Massachusetts: A spring visit to Naumkeag in Stockbridge

Stockbridge is located in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts and is a picture perfect place to enjoy any season of the year. It is no wonder that Joseph Choate, a successful attorney chose it for the location of his summer cottage, Naumkeag. He used the renowned architectural firm of Mckim, Mead & White to design the 44 room home. Naumkeag is the Gilded Age at its finest and yet, is very much a family home.

Joseph and his wife Caroline had the home built in 1887 and both came here for the summer (May-October)  until their deaths.  They actually celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary here which touched me profoundly since I was here celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary.

For all their financial and marital success, tragedy seems to have haunted the Choates. Three of their 5 children died young and Mabel who inherited the house, never married or had children. Only youngest son Joseph provided them with grandchildren.

The house is not that easy to find and once you find it, look out for the large rock which is rather a hazard as you turn into the long driveway. Parking is down a serpentine driveway and that walk up is excessively steep. This is not for the faint of heart or weak of knees. A couple of parking spots are located right in front of the house and it may be possible to park here if you are handicapped but certainly, it would be a drop-off point for someone who is mobility challenged.

You purchase your tickets at the gift shop/welcome center. You can also pick up sandwiches or salads or a snack to eat out on the terrace. We did and enjoyed the company of an adorable chipmunk.

We arrived at 1 p.m. we could have taken a garden tour but we opted for the house tour at 1:30, house tours are done on the half hour.

Other buildings design by this firm, Rose Cliff in Newport, New York, and Boston Public Libraries, Hyde Park the Vanderbilt home, Hillstead Museum and Olin Library at Wesylan University in my hometown of Middletown, Conn.

The tour lasts the better part of an hour and you need to be mobile enough to climb the stairs since the tour does go upstairs. 

Be sure to allow time to tour the gardens. They are worth visiting on their own even without the house. I suggest that you also visit the house so that you can learn about the Choates, it makes the house and gardens make sense. 

The Blue Steps are one of the great attractions in the gardens. 

While this is a "cottage" it is more of a mansion but a mansion that you can picture yourself living in. The Choate children spent many enjoyable summers here and the house reflects that. 

The original gardens were created between 1888-1890 to designs from Nathan Barrett. Where the Chinese Garden is now located there were formal perennial beds.  In 1926, Mabel Choate with the help of Fletcher Steele created the Afternoon Garden. Thirty years of garden development followed finishing with the design of the Moon Gate in 1956. 

Naumkeag is protected and managed by The Trustees.