This tour is currently sold-out.
During the Gilded Age, the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts, where idyllic villages like Stockbridge and Lenox are located near bucolic lakes and rolling hills, vied with Newport and Bar Harbor as a resort colony for the wealthy and socially prominent. In fact, Lenox was called “The Inland Newport.” Today, the Berkshires continues to be a draw for its natural beauty, rich history and breath of cultural offerings. Impressed by what he saw on his visits to his Lenox friend, writer Edith Wharton, novelist Henry James wrote “This renews the vision of the Massachusetts Berkshire, land beyond any other in America today…”
Over seventy grand country estates, including Naumkeag, The Mount and Ventfort Hall, to name just a few that still exist, sprang up within a short span of time. Leading architects like McKim, Mead and White, Rotch & Tilden and Peabody & Sterns were hired by such families as the Morgans, Sloanes and Vanderbilts to create great summer cottages. Such country homes and later elegant private residences continue to lend an extraordinary aura to this beautiful part of the country.
The Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, in conjunction with Classical Excursions, invite you for an exclusive tour of architecture and culture. You will spend three nights at the famed Red Lion Inn, established in Stockbridge in 1773 as a coach stop, as well as attend private functions, special events and an opening lecture by Berkshirite and historian Cornelia Brooke Gilder, co-author of the Houses of the Berkshires, 1870 – 1930. Please join us as we travel to one of the country’s most atmospheric settings.
For further information on this tour, please contact Lani Summerville at [email protected], 413-446-8728. Tour price is $1,950.00 per person based on double occupancy, $350.00 single supplement applies. Space is limited, please contact Lani to reserve your space today.
Please note that a fully tax-deductible donation of $500 per person is required to participate in this travel program. All travel program participants have the opportunity to receive a complimentary Individual level membership for one year to the ICAA.
A private visit of the classical mansion at The Mount in Lenox designed for Edith Wharton in 1902 by Francis Hoppin with elegant interior architecture created by Ogden Codman, co-author with the writer of The Decoration of Houses. The shelves of the library are filled with the Pulitzer-Prize winning author’s personal collection of books. The Italian-style gardens were designed by the writer herself, who wrote Italian Villas and Their Gardens. Both classic books are still in print.
We will visit Naumkeag in Stockbridge, a shingle-style mansion designed by Stanford White in 1887 and filled with original furnishings. The owner was Joseph Choate, a prominent New York lawyer, who was later named ambassador to the Court of St. James. The terraced gardens were designed by the eminent landscape architect, Fletcher Steele.
A twenty-first century home designed by classical architect Kristine Sprague. The Federal-style house melds with the 19th-century houses lining the same Lenox street. The couple who owns it are known for their discriminating taste architecturally and for their collection of fine antiques.
A private tour of Chesterwood in Stockbridge will include the home with original furnishings, the studio and gardens of renowned sculptor Daniel Chester French. The studio and house were designed by architect Henry Bacon. Together they created the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. French called Chesterwood “heaven” and spent six months here with his family each year.
A stunning early nineteenth-century brick Federal house on the way to Stockbridge has been given modern standards of comfort and ease of living by its architect owner, given with the greatest sense of integrity. Extending to one side is the wing she has designed to hold her large studio, Palladian window and all, linking it to the main house via a classic windowed hyphen.
A private time at Ventfort Hall Mansion & Gilded Age Museum in Lenox, where Nini Gilder will give her lecture in the library, will reveal one of the largest period residences that luckily still exists. It was the home of George Hale and Sarah Spencer Morgan, sister of New York financier, J. Pierpont Morgan. The mansion was designed in 1893 by Boston architects Rotch & Tilden in the Jacobean style. Nearly the victim of the wrecking ball, it was saved from disappearing in the early 1990s by a corps of locally active citizens.
We will visit a luxurious twentieth-century Lenox Home, the rooms rooms filled with splendid antiques and paintings while the view outside overlooks the garden and the expanse of Laurel Lake.
A welcoming visit at the Lenox weekend home of Linda and Steve Weisberg. Surrounded by a lush scene of forest and ferns, Linda has drawn on her creative talents as a Boston interior designer, mixing classical with modern accents. “I want it to feel refreshed because this is where we come to relax,” she explains.
We travel to nearby Connecticut to visit with interior design doyenne and ICAA board member, Bunny Williams, and home furnishings and antiques entrepreneur John Rosselli, who will welcome us with a private house-and-garden tour at their splendid Manor House in Falls Village.
No visit to the Berkshires is satisfactory without traveling to the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, to view its exceptional collection of European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver and early photographs. To this can be added the beauty of the Clark’s natural surroundings.
Designed by Robert A. M. Stern, the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge holds the world’s largest permanent collection of paintings and illustrations of the artist’s work. Not to be missed.
Meals will include dinner at Blantyre, a Relais et Chateau Inn. Built originally in the 1890s for a railroad magnate, the mansion is an extraordinary restoration, beautifully decorated with antiques and with grounds and gardens beautifully maintained.
The Mount, credited to Lani Summerville
Studio of Daniel Chester French at Chesterwood, credited to Lani Summerville
Naumkeag, credited to Lani Summerville
Fletcher Steele Gardens at Naumkeag, credited to Lani Summerville
AIA Continuing Education Provider Information:
20 AIA CES Learning Units|Elective are available for attending the full program.Learning Objectives:
1. Identify significant architectural movements that define the built environment of the Berkshires including styles such as Federal, Palladian, Georgian, Shingle Style, Jacobean, and more.
2. Be familiarized with architects that contributed to the built environment of the Berkshires, including McKim, Mead, and White, Francis Hoppin, Henry Bacon, Rotch & Tilden.
3. Have a deeper understanding of the rich architectural history of the Berkshires though experiencing significant buildings and structures within the area firsthand, particularly understanding the historical events that led to the region’s architecture, as well as notable historical homeowners like Edith Wharton, the Morgans, Sloanes, and Vanderbilts.
4. Have a knowledge of current contemporary classical homes that have been built within the Berkshires region, as well as the influences on these structures informed by surrounding architecture.
Instructional Delivery Method: Live In-Person Learning Program
AIA CES Program Approval Expiration Date: September 17, 2024
Prerequisites: None
Program Level: Introductory
Advance Learner Preparation: None
Provider Statement: The Institute of Classical Architecture & Art is a registered provider of AIA-approved continuing education under Provider Number G193. All registered AIA CES Providers must comply with the AIA Standards for Continuing Education Programs. Any questions or concerns about this provider or this learning program may be sent to AIA CES ([email protected] or (800) AIA 3837, Option 3).
This learning program is registered with AIA CES for continuing professional education. As such, it does not include content that may be deemed or construed to be an approval or endorsement by the AIA of any material of construction or any method or manner of handling, using, distributing, or dealing in any material or product.
AIA continuing education credit has been reviewed and approved by AIA CES. Learners must complete the entire learning program to receive continuing education credit. AIA continuing education Learning Units earned upon completion of this course will be reported to AIA CES for AIA members. Certificates of Completion for both AIA members and non-AIA members are available upon request.
If you would like to register, you may contact the travel operator organizing the program. Please note that a $500 donation per person to the ICAA is required in order to participate in each travel program.
Your $500 donation helps to further the ICAA’s goal of advancing the practice and appreciation of the classical tradition in architecture and the allied arts by supporting its varied educational programs, including continuing education courses, college workshops, the Summer Studio in Classical Architecture, New Heights, and many more.
Yes, a donation of $500 to the ICAA is required for each travel program you register for. The donation is required for each person attending a tour.
You can make your $500 donation to the ICAA online, or you can download, complete, and mail this form to the ICAA. You can alternatively fax a copy to 212-730-9649. You may also call 212-730-9646 x109 or email [email protected] to make a donation. Donations must be made separately from the registration fee.
No, membership is not required to attend an ICAA travel program. However, complimentary Individual membership to the ICAA is included with your $500 required donation.
For full itinerary and more information, contact [email protected], 860-926-4895. Due to the exclusive nature of our tours, some private locations or visits may be omitted from the ICAA's website.
Over the past several years, the ICAA has travelled to destinations including Paris; Andalusia; Atlanta; Barbados; South Africa; Chicago; the Netherlands and Belgium; Scotland; the French Riviera; Morocco; the Italian Lake Region; Charlottesville; Naples; and New Delhi, among many other locations. The ICAA is always looking to diversify its travel offerings. If you have a suggestion or location you would like to see added, please email [email protected].