The Mount (1902) is a

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

Lenox, Massachusetts Lenox is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is in Western Massachusetts and part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Pittsfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,095 at the 2020 United States census ...

, the home of noted American author

Edith Wharton Edith Newbold Wharton (; ; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American writer and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray, realistically, the lives and morals of the Gil ...

, who designed the house and its grounds and considered it her "first real home." The estate, located in

The Berkshires The Berkshires () are highlands located in western Massachusetts and northwestern Connecticut in the United States. Generally, "Berkshires" may refer to the range of hills in Massachusetts that lie between the Housatonic and Connecticut River ...

, is open to the public. The property was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1971. Today, The Mount is a cultural center and

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that is preserved as a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a variety of ...

, welcoming over 50,000 visitors each year. Visitors can explore the property and learn about Edith Wharton by taking tours of the house and gardens and are invited to sit in and interact with the rooms without obstruction. Interpretive exhibits throughout the house explore Wharton and her servants’ lives, as well as her humanitarian efforts and literary legacy. The Mount also presents lectures, dramatic readings, theater, music, storytelling, workshops, outdoor sculptures, films, and literary panels with over 40 local partner organizations.

History

The Mount's main house was inspired by the 17th-century

Belton House Belton House is a Grade I listed country house in the parish of Belton near Grantham in Lincolnshire, England, built between 1685 and 1687 by Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet. It is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues lead ...

in England, with additional influences from classical Italian and French architecture.

used the principles described in her first book, '' The Decoration of Houses'' (1897, co-authored with Ogden Codman, Jr.), when she designed the house. She thought that good architectural expression included order, scale, and harmony. Its west (entry) elevation is three stories; on the garden side it is two stories with an opening out to a large, raised, stone terrace overlooking the grounds. The house exterior is a striking white stucco, strongly set off by dark green shutters, and rises from a quasi-rustic foundation of coarse field stone. Clusters of gables and white chimneys rise from the roof, which is capped with a

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

and

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

. This main house is augmented by Georgian Revival gatehouse and stable, and a beautifully restored Lord and Burnham

Greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

. Wharton's sometime collaborator, Ogden Codman, Jr., assisted with the architectural design. Wharton's niece, Beatrix Jones Farrand, designed the kitchen garden and the drive; Farrand was the only woman of the eleven founders of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Edith Wharton and her husband, Edward, lived in the Mount from 1902 to 1911. After the Whartons left, the house was a private residence, a girls' dormitory for the Foxhollow School, and site of the theatre company Shakespeare & Company. It was then bought by Edith Wharton Restoration, which has restored much of the property to its original condition and oversees the running of the property. The house is situated at the high end of its grounds. The original site was of farmland, with another later added. The current estate size is . Restored gardens include an Italian walled garden, formal flower garden, alpine rock garden, lime walk, and extensive grass terraces. Today, in addition to being a historic house, The Mount is a major tourist attraction in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. It has been featured in several high-end magazines including an eight-page spread shot by photographer

Annie Leibovitz Anna-Lou Leibovitz ( ; born October 2, 1949) is an American Portrait photography, portrait photographer best known for her portraits, particularly of celebrities, which often feature subjects in intimate settings and poses. Leibovitz's Polaroid ...

for the fall 2012 issue of ''Vogue'', with a foreword by

Colm Tóibín Colm Tóibín ( , ; born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet. His first novel, ''The South (novel), The South'', was published in 1990. ''The Blackwater Lightship'' was short ...

. In recent years, The Mount has become a literary hub, hosting an array of events including readings, book launches, and panel discussions. Author appearances have included: Tom Reiss, Billy Collins,

David McCullough David Gaub McCullough (; July 7, 1933 – August 7, 2022) was an American popular historian. He was a two-time winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 2006, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United S ...

, Megan Marshall, Lily Koppel, Adam Gopnik, Kate Bolick, Garrison Keillor, John Berendt.

Paranormal activity

In 1942 The Mount became part of the Foxhollow School for Girls, and residents reported unexplained noises and experiences in the living areas of the mansion. Following the school's closure in 1976, the mansion remained vacant for several years until Shakespeare & Company used it as a dormitory and performance space. Actors reported the same unexplained sounds and sightings of figures in period dress. In early 2009, the SyFy television show '' Ghost Hunters'' filmed an episode at The Mount, and over the course of three days reported audio and visual evidence of activity, such as the sounds of footsteps in an otherwise empty room, and disembodied voices. The show did a follow-up episode in 2015.

References

External links

*
"Writings of Edith Wharton", broadcast from The Mount
from

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

's ''

American Writers The Lists of American writers include: United States By ethnicity *List of African-American writers *List of Asian American writers, List of Asian-American writers *List of Cuban American writers, List of Cuban-American writers *List of Egypti ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Mount, The Houses completed in 1902 Historic house museums in Massachusetts Georgian Revival architecture in Massachusetts National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts Biographical museums in Massachusetts Literary museums in the United States Women's museums in Massachusetts Reportedly haunted locations in Massachusetts Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Berkshire County, Massachusetts Gilded Age mansions 1902 establishments in Massachusetts Homes of American writers Buildings and structures in Lenox, Massachusetts Museums in Berkshire County, Massachusetts

History

Paranormal activity

See also

References

External links