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Naumkeag Mansion, Stockbridge MA | |
| Many of the sumptuous period furnishings of this palatial 1886 Stanford White mansion are still in place, and the grounds are simply beautiful. | ||
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by Tom Brosnahan |
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Palatial Naumkeag in Stockbridge MA was designed by renowned architect Stanford White for Joseph Hodges Choate (1832-1917), a New York City attorney, and finished in 1886. Many of the sumptuous period furnishings are still in place, and there are 49 acres (20 hectares) of formal gardens, including a Chinese temple with a circular Moon Gate, an Afternoon Garden, and the striking Blue Steps, a graceful cascade of staircases, white railings, pools and paper birch trees that is much admired—and much photographed. Joseph Choate was appointed US ambassador to the Court of St James's in 1899, and the family lived in London until 1905. Miss Mabel Choate, one of Joseph's daughters, inherited Naumkeag in 1929, and spent her summers here until her death in 1958, when Naumkeag was willed to The Trustees of Reservations, who now own it and open it to the public. The mansion is open every day from Memorial Day (late May) to Columbus Day (mid-October), 10 am 5 pm. You must take a 35-minute guided tour to visit the house; you may wander in the gardens on your own (after paying the admission fee). The last tour of the day departs at about 4:15 pm. From the Red Lion Inn on Main Street in the center of Stockbridge, follow Pine Street toward the National Shrine of Divine Mercy on Eden Hill, but follow the signs to the left to Prospect Hill Road and Naumkeag, barely a mile from the center of Stockbridge. You can walk to Naumkeag from the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge in about 30 minutes (uphill; map). Naumkeag —by Tom Brosnahan
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Naumkeag, the Choate residence
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