Editor

Real Estate

Pool Seclusion

This Old Chatham home has a heated gunite pool perfect for lap swimming, plus a pool house equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, wine fridge. There is also a outdoor grill station, outdoor shower and fire pit set on 55 acres (five of which are beautifully manicured). The six-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bathroom property

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Style

Mary Randolph Carter's New Book Title Is A Collector's Mantra

Mary Randolph Carter knows the frisson of discovery at tag sales and antique shops. After all, she's written the book (and blog) on junking. In her newest, she extolls the virtues of living with your treasures. "There are so many reasons to say, I don’t need

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Arts

Kristin Wold Takes Center Stage In The Story Of The Bard's Bed

By Jeremy D. Goodwin Among other things, Kristin Wold has spent the past two-and-a-half decades playing and teaching all things Shakespeare. But with the exception of a cluster of iconic female leads— like Rosalind in As You Like It and Viola in Twelfth Night—the Bard was famously stingy when

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Community

The Rock Star of Stockbridge: Daniel Chester French

By Dan Shaw Although sculptor Daniel Chester French is less well-known than his Berkshires neighbors Edith Wharton and Norman Rockwell, he was as influential as they were and more of a rock star. After all, French often worked in stone, most famously when he designed the iconic 19-foot-high statue (carved

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Arts

Farm To Frame Puts Hudson Valley Artists (And Food) On View

By Lisa Green Two years ago, Dorit Straus, an art and insurance advisor, attended a dinner for collectors at Henry Klimowicz'sRE Institute in Millerton. The part-time Hudson Valley resident was taken with the intimate setting and interaction between the artist and guests over a meal composed of Hudson

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Food

Recipe: Rhubarb Meringue

Twice a month, Berkshire native Alana Chernila, mother of two, and author of the cookbook, The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making (Clarkson Potter), contributes a thoughtful and heartfelt essay/recipe created exclusively for Rural Intelligence readers. Her first cookbook has achieved top-seller status, and

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Parties

CATAtude Brings Attitude To Gratitude

Amy Krzanik reports from Lenox. CATAtude – this year's Community Access To The Arts' performance and gala – took over Shakespeare & Company’s Tina Packer Playhouse on Saturday evening, May 17. The organization's supporters enjoyed cocktail hour in the lobby, but as soon as the lights

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Parties

Trade Secrets: It's A Good Thing For Gardeners And WSS

Lisa Green reports from Sharon. “Has anyone seen Martha?" called out a portly matron in canvas sunhat to no one in particular early on at Trade Secrets. No one answered her, but everyone knew who she meant, because everyone knows Trade Secrets, the rare plants and antiques extravaganza in

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Parties

Wining And Dining For The Berkshire Music School

Lisa Green reports from Great Barrington. Several anniversaries were noted at the Berkshire Music School’s wine-pairing dinner at Café Adam on Thursday, May 15: the school’s 75th and Tracy Wilson’s 10th as executive director (Tracy, at left, flanked by realtor Nancy Kalodner and Malinka Johnson). But the

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Community

The Rural We: Josephine Proul

After six years as Executive Chef at Local 111 in Philmont, Josephine Proul assumed ownership of the restaurant in late March. A month into running her own restaurant, Proul is working seven days a week, but whether she's stocking the sparkling water or managing the books, she does

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Real Estate

Country Conservatory

The conservatory in this Washington farmhouse is a room you — and your beloved plants — can revel in. The spacious main house was built in 1925 but updated to provide every amenity and modern-day comfort. It includes a large living room overlooking the deck, a study, upper-level studio, country kitchen leading

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Real Estate

Winden Hill Cultivation

Winden Hill is located in Lenox on a park-like setting of meadows, evergreens, hardwoods and wetlands. Happily, there is the four-season conservatory from which to view it all. The house offers a total of 23 acres and the main residence evokes a feeling of years past. The four-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bathroom home

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