via newyorker.com

The best classical actor in America? John Douglas Thompson – coming to Shakespeare & Company this summer in Lenox!

STAY

Blantyre
Luxury Country House Hotel
16 Blantyre Road
Lenox, Mass.

Blantyre, a charming, Tudor-style country house and estate, is located on 117 sprawling acres in the Western Massachusetts town of Lenox. This small luxury resort’s exquisite service, lavish rooms and eclectic decor have earned it accolades such as Condé Nast Traveler’s “No. 1 Small Hotel in the US.” With eight exquisite suites, four private cottages and a carriage house with 10 unique rooms, the hotel has accommodations suited for any taste. Blantyre is known for its wine collection of 2,400 selections and 19,000 bottles, and it is one of 75 recipients of the Wine Spectator “Grand Award.”

SEE

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
358 George Carter Road
Becket, Massachusetts

Jacob’s Pillow is the premiere dance festival in the United States and a National Historic Landmark. Three stages welcome more than 400 international artists and 53 dance troupes performing with live music, famous choreographers and well-known directors. Jacob’s Pillow is also an academy for dancers that offers public discussions, forums and classes. Tours and artist engagement are offered year-round when the festival is not scheduled.

What to see: 80th Anniversary Season Opening Gala, Saturday, June 16; This special evening will celebrate eight decades of Jacob’s Pillow. Featuring international performances by ballet superstar David Hallberg, Mimulus Dance Company of Brazil, Australia’s circus-arts ensemble CIRCA, and a world premiere by Britain’s acclaimed choreographer Michael Corder.

Norman Rockwell Museum
9 Route 183
Stockbridge, Mass.

The Norman Rockwell Museumis dedicated to education and art appreciation inspired by the legacy of Norman Rockwell. Founded in 1969, the museum has the world’s largest and most significant collection of Rockwell drawings and paintings. The museum preserves, studies and communicates the life, art and spirit of Rockwell in the field of illustration.

EAT

Chez Nous
150 Main Street
Lee, Mass.

Chez Nous is a casual, seasonal French bistro that prides itself on using local and organic ingredients. Nearly everything Chez Nous serves is made in-house, allowing them to accommodate dietary restrictions with specially prepared menus and options available upon request.

Bistro Zinc
56 Church Street
Lenox, Mass.

Set in the heart of historic downtown Lenox, Bistro Zinc is a modern French bistro that boasts fine cuisine and a refined but welcoming atmosphere. The sleek Zinc bar area contains an artfully arranged gallery of photographs. Friendly staff and delicious dishes make Bistro Zinc a favorite among locals and tourists alike.

Café Lucia
80 Church Street
Lenox, Mass

Café Lucia serves regional Italian cuisine and an excellent selection of wine. Enjoy dinner al fresco on a mild spring evening on the restaurant’s mahogany-covered deck.

When it’s a majestic mansion in the patrician town of Lenox in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts.

This New England enclave was settled during the late 1800s, the booming industrial period that Mark Twain labelled the Gilded Age for the ostentatious lifestyles of the less-than-one per cent. As American tycoons discovered the British tradition of weekending, and transportation outside of cities improved, folks from New York and Boston, such as the Morgans, the Vanderbilts, the Sloanes, the Westinghouses and the Astors, built elaborate country homes and called them “cottages.”

The splendid Tudor-style Cranwell mansion dominates a picturesque hilltop spread of 380 acres, or about three-quarters of the size of Montreal’s Mount Royal Park. Its impressive grounds were designed by the same prominent landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted. Today’s guests can revel in the eminently walkable spaces amid towering cedars and rock gardens that were created for the bygone Gilded Age of afternoon strolls and exhilarating foxhunts.

The modern Cranwell Resort, Spa & Golf Club is a classic hotel complex with 114 rooms and suites of country elegance, three dining spaces, its own venerable, 18-hole golf course that dates from 1926 and one of the largest and most striking spas in the northeast. The ballroom still handles A-list society weddings and the gift shop carries Cranwell’s private-label wines and its own line of spa and bath products.

“We’re high-end, but not haughty,” said Norma Probst, Cranwell’s director of marketing.

“The grand, historic mansion gives us a sophisticated, distinctive air, but we have a widely varied clientele.”

Choices abound. A gaggle of girlfriends on spa getaway can jump into such fitness classes as Zumba, Pilates or water cardio, and then spoil themselves with such services as the new Aromatherapy Salt Scrub or the Radiant Body Buff with Moroccan Oil. Every menu at Cranwell lists health-conscious options: the breakfast frittata in the Morning Music Room has 176 calories and four grams of fat; the grilled portabella mushroom salad at the Spa Café comes in at 475/7.

For golfers, LPGA Hall of Famer Kay McMahon recently launched clinics to allow duffers and scratch players alike to fine-tune their stances and swings. Then it’s on to the 19th hole, Sloane’s Tavern, for a steak sandwich or a spinach-and-bleu salad, plus 18 kinds of single-malt Scotch and tart vodka cocktails, such as the John Daly or the Lenox Lemonade.

If the kids are along, the weatherproof swimming pool is a lifesaver. The hotel offers a children’s menu, plus burgers with a dozen toppings and a “personal pizza.” Couples can cocoon in a plush suite and have dinner at Wyndhurst, the formal dining room, where the chef cooks up such fancy fare as stuffed quail, Kobe osso buco and grilled meat and fish.

Cranwell sounds busy, but what struck me was the peacefulness of this pastoral property, if you choose to be alone. You wake up to birds chirping, a breeze rustling through bushes and soothing mountain views.

The accommodations, in seven pavilions around the estate, all are supremely comfortable and spacious, with white porcelain bathrooms and such traditional furnishings as brass-trimmed dressers, writing desks and floral drapes. Three buildings are connected to the spa-pool complex through weatherproof, glassed-in walkways.

Another is adjacent to the first tee of the golf course. My favourites are the rooms with their own grass-level patios, because when you sit outside, you feel that the entire estate is yours.

Or, you can live like a Vanderbilt in the guest rooms of The Mansion, the historic centrepiece of Cranwell. It’s a treasure of gracious and refined Victoriana with fine furniture, magnificent marble-topped fireplaces, intricate mahogany woodwork and leaded windows.

The posh Carriage House reopens in July after a fire and a total revamp based on 100-year-old architectural drawings. These brand-new rooms will have fabulous mountain views, richly textured fabrics and spa-style bathrooms with glass fittings.

The Berkshire region is a hotbed of culture, and is particularly known for the prestigious Tanglewood Music Festival, which will hold its 75th edition June 22-Sept. 2. Cranwell also presents its own inhouse musical satire by the Capitol Steps, a troupe that will perform almost nightly, July 2-Sept. 2, to lampoon the political world from Obama to Berlusconi. The hotel organizes visits to 11 museums and historic sites, such as The Mount, the magnificent estate built by author Edith Wharton, and Ventfort Hall, The Museum of the Gilded Age.

The resort is a member of Stash Hotel Rewards, a loyalty program at unique, independent hotels. It’s similar to frequent-points plans at chains, but without blackout dates (stashrewards.com).

IF YOU GO

Lenox, Mass., is a 4½ hour drive from Montreal via Highway 15 south to the U.S. border, then N.Y. Highway 87 south to Albany and Massachusetts Turnpike /Highway 90 east to Exit 2.

Cranwell Resort, Spa & Golf Club: 800-272-6935, cranwell.com; 55 Lee Rd. (Route 20), Lenox, Mass.

Price: including use of indoor and outdoor pools, whirlpools, saunas, steam rooms, fitness centre. Without meals, until June 30, $199-$299 U.S., per night, for two (Sun.-Thurs.) or $349-$449 (Fri-Sat). During July & Aug., it’s $369-$469 (Sun.-Thurs.) or $429-$529 (Fri-Sat.). Internet specials on Sundays, May 13 and 20, offer 30 per cent off rooms and 20 per cent off spa treatments. Extra: tennis courts, bicycles, fitness classes.

Packages are Cranwell’s best value.

Golf: All guests get 20 per cent off greens fees, incl. cart. Unlimited golf costs $300-$450 per night with lodging, unlimited play for two, driving range, and $20 p.p., dining credits. For July-Aug., it’s $500-$560, for two, per night.

Spa: Girlfriends or Mother-Daughter Packages: including unlimited fitness classes, a 10-per-cent discount and a $125 credit on treatments, and $25-$70 dining credits. Until June 30, $245 U.S. (Sun.-Thurs.) per night, p.p., double occ., or $322 (Fri.-Sat.). For July-Aug., that’s $313/$358.

Berkshire Region: 413-743-4500, berkshires.org.

QUICK ESCAPES

Looking for a weekend away? Check out our interactive map with places to stay. montrealgazette.com/travel

Rochelle@rochellelash.com

href=”http://www.montrealgazette.com/travel/Cranwell+Resort+trip+back+Gilded/6570487/story.html”>montrealgazette.com

Monday May 7, 2012

LENOX — (From the Berkshire Eagle) – As the starter’s gun went off on a normally sleepy early Sunday morning downtown, 287 riders competing in the first annual Berkshire Cycling Classic shot out of the gate in a swarm of colorful blue, yellow, black and white riding outfits.

The event, organized by former riding champ John Eustice of Sparta Cycling, was cited by resident, local and state officials as a high-profile recreational and competitive ride for county residents as well as biking enthusiasts and pros from 22 states, including California, New Mexico, Utah and Florida.

Also represented were On tario and Quebec provinces of Canada and several foreign countries, including Brazil, Ar gentina, Germany and France.

About half of the participants were Berkshire County residents. Riders had a choice of hilly, 62- or 81-mile courses through a dozen South Berkshire rural communities.

About two-thirds of the bicyclists chose the long route, which included an especially grueling climb from Tyringham valley to Monterey’s hilltop.

The first rider to complete the shorter course, coming in three hours after the start, was Brett Cleaver of Brooklyn, N.Y., nonchalantly munching a banana as he crossed the finish line to the cheers of onlookers.

“Some of the climbs were longer and more subtle than I expected,” he said, appearing surprisingly relaxed. “I thought they would be somewhat shorter and steeper, so that made it a bit of a grind at times.”

He

was far ahead of the field for most of the ride after the two routes split in Tyringham and summed up the day as “a five-star event, across the board.”

Cal Reeder of Cameron Park, Calif., near Lake Tahoe, was the official timed winner of the Cycling Classic, as the first 81-mile rider to cross the finish line at 3:33:39. He said he averaged 22.6 miles per hour. Waiting at the starting line was the toughest part of the day, he said.

Retired international racing champion Erik Zabel compared the long course to a stage of the Tour de France — “some riders from there would love it, but most would hate it because it’s really hard, it’s difficult to find the rhythm in the race. It’s a tough area for a cyclist, all the ups and downs, but it’s fantastic and a beautiful landscape.”

Zabel, 38, a native of East Germany, retired from pro cycling in 2008 after more than 200 victories, including six first-place finishes as best sprinter at the Tour de France between 1996 and 2001.

Finishing sixth in Sunday’s 81-mile competition at 3:36:31, he noted the 6,000-feet of total elevation gain, “I feel it now,” he said, enthused over a “really, really nice Sunday morning ride.”

“It was a great honor for me to have

been brought here by the organization,” he added.

Christian Limberger of Sheffield, the first Berkshire rider to complete the shorter route, called the final 20 miles the most challenging, especially the long hill up Lenox Mountain Road. He said he was pleased to find that the route went past his house on Maple Avenue.

Tanya Beecher of Housa tonic was the first woman to complete the 62-mile route, while Anne Marie Miller of New York City was the first finisher of the long course.

Local police manned key intersections along the route, and portions of downtown Lenox were cordoned off to through traffic, creating a festive, block-party atmosphere, especially in the afternoon as riders returned individually or in small groups.

Eustice, addressing the riders before the start, called for “a nice and calm first 10 miles, just like a professional race. After that, you have 6,000 feet of climbing to get your ya-yas out. It’s a gentlemanly, gentlewomanly ride, nice and chill coming out of town. There’s no sprinting or head-butting at the start or the finish line. Trust me, this thing is hard enough.”

Eustice thanked the entire town of Lenox for “pulling together, believing in this event. They helped rally all 12 towns, a big civic cooperation.”

“I can’t tell you how much your support means to us,” said Kim Flynn, who heads the town’s Marketing and Events Committee and was a key local organizer. “Come back next year and bring all your friends.”

State Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, D-Lenox, read a citation of congratulations from the state House of Representative for Zabel and all the other riders who joined the International Cycling Union’s sanctioned event, the only American event on the 15 stops on its worldwide tour.

“It’s a perfect day, they set it up quick, it puts Lenox on the map and it speaks volumes for the Berkshires,” Pignatelli told The Eagle. “It’s a boost for tourism and a kickoff for the summer season.”

Kevin Sprague. head of Studio Two design and a former racer, praised the event’s recreational and racing combination as he prepared to ride the “pretty challenging” long course.

“This is very appropriate for the Berkshires,” he added, but also urged town government financial support for long-established events such as the Josh Billings RunAground.

The race started at precisely 8:32 for the 81-mile endurance riders and a minute later for the 62-mile group.

“This puts us on the international map,” said Eiran Gazit, Gateways Inn owner and marketing committee members.

He emphasized the role of the town’s New York-based marketers, Bodden Hamilton Partners, for connecting the town to the race organizer. “Without them, this wouldn’t have happened,” he said.

Looking ahead to next year, Eustice said he anticipates more time for establishing closer connections with each town on the route. “For the first year, it’s a great first step and then every year you drill down further.”

To contact Clarence Fanto:
cfanto@berkshireeagle.com
or (413) 496-6247.
On Twitter: @BE_cfanto.

Edith Wharton in 1905

(LENOX, Mass.) – In its programming for the coming year – the 150th anniversary of author Edith Wharton’s birth – The Mount will pay tribute to Wharton by highlighting her life, work, and achievements under the umbrella theme of Edith Wharton: 21st Century Muse. The Mount’s official opening day is this Saturday, May 5.

Highlights of the 2012 season include the opening of the new exhibition, A Beautiful Construction: Edith Wharton at The Mount; the ongoing reconstruction of Wharton’s bedroom suite; and readings, talks and lectures, including Nini Gilder’s Who Was Teddy Wharton? A Biographer’s Journey; a day of practical gardening tips with expert gardeners Naomi Brooks, Karen Bussolini, Heather Poire, and Kerry Ann Mendez; and novelist Jennie Fields reading from her upcoming book, The Age of Desire.

The 20th season of the Monday Lecture Series will include Sally Bedell Smith, author of Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch; Gioia Diliberto, author of Paris Without End: The True Story of Hemingway’s First Wife; and Irene Goldman-Price, editor of My Dear Governess The Letters of Edith Wharton to Anna Bahlmann, a 40-year collection of letters from Wharton to her closest confidant; and New Yorker writer Susan Orlean, reading from her upcoming biography of the beloved dog actor Rin Tin Tin.

Also on tap are family theater on The Mount’s outdoor theater, with a production of Pinocchio presented in partnership with Berkshire Theatre Group; The Inner House, a production by The Wharton Salon, adapted from Wharton’s own memoir, A Backward Glance; and the second Berkshire WordFest, celebrating words, ideas, authors, and readers, which will take place September 14-16, 2012.

In addition, The Mount will continue to offer programming including the popular Wharton on Wednesdays; Music After Hours on the terrace; and weekly ghost tours.

“We are very excited about this coming season. We have made a conscientious effort to showcase Wharton’s personal story,” said The Mount’s executive director Susan Wissler. “The Mount is the home she built for herself and it’s where she really came into her own. This season is about celebrating Wharton-her life, her accomplishments, and her continued relevance. Wharton is enjoying a strong resurgence, because her story and her achievements still resonate today.”

 

The Mount (photo David Dashiell)

Under Wissler’s direction the past few years, The Mount has made a miraculous comeback, steadying itself and improving its reputation and public face after a financial debacle that threatened the historic house with foreclosure as well as administrative turmoil that raised questions about the cultural venue’s mission and oversight.

The Mount will be open from 10 am-5 pm every day, May 5 through October 31, 2012. Guided tours of the house and three acres of restored formal gardens-among the largest and most exquisite in New England-will be available for $2 plus admission starting on May weekends. Guests may also take self-guided tours of the estate at any time during opening hours. Call 413-551-5111 or visit The Mount for information and daily schedule. Group tours may also be arranged at a reduced rate.

The Mount is both a historic site and a cultural destination inspired by the passions and achievements of Edith Wharton. Designed and built by Edith Wharton in 1902, the house embodies the principles outlined in her influential book, The Decoration of Houses (1897). The property includes three acres of formal gardens designed by Wharton, who was also an authority on European landscape design, surrounded by extensive woodlands.

The 10 years Wharton called The Mount her home changed her forever; both as an artist and as a person. For Wharton, it was a period of self-discovery, growth, creativity, and validation, as well as agitation, in the most intimate areas of her life. While at The Mount, Wharton wrote both Ethan Frome and The House of Mirth.

Programming at The Mount reflects Wharton’s core interests in the literary arts, interior design and decoration, garden and landscape design, and the art of living. Annual exhibits explore themes from Wharton’s life and work.

  shareshare

Tags: Edith Wharton, Lenox, Susan Orlean, The Mount

This entry was posted on April 29, 2012 at 10:22 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

 ”Lenox has had its usual tonic effect on me, & I feel like a new edition, revised & corrected . . . in the very best type. It is great fun…

Menu ideas for lawn party at Tanglewood

by Annie B. Copps

For music lovers, there’s no more enchanting venue than Tanglewood in the summer. For more than seven decades, the members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (and a host of friends) have been switching to white summer tuxes and creating beautiful music in the dreamy surroundings of the Berkshire Hills in Lenox, Massachusetts.

On Friday and Saturday evenings and on Sunday afternoons, the BSO’s outdoor concerts fill the air with captivating symphonic music. On various weeknights and select Sunday evenings, guest artists take the stage.

And on any given summer day, the orchestra’s various music camps and classes are in session–not to mention BSO rehearsals. No better spot for a loaf of bread, a glass of wine …

“When we came from the city, where we took advantage of the music, restaurant, and art scene, we were mildy anxious that there wouldn’t be enough to do,” says Matthew Rubiner, referring to the move he and his wife, Julie, made from Boston to the Berkshires eight years ago. “[But] we couldn’t keep up with all the cultural activities–it’s that fertile here. We still can’t believe we actually live here.”

In what was once the lobby of a bank in Great Barrington, Matthew owns and operates Rubiner’s Cheesemongers & Grocers, a place for people who love to eat and cook. Smoked and dried peppers from Spain, salt from Wales, honey from Sardinia. And cheeses from everywhere cheese is made. But as much as Matt loves to travel and find great products, he’s just as happy when he can buy from his neighbors. “We came here to be close to the sorts of producers we’ve dedicated our career to represent and champion,” he notes.

“We love to picnic–we’re in the cheese business–and we love the lawn at Tanglewood, so we try to take advantage of the amazing foods we have on hand, coupled with the world-class music program,” Matthew explains. “The first time we came here, we were blown away by the lengths that people go to when planning a lawn picnic. Our jaws dropped when we saw candelabra, linens, fine china, parasols, and the elaborate menus.”

Matt and Julie had brought a brown bag with sandwiches, some cheese, a bottle of wine, and some plastic cups. “We ate well and we soaked in the beautiful musical performance,” Matthew remembers. But he wanted to do it right, so he had a closer look at how people had put together their fancy spreads. He realized that it had taken some planning, but wasn’t so hard: He had all the ingredients in his shop, and the decor was a matter of folding some linens into a tote bag.

Not to be outdone, Matthew gathered a few favorite foods off his menu, called some friends, and produced a sumptuous spread worthy of the live music coming from the Shed, as well as an impromptu private performance by a few of the summer orchestra’s finest.

Recipe idea: Cold Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Picnic Perfection

“No matter how well you plan, if you want to have an elegant picnic at Tanglewood, you’re going to have to arrive early and do some mildly heavy lifting,” Matthew Rubiner observes. “But make the food and drink the easy part.”

Yet even in January, cultural life here thrives, at museums, theaters and music halls. And when it’s time for a little après-edification, you’ll find acres of elbow room on area slopes.

Start your cultural tour in North Adams, at Mass MoCA, one of the world’s largest contemporary art museums. The structure is in itself an attraction, built on the brick bones of a centuries-old complex of factories and mills between two fast-running branches of the Hoosic River.

A current exhibition plays directly on that history: “The Workers,” which runs to April 15, features 40 or so works that hew to the theme of American labor. Another exhibition will be around far longer — until 2033, in fact. The Sol LeWitt retrospective includes three radiant floors of prismatically colorful, huge drawings, which pair beautifully with window-filling vistas of the snowy foothills of Mount Greylock.

Mass MoCA’s performance stages stay busy in the winter as well. Notable coming acts include the jazz vocalist Catherine Russell on Feb. 18 and the Darrah Carr Dance troupe on Jan. 21, with a free workshop that afternoon.

Mass MoCA is a relative upstart compared with the grande dame of Berkshire museums, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, just 15 minutes up the road in Williamstown. Visit before Feb. 5 to catch the Rembrandt and Degas exhibition, which is making a stop between appearances at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Another much-anticipated show is “Clark Remix,” opening Feb. 12, a cutting-edge experiment in crowd-curating. Designed to make the most of the multiyear closure of several spaces in the museum, “Remix” will pack the walls of one lucky gallery with a floor-to-ceiling cascade of resident masterpieces. Starting with that jumbled configuration, visitors will then have a chance to assemble their own virtual gallery, using a tablet set up with a modified version of professional-grade curating software. “Remix” isn’t just an empty exercise in technology: two winning entries will actually be mounted by the museum.

Northern Berkshire County is usually a few degrees chillier than the rest of the county, so for some relative warmth head south to Pittsfield. Long set apart from the county’s traditional summer tourist scene and hot from its 250th birthday celebrations in 2011, Pittsfield is hosting 10×10 on North, the county’s first-ever winter contemporary arts festival, Feb. 16 to 26. It will feature exactly 10 of a number of things, including short pieces by two theatrical groups, Barrington Stage and New Stage; performances by poets, tango dancers and singer-songwriters; and short films.

More action can be found at the Colonial Theater, a Gilded Age treasure with a stage once graced by the Ziegfeld Follies, Will Rogers and Rachmaninoff. Reopened in 2006, the Colonial is now the heart of Pittsfield’s home-spun renaissance. Visitors come for both the magnificently restored architecture and a busy winter calendar, including performances by the Turtle Island Quartet (Feb. 17) and the Cajun masters BeauSoleil Avec Michael Ducet (Feb. 24), as well as weekly live music in the theater’s tasteful lobby.

Over in Lenox, Shakespeare & Company, a favorite of the summer theater scene, never lets the floorboards cool. Tina Packer, the company’s ebullient founder, attributes her year-round approach to a childhood spent under fickle English skies, and to her first Berkshire visit, years ago on a late winter’s day. Back then, she drove past the Mount, Edith Wharton’s then-derelict estate, which later became Shakespeare & Company’s first home. “I loved it, that moment early on a cold winter evening, the light going but not gone,” Ms. Packer said.” It was absolutely bewitching.”

Shakespeare & Company moved to its current location, on Kemble Street, in 2001. This season’s winter programming includes Molière’s comedy “The Learned Ladies,” which opens Feb. 3.

Sadly, Wharton’s restored estate isn’t open in winter, except to cross-country skiers wise to its well-tended grounds. For year-round insight into fin-de-siècle 1-percenters, go instead to Ventfort Hall in Lenox, home to the Museum of the Gilded Age.

Ventfort was completed in 1893 by Sarah Morgan (sister of J. Pierpont), and George Morgan, a distant cousin. Ventfort was built on the site of the home where Robert Gould Shaw, the Boston-born Civil War hero, honeymooned just weeks before his death. Sarah Morgan herself died just five years after Ventfort was completed, and, in 1899, George re-enacted their Valentine’s Day wedding with a different Sarah, in a blizzard so severe that almost none of the guests made it to Lenox.

Wandering Ventfort’s fabulous rooms, it’s hard to imagine how close it came to demolition. The site’s rescue was assured only in 1997, as ice encroached on the parlor and the dismemberment of its interior architecture was already under way. Today, telltale blond highlights scattered throughout the original woodwork, darkened by age, testify to years of meticulous restoration.

Edith Wharton set a famously small Berkshire table. Sarah Morgan, on the other hand, was — as a tour guide described her — more of a “party girl.” So Ventfort Hall’s beloved “Dancin’ at the Mansion” soirees, held the second Saturday of each month, are very much in the spirit of the old house. All the better if your visit falls on one of those crystalline Berkshire nights when the wind lifts swirling snow from the dark fields and frozen lake, scattering it against the windowpanes. Inside, there’s music and laughter and fox-trotting through the once-abandoned rooms — a perfect companion to a cold winter’s night.

IF YOU GO

WHAT TO SEE

Mass MoCA (1040 Mass MoCA Way, North Adams, Mass.; 413-662-2111; massmoca.org) sprawls over much of downtown North Adams. Open Wednesday to Monday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $15 and daily tours are offered. The cafe — with great food, free Wi-Fi and a view of an ice-clogged river outside — is a perfect spot for whiling away a snowy afternoon.

The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute (225 South Street, Williamstown; 413-458-2303; clarkart.edu) is 15 minutes west of Mass MoCA, in Williamstown. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; free from mid-October through May. Check out winter lectures, classes, films and events for all ages.

Pittsfield’s inaugural winter arts festival, 10×10 On North, takes place Feb. 16 to 26 (discoverpittsfield.com/10×10) with free or individually priced events at various downtown venues; check the Web site for the latest on the work-in-progress lineup. The Colonial Theater (111 South Street, Pittsfield; 413-997-4444; thecolonialtheatre.org) hosts events and live music throughout the winter, including the Garage, a live weekly music series in the lobby, some free and others with a $5 cover, starting at 9 p.m., including an open bar.

Shakespeare and Company (70 Kemble Street, Lenox; 413-637-3353; shakespeare.org) offers three or four weekly performances of “The Learned Ladies” from Feb. 3 to March 25. Tickets are $12 to $49.

Ventfort Hall (104 Walker Street, Lenox; 413-637-3206; gildedage.org) is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends; tickets from $15. Enthusiastically guided tours are offered hourly on weekends, and during the week by appointment. Groups of 10 or more can pre-order a Victorian tea, and even a private concert. “Dancin’ at the Mansion” takes place the second Saturday of the month. The Feb. 11 event includes a full dinner, with guests named Sarah, George or Morgan taking $16 off the $60 admission, in honor of George Morgan’s Valentine’s Day weddings to Sarah One and Sarah Two. Cocktails at 5 p.m., with dinner to follow. Dancing only is $16 per person, $25 per couple, from 8 p.m.

WHERE TO STAY AND EAT

In a region that still conjures over-doilied inns in the minds of many visitors, you’ll have nothing to fear at the Kemble Inn (2 Kemble Street, Lenox; 800-353-4113; kembleinn.com), under new ownership and largely refurbished in 2011. Sarah Morgan stayed here while her Ventfort Hall was under construction. Rates from $175, including what may well be the county’s finest breakfast; dinner on Friday and Saturday nights, by reservation only.

The Old Inn on the Green (134 Hartsville New Marlborough Road, New Marlborough; 413-229-7924; oldinn.com) is a half-hour drive from many of the county’s winter cultural attractions mentioned here, but the fireside feasts at this classic New England inn are well worth the trip. There’s not a single electric light in the dining rooms — it’s all candles, all the time. Upstairs, rooms start at $249 on weekdays, some including a prix-fixe dinner; weekends from $260, including breakfast.