This started almost 30 years ago when Susan and I were married…..an over-the-top Christmas season.   As a little girl, Susan spent two years in Germany where her father was stationed with the Army.   Even last week, she came home with a magazine showing pictures of Christmas scenes in Munich….the same scenes she remembered from her childhood.   So ingrained in her background is this, it has been her goal each year to make our four children consider the season to be as magical as she remembers.

Each year, her collection of holiday decorations grows.   It has been my tradition to give her a water globe every year, and of course there are annual additions to the Christmas tree, but more importantly, she has always found creative ways to adorn the staircase banisters, windows, tables, mantles…It is like a kudzu that has taken hold of the house and finds new negative spaces each year.    A Nativity scene on the sideboard, a snow village on the closed lid of the Steinway, fairy lights, live garland, bows and even our 1940s carousel horse is dressed for the holidays…

The hallmark of this activity though is her taste.   There are no inflatable lawn Santas, no plastic statues and nothing "commercial," just classic holiday decorations that augment and complement.

Which brings us to Hampton Terrace.   Of course, as this collection grew over the first 20 years of our marriage, we could not have imagined that we would end up buying one of the authentic Gilded Age mansion inns in 1999, and that dressing it up for the holidays would go beyond our original goal of creating a magical holiday season for ourselves.   Now we do it for our guests as well, and we know that we do not disappoint.   As a stop on the Lenox Holiday Tour each year, the positive feedback we have always gotten from those who tour more than a dozen Lenox inns has been gratifying.

We welcome those of you who want to spend the holiday season with us.   The decorations are always up the weekend after Thanksgiving (see the next blog to see what she has done for the month of November) and stay up through middle January, although we do take the tree down after New Year's weekend, lest we burn down our house.   Please note, however, that we do close from December 19th until the 29th for family time.   We'll be open the weekend after Christmas and for this entire period we will be using our off-season rates (except for New Year's Eve only).

Hampton Terrace is rated #1 in Lenox by Trip Advisor and has been recommended by BedandBreakfast.com, The Michelin Green Guide and others.    For a more comprehensive list, please visit our home page and our guest comments section.

There is plenty to do in the Berkshires in December.   But one of the iconic events, built around Norman Rockwell's famous painting of a 1967 streetscape is "Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas."   The Stockbridge weekend is a full calendar, but the central event is a recreation of the Main Street as it existed in the Rockwell painting…down to the correct automobiles frozen in time.   For a calendar of the events CLICK HERE.

The Berkshire Theatre Festival is again presenting A CHRISTMAS CAROL, from December 11 to December 30.

The Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield annually presents the FESTIVAL OF TREES from November 15th to January 4th, showcasing the amazing creativity of Berkshire residents and organizations as they decorate 200+ trees with this year's theme.

The Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum, located across the street from Hampton Terrace has turned it up 12 notches this year for the holiday season, with seasonal decorations, special programming and events spanning from early November through New Years'.  Click to their website for descriptions and calendars…more than I can list here.

Frankly, there is so much going on EVERY weekend in December, that I cannot make an adequate list here.   Edith Wharton's "The Mount" will stay open on December weekends until Christmas.     All of the museums, The Clark, The Norman Rockwell, MassMoca are open.   For a listing of special programs and events, try www.berkshires.org/events, and type in a date range.

And then stay at Hampton Terrace.    We look forward to helping your plan your December stay.

 We know that from time to time, everyone needs the perfect place for a meeting, holiday party, family gathering or even a special celebration.  Chances are you’d rather not worry about having it in your home.

We’d like to suggest you consider holding your next gathering at Lenox’s Hampton Terrace, in the grand setting of an original Gilded Age Berkshires cottage. We are debuting our beautifully appointed public spaces, available for the first time, for your private parties, receptions, holiday gatherings, meetings, showers…you name the occasion, and we have the space.

Hampton Terrace, built in 1897, has been one of Lenox’s premier inns since 1937.   Guest experiences here have been so positive, that we are rated #1 on Trip Advisor from over thirty Lenox inns. Combined with  fourteen plush guest rooms, we also can host family celebrations or reunions, business retreats or extended stays for your visiting business associates.  Because we are open year-round and hosting guests, Hampton Terrace is always beautifully decorated for each season. You may use your own caterer, or, we will provide a list. Feel free to contact us for more information on planning your party here by calling us, or sending an e-mail to info@hamptonterrace.com.

Sure, how can you avoid the jaw-dropping vistas.   But what do you do when the roll of film is finished, or the sun goes down?    Let me count the ways:

THEATER:   Shakespeare & Company, walking distance from Hampton Terrace, is featuring "The Canterville Ghost" in its new Elayne Bernstein Theater.    Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield is presenting "To Kill A Mockingbird."   The Berkshire Theater Festival has Eleanor, Her Secret Journey in October.   Can't make it back so soon?   Come in December and enjoy their annual A Christmas Carol. 

 MUSIC:   Surprising number of things going on:   At the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, there is a long list of September-October musical events, including The Indigo Girls, Dar WIlliams, the Metropolitan Opera LIVE Series, and a concert honoring Daniel Pearl, who spent much of his career at the Berkshire Eagle.  For a listing, Mahaiwe Schedule.  Also, the Colonial Theater in Pittsfield is matching the quantity, starting with a tribute to the "Rat Pack," music from Ireland and Africa and numerous classical options in a gloriously restored turn-of-the-century theater:  Colonial Schedule.    Most of the summer classical music presenters also have come up with something, so to see those choices, take a LOOK at the Berkshire Visitors Bureau music page.   For a more comprehensive look at music in the clubs, or at the mixed media venues like MASS MOCA, look at the entertainment links in the Berkshire Eagle and click on "Entertainment."

HISTORIC HOUSE TOURS:   They called us the "Inland Newport," but I am not sure even Newport had 80+ Gilded Age homes so large that they could cleverly be called "cottages."   All will still be open during October, including The Mount, Ventfort Hall, Naumkeag, Chesterwood, and Herman Melville's Arrowhead.

 MUSEUMS:   All open:   The Clark Art Institute, Hancock Shaker Village, The Berkshire Museum, Mass Moca, and  the Norman Rockwell Museum.

 RESTAURANTS:  Just last week, we completely rewrote our restaurant recommendation list.   Yes, we have an ever-expanding database of guest experiences to consider, but mainly there are SO MANY new restaurant openings we are once again struck by the fact that the Berkshires is a rural version of New York City.   I mean, take the music, dance, theater, museums, art galleries, restaurants and interesting lodging….substitute mountains for skyscrapers…and you have us.   Back to food:   there are the old reliables where you will always get a great meal, like "The Old Mill" in Egremont, but now you have to add The Mission Bar and Grill and Jae's Spice in Pittsfield, Allium, Napa (moved from Lenox) and Xicohtencatl Mexican (not that new, but new to our radar) in Great Barrington, Alta, Barrood's, Jonathans, Chocolate Springs and Haven in Lenox, and Viva in Housatonic.   It is worth a stay at Hampton Terrace just to see our restaurant recommendation list!   Last, but not least, dine with the Shakers!   Six times from October 11/12  through December there are special Shaker dinners at the Hancock Shaker Village.

Lenox, MA– Hampton Terrace Bed and Breakfast, located in the heart of the Berkshire Mountains, was selected by BedandBreakfast.com editors as one of the best undiscovered inns for fall foliage trips.    Out of more than 7,000 inns listed internationally, Hampton Terrace joins a selection of less than 10 inns in the Northeast earning this designation.   BedandBreakfast.com is considered the leading b&b and inn directory on the web.

 “Lenox, MA has always been one of my favorite fall foliage destinations,” stated Sandy Soule, Editor of BedandBreakfast.com and one of the most highly recognized authors in the B&B industry.  “Hampton Terrace’s fabulous in-town location in the heart of the Berkshire Mountains, stately accommodations and architecture, along with the finest hospitality certainly made them a choice for one of the best places to enjoy fall foliage in New England,” Soule finished.

 “We are proud to be in such good company on this list of great places for fall foliage viewing,” stated Stan Rosen, Hampton Terrace co-owner. “It is gratifying to be recognized among the top inns in the United States for exceptional autumn appeal and quality accommodations. We think that our location, romantic amenities, great breakfasts to fuel a day of leaf peeping, and our attention to guest satisfaction contributed to our being selected by BedandBreakfast.com’s editors,” explained Rosen.

Step into Hampton Terrace, Lenox’s top-rated inn, and return to the gilded age of simplicity and beauty.  Built in 1897, this stately mansion was home to several of the wealthiest families in the country. An Inn since 1937, Hampton Terrace is located within an easy two-block stroll of Lenox town center and is one mile from Tanglewood, home to the famous music festival. Inside the inn, guests enjoy beautifully detailed common rooms and guests rooms, many complete with private fireplaces and double whirlpool tubs.  The inn’s signature three-story suspended staircase welcomes guests who immediately feel the sense of “WOW” from this grand building. While guest rooms are updated, air-conditioned and free wi-fi is available throughout the inn, the distinction of the gilded era is captured in antiques and vintage fabrics and wall coverings throughout the inn. A heated outdoor pool and beautiful gardens make autumn the perfect time to visit. Walk to Lenox's heralded shops and restaurants, alive in Berkshire mountain color, just two blocks away.
 
Call visit 800-203-0656 for reservations or look for more information at www.HamptonTerrace.com for your upcoming getaway.
 

Why is Lenox here?   Don't start me on that…..well okay, a little bit.  

At the turn of the century, Lenox, fueled in part by Edith Wharton's famous phrase "keeping up with the Joneses," became the "inland Newport," a concentration of Gilded Age homes and parties unrivaled in America.   Famous late-summer names included Vanderbilt, Morgan, Westinghouse, Carnegie, Proctor, Wharton, Sloane and scores of others.  They called their homes "cottages."   Our beloved Hampton Terrace was considered in that category.

And they called their beautiful horse-drawn carriages "tubs."   Both tongue-in-cheek characterizations were thin attempts to minimize their otherwise ostentatious life-styles.   We won't expound upon whose backs these fortunes were made….but now, 100-years later, it is fun to gawk at their great monuments to excess.   Which brings me to September 12-14, "A Weekend of the Gilded Age" in Lenox.

So let's start with the "tubs."   When these great estates were abandoned in the 1920s and 1930s, many of the original carriages were left hanging in their carriage houses.   Several decades ago, a local organization formed to rescue as many of these magnificent carriages as possible and find a way to use them in their former context.  That was not hard.   During the heyday of Lenox's Gilded Age, the 'famous" families of Lenox would venture into town for a month or so, have their parties, and then depart en-masse to their next destination (summer houses, fall houses, winter houses, city houses, etc).   Before leaving, they would cover their carriages with flowers, load up their families, and participate in Lenox's annual "Tub Parade," where they would wave good-bye to the locals until next year.   I think I used the word "ostentatious" before, and now I'll use "pretentious."

So how much fun would it be to reanimate that scene?   As it turns out, a LOT of fun.   Lenox's annual "Tub Parade" will be held Saturday afternoon, September 13, and it occurs just several hundred feet from Hampton Terrace's front door.   There will be hundreds of people attempting to find parking places before the parade.   Not our guests.   One of the many benefits of staying at Hampton Terrace, of course.   Another benefit:

The signature event during the Gilded Age Weekend is an actual Gilded Age Ball at Ventfort Hall on Saturday evening, the 13th.   Imagine you are an invited guest of the Morgan family, enjoying their Berkshire "cottage," smoking their cigars, drinking their wine….and here is the benefit of staying at Hampton Terrace….staggering across the street to fall into your bed.  I'll leave the light on.

And what is a Gilded Age weekend without the official chronicler of the Gilded Age, Edith Wharton, not weighing in.   "The Mount" grounds will be open on Sunday afternoon for picnics for just $10 with all proceeds supporting the mansion.   It is possible to also add a discounted tour of the house itself.

The GREAT NEWS is that Hampton Terrace considers September a "low season" month.   All rooms in the Main House and Carriage House are $189/night and we do STILL include the $30 Gift Certificate to Nejaimes, the wine shop with a 2-night stay.   How can I afford that, my banker asks?   By filling up, I answer.   So please make my banker happy.