From Curtains to Culture: Red Lion Inn Owners Celebrate 50 Years
It’s hard to imagine the Berkshires (and especially Stockbridge, Mass.) without The Red Lion Inn and the Fitzpatrick family. Both have been impacting Berkshire visitors and locals for the past 50 years. From the opening dinner in 1969 to the evolution and growth of Main Street Hospitality Group in 2019, each generation of the Fitzpatrick family has left its mark on the property and hospitality in the Berkshires. From Senator Jack Fitzpatrick and his wife, Jane, to their intrepid globetrotting daughter Nancy to Nancy's step-daughter Sarah Eustis, who is leading a new generation of family members, each has imparted their style and business acumen. This family — and the rest of us — have a lot to celebrate.
The Inn was purchased — saved, really — by Jane and Jack in 1968. The Red Lion Inn reopened on May 29, 1969 after a significant renovation. As part of the reopening, Jack and Jane brought their successful enterprise Country Curtains to the property.
Their impact on The Red Lion Inn happened in tandem with their generous support of nonprofit organizations in the Berkshires and beyond. During their tenure as owners, the couple forged longstanding connections with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood, and the Berkshire Theatre Festival. Mrs. Fitzpatrick played an essential role as a founding mother of The Corner House which paved the way for the opening of the Norman Rockwell Museum.
Over the years, the Fitzpatricks acquired several of the homes in downtown Stockbridge, converting them into guest houses of the Inn, including the old Stockbridge Fire House, featured in Norman Rockwell’s “The New American LaFrance is Here.” Their dedication to community and quality of service set the foundation for the property to grow in future generations. Jack, who served in the Mass. Senate from 1973-1980, passed away in 2011, Jane in 2013. We remember them as Berkshires royalty.
Assuming ownership of the property in 1993, daughter Nancy Fitzpatrick brought a degree of whimsy and innovation to the Inn’s creative direction. An avid collector like her mother, Nancy's design additions brought a sense of playfulness and excitement to the rooms and art collections. Like her parents, Nancy built on the deep-rooted connections to the cultural institutions and was a champion of the creative economy sector during her tenure. She also hired Brian Alberg as executive chef, who shifted the culinary identity of the restaurant program, focusing on farm-to-table cuisine, with an emphasis of developing strong relationships with farms and local food producers.
During Nancy’s tenure, she expanded the Inn's offerings by adding several guest houses to the campus including Maple Glen and Meadowlark, the seasonal guest house located on the property of Chesterwood, former home of sculptor Daniel Chester French. Nancy was the first to expand the footprint of the business outside of Stockbridge. She partnered with businessman Jack Wadsworth to develop and later manage The Porches Inn at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Mass. This partnership laid the groundwork for future growth for the company as a hotel operator in and out of the Berkshires.
Nancy's step-daughter, Sarah Eustis, carries on the tradition of hospitality excellence for the property today. Building on the work of Jack and Jane and the innovation and expansion of her stepmother, Eustis has been focusing on leveraging the properties’ strengths and growing the business. She's developed the Main Street Hospitality Group, a hotel management company based out of The Red Lion Inn. MSHG currently manages a handful of properties in the Berkshires and soon will add a property outside of Massachusetts. The newest addition to its portfolio is the Hammetts Wharf hotel in Newport, RI, which is scheduled to open in 2020.
At the Red Lion Inn, Eustis is spearheading a restoration of her own with the renovation of the first-floor space, bringing it back to the way it was when the family purchased the building in 1968. "We take our stewardship of the historic building and the art, antiques and artifacts within it to heart. This thoughful restoration will preserve the legacy of the Fitzpatrick family and offer enhanced experiences for our guests," she said.
While Eustis and her family are the newst to steward the Red Lion into its next period of growth, she reflects on the work done by her family and what lies ahead.
"We are grateful to Jane and Jack, who started something remarkable in Stockbridge 50 years ago, and to Nancy for shepherding the vision and deepening our commitment to the Berkshires. Our generation was given some great material to work with, and it is our job to care for and sustain it," she said.
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