Life & Style
A blog where Kimberly pulls inspiration from her travels and design research.
Another World Entirely…
I've been in the midst of a very important research project regarding a little gas station in my town. The property is being sold and redeveloped from a towing and service center to a convenience store. The property is blighted, to say the least, with roof elements damaged and falling off, and junk piled up around all sides of the nondescript mechanic shop. Every time I walk by, I just shake my head. This little dilapidated property is on the corner of the bustling and historic downtown, a part of Lenox known simply as The Village.
If you don't know Lenox, Massachusetts, you should. I don't work for the Chamber of Commerce, I have no vested business interest or anyone paying me to make these statements. But from the first time I visited the Berkshires, and drove through town, I was hooked.
The town has such a storied past; so many authors, artists, and industrial titans flocked to the region, and Lenox specifically, to build homes and settle in to the rustic beauty of the Berkshires. A significant period for Lenox was referred to as The Cottage Era, a time between the late 1800's and early 1900's, when wealthy residents who came to settle in town were referred to as Cottagers. Books have been written on the architectural significance of the homes, deemed The Great Estates and which are now protected under town by-laws. Like so many others, the town and its architectural features have been transformed over many, many years. And I've had a fascination with every part of that history.
In my research on the gas station, I've been trying to find its original identity, thinking perhaps the building could be transformed back into one of the quirky designs from the 1950's or 60's. I enlisted the help of the Lenox Library, which is such a gem of an institution downtown. They introduced me to a fabulous website of old photos of the town. As I flipped through the nearly 1500 images, I came across many I hadn't even seen in the books I've read. And so, below are just a handful of images harkening to an entirely other time in Lenox.
The hall at Blantyre. This estate is now a Relais & Chateaux property, lovingly restored to much of its original beauty.
Butternut Cottage, which has since been moved from its original location to a spot in the Village and transformed into an Inn. In 2021, the property was for sale.
View to the main facade of ColdBrook, which became part of what is now Miraval.
Elm Court, which now sits dormant on its site. This property is incredible - it is the largest Shingle style home in America and was designed by Peabody and Sterns with grounds by Frederick Law Olmstead. I actually interviewed as part of the project management team bidding on work to reimagine the property into a Travaasa resort several years ago. It was truly sad the battles that ensued between neighbors, and the end result is nothing. The property is now on the market for a pittance of what it is worth, and I think most people are just hoping the next owner will maintain its majesty.
A porch at Erskine Park. Sadly, while so many of the Great Estates have been maintained, the original estate was demolished and reinvented over the years. It is now a condo complex.
A garden on the grounds of Groton Place. This estate is now the Tanglewood Institute and the building looks very much the same.
A view to Stonover Farm, which sits on Undermountain Road, one of my favorite walking routes in town. Stonover was the farm complex for an important Gilded Age landowner, John Parsons.
An entertaining space at at yet another grand home.
Croquet on the lawn of Shadowbrook, which is now the Kripalu Yoga center. The original house burned to the ground in the 1950's.
A view from the porch at Spring Lawn.
Facing the front facade of Spring Lawn. This is a tragic story similar to Elm Court. The house sits just within the Village, and Brian and I walk by it nearly everyday. At one point about five years ago, it was scheduled to be subdivided into condos, maintaining most of the homes original aesthetic. The project has since gone dormant and this beautiful building just sits, time erasing its beauty with each passing day.
A statue within the gardens of The Mount, author Edit Wharton's estate and one of my favorite spots in Lenox. The Mount has been lovingly maintained. The back terrace is a wonderful spot for cocktails on a summer night. I'm actually in the middle of Edith's famed novel, The Age of Innocence. I'll report back when I'm finished; so far it's quite an engaging read.
The stables at Ventfort Hall. Sadly, this gorgeous estate could use some love. It's still standing and has been refurbished as a non-profit museum. Personally, I think a private owner needs to take it over and fully restore it. We'll see.
The main staircase at Venfort Hall. It looks pretty much the same, but many of the furnishings have long since been removed.
The approach to Ventfort Hall.
I had to come back to the gas station! I couldn't leave you hanging on that.
At left below is an image of what was probably a similar design to the current gas station in town. There's a certain utility but at the same time, it's not a bad design considering the use. I'd love to see the current property transformed back into something like this. The problem is, there are very few records of the current setup, and it's not a historical property per se. At right is the current setup. Sad, right?
If you want to learn more about the history of the Great Estates, I encourage you to check out the book Houses of the Berkshires. There are many, many resources to choose from, but this book has all the pretty pictures :)
All in the Family
My brother and his partner recently moved into a new home in Chicago. The house is a perfect fit for Erica, Alex and their two dogs. However, the finishes and overall flow are in need of updating. The whole house has sort of a 1990's / early 2000's vibe, and doesn't quite match the youth and energy of two 30-somethings with a zest for life, art and cool stuff.
So, I've begun developing a concept plan and color scheme. Erica and Alex are in charge of taking the concept and running with it. Looking forward to seeing how they've adapted things when we pay them a visit over Thanksgiving. Stay tuned...
City Living
Our apartment in NYC has its own style. It's not Lenox, and that's exactly the point.
The living room.
The view.
The art.
Sunday Driving
It's a short drive from the Dover Plains train station to our little house - barely 50 miles- yet the scenery that unveils itself on both sides of the road makes you wish the journey would never end.
From the gorgeous estates, or 'cottages' as they say, to the sweeping landscapes and humble New England villages, it’s no wonder many of the Romantic artists drew their inspiration here, and New Yorkers and Bostonians alike caravan through the hills in all seasons.
Every time we drive out, I think of certain landmarks that capture my attention. It could be raining, snowing, or bright sun, and certain of the landscapes just have an aura about them. In the mist, many of the lower hills really are as dreamlike as James Taylor told us many years ago.
And so, in this post, I highlight the natural beauty of the Berkshires. Stay tuned for upcoming posts with my photos of some of the most marvelous country farms and summer 'cottages', as well as my favorite spots in Lenox, Stockbridge and northwest Connecticut. Hope you enjoy the views as much as I do.
Above: Undermountain Farm - Undermountain Road, Lenox, MA. I think I've photographed this view a dozen times.
Above: The intersection of Interlaken and Hawthorne, Lenox, MA - just across the street from Kripalu and Tanglewood
Above: Highlawn Farm, Lee, MA. What used to be a small local dairy has become a serious player in the organic dairy business, with distribution to Boston and parts of New York. Although we can't yet buy their milk in NYC, I'm sure there is a plan in the works.
Above: Mill Pond - just outside of South Egremont, MA. This vista lays at the intersection of Mt Washington and North Undermountain Road. A turn past this swamp and you head towards Jug End State Reservation.
Above: View to a cattle farm off North Undermountain Road (Route 41), Egremont, MA. Two summers ago we stopped to take pictures and ended up meeting the owner. Amazing operation - the butchering is done on premises and he takes special orders. In the distance, you can see the cows. They're smart enough to stay out of the sun and catch a nap under the trees.
Above: This cow is actually from a different farm near Sharon, CT - not sure the name. There are no fewer than a dozen cattle farms on our drive. This cow seemed interested in my camera - or perhaps it wanted to charge me. Or maybe it was daydreaming. We'll never know.
Above: Although this is not a scenic vista, I had to include it. Sweet Williams in Salisbury, CT is our regular shop and bakes the best pastries I've ever had - and I'm including Paris (oh, the shame!). I mean, it's that good. We stop here every time we drive back to the train.
Above: A tasty scone. It won't last long.
Above: In addition to horse and cattle farms, there are several boarding schools along our drive, including the Berkshire School in Sheffield, MA. The campus is just as gorgeous as the stone wall that frames the entry, and I'll share pictures in one of my upcoming posts.
Above: A backyard near Sharon, CT. The laundry looked so beautiful in the sunlight, I couldn't help but take a photo.
Above: A grand entry drive near Sharon, CT. In addition to cows, mountains and boarding schools, there are all number of the most amazing homes in the Berkshires. We know these homes as summer 'cottages', but they're all straight-up estates- distinguished, graceful, charming estates of yesteryear, lovingly maintained by very wealthy people with really good taste. I particularly like the symmetry in this frame.
Above: Tory Hill near Salisbury, CT - arguably my favorite view of the trip. Just breathtaking.
Above: Cemetery somewhere near Salisbury, CT. New England is full of old, extremely photogenic cemeteries. This one happens to be along our route.
Above: A farm just about 10 miles outside the train station at Dover Plains, NY. Brian actually spotted this scene and we couldn't get over it: the cows were marching along, eating in a line, just mowing down the grass and enjoying the sunshine.
And.....below: Scenery from our own home.
After three years of hard work, the landscape is starting to shape to our vision of beauty.
The House That Jim Built
My grandmother is the mother of four girls, including my own mom, and whose names all begin with the letter ‘J’. She is a pioneer in speed-cleaning, able to scrub hundreds of square feet of wood floors in her home in a single day, even now that's she's 86. She is a champion for woodland creatures, big and small. She feeds pot-bellied pigs, squirrels, dogs and mice - whatever comes across her sprawling deck in search of a good meal - and every day of the week. She is a master card shark who wore a tinted green dealers’ visor and refused to let me win at cards as a kid, unless my hand was just that good (for the record, she probably still has that hat). She is my design mentor in a way that may never have been apparent until this post. Her love of Andrew Wyeth, crisp Norwegian whites and blues, and rooms that frame a view, still impresses me today. She is a true bibliophile, bringing boxes of books home from the Kokomo mobile library for our summer reading as kids, and sending me her favorite selections, including a collection of magazine articles on the warmth of home, and my all-time treasure: The Fiddler on High Lonesome, a book which brings me to tears even to this day.
My grandfather is a quiet ‘tinkerer’, with an engineering soul to his very core. He is a man who built two of his own sailboats from scratch. He is a man who held his pilot’s license for many years, searching the Indiana skies for adventure with my mom and three sisters in tow. A man whose brilliance in electronics led to seven individual patents during his career at General Motors. A man whose basement lair is several thousand square feet of shop space, filled with metals, machines, and old bottles of potato vodka, bottles whose tops have been neatly severed to provide just the right container for every kind of screw. My grandpa is a man who built our beloved A-frame cottage on the shores of Lake Michigan with his own dad, a cottage that to this day still operates with an outdoor toilet and a water filtration system for clean water in the cottage, designed using only a garden hose, filter, pump and bread pan.
My grandparents individually are amazing people whom I love with all my heart, but together they are also the designers and builders of my favorite home: The House That Jim Built.
Set in 20 acres of forested land my grandparents purchased in the 1970's, the house that Jim built fits discreetly into its surroundings. Begun in 1990, the entire home was engineered and built by my grandparents, with help from my dad and uncles along the way. It's a stoic house. The outside is humble and unassuming, but the inside is a cathedral of light.
The exterior walls are a foot thick, as specified by my grandfather, to capture and retain heat in the cold Wisconsin winters. The ceilings are whitewashed tongue-and-groove pine, assembled and fully installed by my grandfather alone - hoisted up on scaffolding he designed and built for the house. Windows frame unique elements of nature in every direction, and were my grandmother’s idea. A two story sun room is positioned at the intersection of two wings of the house, designed to provide cross breezes and a place to enjoy the cool Door County summers.
This house has been host to family weddings, family vacations, and family love for many years.
My wish is that it remain forever, long after we're all gone; a tribute to my family, the house that Jim (and Bev) built.
I hope it inspires you, too.
Grandpa on his Porch.
Grandma, in repose.
The House.
My Grandparents.
My Favorite Sunset (from the shore of the family cottage)
Tools of the Trade
As an architect and designer, graphic representation and dimensional modeling generally form the language of design. However, there have been moments, especially working on the house, that I thought I had clearly explained an idea, only to have it turn out a little differently than I had planned, or I've run short on time to fully flush the nuances of a fabulous design, and the details have just gotten lost. Over the 4+ years we've been working on our house, I've definitely strengthened my skills in design communication.
My first love is hand-sketching. I drew before I could walk. If you know me at all, you know that I must have a piece of paper and a good black pen or pencil with me at all times. I've been known to ask bartenders for a scratchpad in a pinch. I don't know why, but some of my best ideas come to me after a couple glasses of wine.
I also love technology. REVIT, Photoshop and Illustrator are all tools that make my design life a little easier.
REVIT gives me accuracy, scale and quick dimensioning. Illustrator allows me to express new concepts over existing information, without having to spend hours recreating horizon lines and vanishing points.
Above is a combination lighting and space plan I did for friends who were renovating their basement. I built a simple REVIT model, using CAD files they'd provided of the existing space. Quick, easy, and to the point.
Below are drapery concepts I did for a private client. These details went to my drapery fabricator, to help convey alignment of a complex pattern within the fabric.
Below is a custom millwork concept I created for another private client. I sketched this in the car.
Above and below are Illustrator sketches I created for custom glass fabrications in our house. In this instance, I was working with a fabricator over email, to solicit preliminary pricing. By clearly delineating the new scope from existing elements, the fabricator was able to easily understand their scope of work, and the final installation was a breeze. The installer brought the sketches to the house, and the final product looked exactly like my design. Final installations courtesy of Oasis Shower Door .
Old and New
When I designed this house, I had a vision for everything, right down to the smallest detail. Suffice to say, the journey to realizing most of this vision has become more of a marathon than a sprint. We've lived with many temporary conditions, either due to phasing, affordability, or the quest for the perfect solution. In the case of our master bedroom and dining space, it has been a combination of all three.
We'd been living with a bed frame and mattress set in the master bedroom, because I plan to design our bed from scratch. At the same time, this approach has left the room looking more unfinished than it really is (finishing the custom millwork is the biggest challenge). Lo and behold, we recently decided to replace our bed in New York. So, we decided to transport the old bed for use up at the house. I wasn't sure if it would really fit, but it was free, and better than a box spring and mattress on metal posts.
(side note: remind me to tell you about our road trip to NYC to pick up the bed. I'll set the scene: me and Brian in a rented commercial van, driving down 3rd Avenue on St. Patrick's Day. It was hilarious, in retrospect.)
Here's the new (old) bed. I kind of like it, actually.
While we were at it, we painted the double doors into the Master Bath gloss black, and for added functionality, we added some decorative hooks we found at a fabulous hardware store in Rome.
With our dining set, I will preface my story by saying that I almost never say no to free, and that we did not own dining furniture that matched my vision when we started this project. Fortunately, my mom gifted me her old formal dining table and chairs, and voila! - we had a dining set that has lasted us this past four years. The table and chairs are really well made, and if the space was larger, I might have thought about keeping the look. But, I designed the room for something more petite in scale, and a little less traditional. Serendipitously, we ended up with a leak in the dining room ceiling that damaged my mom's table beyond use. I felt terrible about ruining the family furniture, but I did seize the moment to search for the permanent table and chairs.
The table is custom Room and Board and the chairs are from a great spot in the City - SitDownNY.
What I like about the final solution is that the seating is comfortable, and there is plenty of room to spread out on all sides. The old table and chairs, while very elegant, were big and clunky and tough to move, and they created a tight squeeze within the already narrow room dimensions. Also, the glass surface of the new table is a breeze to clean. The Italian seat pads are wool and easy to manage when we have company. All in all I'm very pleased with the results. We will repurpose the old set, but in another home, at another time. In the meantime - Thanks, Mom! Your gifts have served us well this past four years.
For a look at the old table and chairs, check out my previous post.
Two Perfect Frames - Complete!
The beautiful frames I found in London were matched with the art we purchased on a trip to Paris! The pair of prints complement the style of each frame, and work well to tone down the modernity of some of our other art. Couldn't be happier with the end results!
Framing courtesy of Sohn Fine Art
Two Perfect Frames
On our recent trip to London, we were on the hunt for antique frames to showcase two fantastic SEM original drawings, purchased in Paris, in 2015. After an exhaustive search, I learned of the Charles Daggett Gallery in Notting Hill. One of ten dealers in the world, Daggett Gallery specializes in frames from antiquity. Stay tuned for details on the final installation.
