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Otto Leuschel's Old-Fashioned Germantown Variety Store

Some people boast of having lived in an area when it “hit," like Soho in the ’70s, or, more locally, Great Barrington, when Smithsonian named it the best small town in America. Next on the "hit" list: Germantown, if Otto Leuschel has his way; on June 28

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Garden View: Lessons From Spencertown's Garden Tour

Liza Gyllenhaal is the author of the novels “Local Knowledge,” “So Near,” and the forthcoming “A Place for Us,” all set in the Rural Intelligence region. She and her husband divide their time between Manhattan and West Stockbridge, MA where she writes — and putters around in her garden. We’re

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Garden View: Peonies, The Party Girls of Springtime

Liza Gyllenhaal is the author of the novels “Local Knowledge,” “So Near,” and the forthcoming “A Place for Us,” all set in the Rural Intelligence region. She and her husband divide their time between Manhattan and West Stockbridge, MA where she writes — and putters around in her garden. We’re

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Hillsdale General Store: A 21st Century Country Emporium

The words "general store" function like a Rorschach Test: Everyone conjures up a different image of the quintessential rural retail experience. But let's face facts: Now that places like CVS and Cumberland Farms sell everything from eggs and milk to shoe polish and work gloves, the

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Diane Love & Robert Frye's Modern Mountaintop Farmhouse

It looks more like a house of self-restraint than self-indulgence, but Diane Love designed her pared down-country retreat in southern Columbia County to be her all-purpose personal haven. Blessed with self-awareness, Love knows that her happiness depends on her ability to be many different people

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Garden View: Chive Talk

Liza Gyllenhaal is the author of the novels “Local Knowledge,” “So Near,” and the forthcoming “A Place for Us,” all set in the Rural Intelligence region. She and her husband divide their time between Manhattan and West Stockbridge, MA where she writes — and putters around in her garden. We’re

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Trade Secrets: A Lollapalooza of Antiques and Gardens

Once a year during Trade Secrets Weekend, the Litchfield Hills resemble the pages of an English gardening magazine, which is fitting since many of the pre-revolutionary towns (Cornwall, Kent, Salisbury) were settled by the British. The two-day Trade Secrets extravaganza—an antiques and rare-plant sale on Saturday,

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The Art of Shopping: Working Warren with a Pair of Pros

We all shop, but shopping with someone who actually makes a living buying stuff is an entirely different game. For one thing, the pros notice subtleties we pikers would be likely to overlook, such as the fine print on the $900 price tag dangling from a '50s floor lamp

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Garden View: Are Green Thumbs Inherited?

Liza Gyllenhaal is the author of the novels "Local Knowledge," "So Near," and the forthcoming "A Place for Us," all set in the Rural Intelligence region. She and her husband divide their time between Manhattan and West Stockbridge, MA where she writes — and putters

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Privet House Hits a Bullseye with Pop-Up Shops at Target

Do you remember the movie The Miracle on 34th Street when Macy's Santa Claus, who believed he was the real Kris Kringle, advised the department store's customers to shop at Gimbel's for certain items? In the same counterintuitive spirit,  Rural Intelligence is encouraging you

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The Wandering Eye: House Guests

Our blogger, interior designer Carey Maloney, and his partner Hermes Mallea, an architect, are principals in the M (Group). Okay.  Hermes had (another) good idea..  A blog on House Guests.  Avoiding all the clichés, comparisons to old fish, etc. All it takes is a few moments searching the Interweb to

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McTeigue & McClelland Are in the Business of Enchantment

For nearly a century following its founding in 1895, McTeigue & Co. was one of the most respected hallmarks in the fine jewelry trade, selling only to elite retailers such as Tiffany & Co., which in 1990 acquired and absorbed the family-owned business into its own. Yet as he

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