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BerkChique Returns

By Marilyn BethanyThink: Clothing swap on steroids.  Much to the joy of all who love good clothes at beyond bargain prices, BerkChique, an “alternative fundraiser" for Berkshire Creative, is back. (Photo collage at left by Kaitlyn Pierce of the blog Naturally Chic Life.) Berkshire Creative is a non-profit

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Garden: The Dirt On Soil

The following is the second part of a new column for Rural Intelligence, a weekly Q&A that seeks to address basic issues facing the ever-inquisitive back and front-yard toiler. Both questions and answers are provided by the people who know best, the fertile master gardeners from

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Garden: Thank You, Very Mulch

The following is the first part of a new column for Rural Intelligence that seeks to answer basic questions for the ever-inquisitive back and front yard toiler, and is provided by the people who know best, the master gardeners at the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge. The subject this

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The House That Privet Built

“We already feel like we don’t have enough room," Suzanne Cassano says, as she surveys the new digs of the home-furnishings and antiques store, Privet House, in the tight-knit community of New Preston, Connecticut. "It instantly feels like home, though. In the former location in

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Great Finds in a Little Locale

“I have dug my heels into this spot." Maggie Calhoun is talking about Great Finds, her bright, airy, restored 1880’s millhouse perched directly across from the Cotton Mill Falls on Kinderhook Creek in Valatie. “I like the underdog. Valatie isn't as posh or pretty as its

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Reading a Community: The Hickory Stick Bookshop in Washington

“I never wanted to own a bookstore, but if I was going to, this was the one," explains Hickory Stick Bookshop owner Fran Keilty. “This is where I came when I was a child. I’ve always been a bookseller; before this I was part of [New Haven'

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Let's Get Lost (In Hudson)

There was a time when shopping vintage (or vintage-ish) was a serendipitous adventure in which the sky seemed to be the limit, whether at a flea market or some delightful hodgepodge of a store. (Ah the 90s.) The town of Hudson, despite blossoming as an upscale decorative-arts destination,

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J. Seitz and Company: In a Family Way

"Luckily, it was in the genes."

By Lisa Green

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A Grander Scale: Dai Ban Finds His True Nature

Poring over a thick picture portfolio of nearly two decades of work as a graphic model maker for film and television, artist and sculptor Dai Ban shakes his head and laughs lightly. “Nothing on TV is real,” he says, “Not even the real thing.” Inside his bright, cozy Great Barrington-

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Boxwood Linen: Pressed in Hillsdale

Franca Fusco, designer and owner of Boxwood Linen, doesn't believe in holding the finer things in life back. “When I hear people say ‘It’s too pretty to use,’ I just think ‘Oh dear. What life are you waiting for?’ Do it for yourself. I don’t understand

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Dawn Hill Also Rises

Sitting atop a rise across from the Falls of New Preston, Dawn Hill Antiques mirrors an airy, light-filled Swedish country manor. “On a trip to Paris years ago I saw a Swedish clock with its wonderful pale grey paint and carvings, and I just fell in love with it,

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Stuff: The Deep Dish on Porcelain, Among Other Things

Interior designer Carey Maloney, also known to Rural Intelligence readers as The Wandering Eye, has the enviable gift of making his interests, be they erudite or off-the-wall, compelling and entertaining to others. In his first book, Stuff, recently published by Pointed Leaf Press, and lavishly illustrated, mostly with

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