyed being at the Dream Away Lodge as much as running it,” Giddings concludes.
“There’s a soul to this place that you can’t ignore,” Loveless and Osman add, smiling. “We’re happy because it’s happy.”
So, if you’re missing the welcoming front porch, lace tablecloths, and round leather ottomans of your favorite cool aunt’s house in the sixties, there’s a winding road in Becket that you can follow back to all the memories and charm. They’re keeping the lamps lit, the seats cozy, and the music playing, just for you.
