Construct Unveils Designer Showhouse To Raise Funds For Affordable Housing

Interior design aficionados, take note: Add a tour of Cassilis Farm in New Marlborough, Mass. to your early-summer to-do list. Stat. For five weekends in June, the historic Georgian Revival estate will welcome the public for a timed and ticketed walkthrough of 19 distinct spaces displaying the creative genius of 15 local and regional interior designers. In July, the doors to this Gilded Age manor — famed for its role in raising prize-winning Hackney ponies (beginning in 1910) and hosting John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and the couple’s son Sean (in 1977) — will close, putting another chapter of the building’s history to rest before ushering in the next. Come spring, work will commence transforming the sprawling space into 11 one- to three-bedroom apartments for income-qualifying workers and families in the Berkshires.

“This project is really exciting, as it provides both an opportunity and a vision for how small towns can address [the ongoing housing crisis] which has only gotten worse” says Executive Director Jane Ralph of Construct, Inc. She recalls being gobsmacked when two members of the New Marlborough Housing Committee brought the property to the nonprofit’s attention. “The town’s support of this project has been incredible, [and residents] have put their money where their mouths are,” Ralph says of a close-knit community equally committed to bringing this kind of housing to fruition and not wanting to see Cassilis Farm fall into further disrepair.

With the help of New Marlborough’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and private donations, Construct — the southern Berkshires’ premiere provider of affordable housing — acquired the 27-acre property at auction in 2022. While transforming an existing property is not new for the nonprofit (they recently converted Great Barrington’s Windflower Inn to workforce housing; another property, on East Street, was once a creamery), this is their first foray into a project of this scale.

In a nod to John Lennon's 1977 visit to the property, Patrick McBride And Harry Heissmann designed Strawberry Fields using signature Tillett Textile's "Strawberry" wallpaper as a fitting centerpiece for the original home's dining room.

“We are excited about this opportunity to really transform people’s vision of what affordable housing can be, and to have it be part of the neighborhood,” says Ralph.  

Many of the Gilded Age details will remain. Inside the Cassilis Great Hall, styled by C. Herrington Home & Design of Hillsdale, echoes of a bygone era — among them exposed beams and leaded glass — anchor a sanctuary cocooned amongst natural elements mimicking earth and sky. In the dining room, Patrick McBride and Harry Heissmann designed Strawberry Fields (an homage to the aforementioned singer/songwriter) using a timeless Tillett Textiles pattern printed on metallic silver paper and a striped cushion in complementary hues. Upstairs in the annex, Jess Cooney (of Jess Cooney Interiors in Great Barrington) likens her team’s design of Willets Trophy Room — imbued with dark, brooding colors and vintage velvet club chairs — to an art installation.

“We just wanted to have fun with [the space] and push the boundaries a little bit,” says Cooney, pointing to whimsical touches like a faux-marble bar and murals flanking the fireplace, all done by artist Joel Haynes.

“The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned,” reads a quotation from Maya Angelou. Displayed prominently on the wall of the Design Showhouse, the quote distills Construct’s work over the past five decades down to its most basic essence. Meanwhile, ensuring more folks find a home here has been an all-hands-on-deck endeavor.

“The generosity [of the extended] community has been amazing,” says Hinda Bodinger, co-chair of the Designer Showhouse committee, in a nod to everyone from sponsors and volunteers to artists, landscapers and vendors who rallied around the need for affordable housing in the Berkshires. As for the designers? “Despite being crazy busy at this time of year, they did not hesitate one second to support Construct,” says Bodinger, calling their commitment to the project “off the charts.”

Local businesses donated over $17,000 worth of raffle prizes (among them dinner and a movie courtesy of Juju’s and The Triplex; choose-and-cut-your-own Christmas tree from Seekonk Tree Farm; and spa days at Canyon Ranch and Miraval Berkshires) which will be drawn on five consecutive Saturday evenings from among each weekend’s ticketed attendees.

To date, Construct has raised $2.5 million of the $6.4 million needed to complete the project. Attending the Designer Showhouse at Cassilis Farm will raise funds in support of these efforts.

Construct Designer Showhouse at Cassilis Farm
New Marlborough, MA
Open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in June
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Last entry one hour prior to close)
Tickets, $40