There is a town getting shorted in this deal ... All of those tax dollars flow into the Stockbridge coffers, but it is Lenox that provides all of the services a resident or business would expect from the local government.
In a news release, Clinton Church Restoration said the New York City-based firm, headed by architect Mario Gooden, "is one of the few African-American architectural firms in the country."
Why are we honoring a massacre? On the other hand, how many monuments are there to Native American maltreatment? It’s a rare admission of how fiercely we wrestled New England from its indigenous people.
Phase 1 work will focus on areas of the building that most urgently need attention and will include a new wood shingle roof, abatement of mold and mildew, improved drainage, replacement of the basement floor slab, raising the building to make the basement usable, and repair or modification to the parsonage.
During the Gilded Age, the equipage, the livery and the horses as well as the skill in driving were sources of great pride. A local newspaper even gave a whole column for the length of the page to recounting the teams and mounts of local cottagers.
In her letter Anita Schwerner writes: “Along with many in Stockbridge, I was bamboozled by what happened with Elm Court. Our attention has now turned to out-of-town developers who claim to know what is best for Stockbridge.”
While we like to think the Berkshires is populated with good people and only good people, we are not always right. The combination of bad actors and naiveté has resulted in more than one Berkshire swindle.
"We are thrilled to have land court uphold a very vigorous ZBA decision. We are glad there will be activity on a long dormant site and we will be able to achieve our goal of historic preservation."
-- Gwen Miller, Lenox town planner
Research indicates there are about 4,265 hotel rooms in Berkshire County and that over the course of the entire year, the occupancy rate averages about 50 percent.
-- Laurie Klefos, executive vice president of 1Berkshire
"We are beyond saturation at this point, but we had planned this awhile ago and will have to work to get the business."
-- Joe Toole, hotel entrepreneur, commenting during the opening of his 89-room Marriott Courtyard in Lenox.
“We don’t need more people from New York and Boston to come spend millions of dollars on houses....the town needs to be rejuvenated.....to function as a community. We need families.”
-- Sally Underwood Miller, criticizing the proposed massive redevelopment of the former DeSisto School campus on Route 183
Most recently Finn Wittrock, who grew up in Shakespeare & Company, was seen in the Oscar-nominated film “The Big Short” opposite Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale and Steve Carell.
"I was the first woman of any prominence to sue for divorce for adultery ... Men, if they were rich enough, felt they could do anything they liked without consequence. The women bore it to maintain their social positions, but that was not enough for me."
--- Alva Smith Vanderbilt
While she built the Mount in Lenox, Edith Wharton was still an occasional houseguest in Newport, a familiar stomping ground that formed the backdrop for one or more of her novels.
Blantyre is a true restoration in that it can transport the guest back in time. But now this Berkshire Cottage is on the market. Will it -- can it -- be acquired by someone who respects its original architecture and does not demand density for profitability?
