Stockbridge

From left: Winterlights at Naumkeag, shopping on Main Street, Stockbridge Library.

blame Norman Rockwell, who spent his last 25 years living and working right in the heart of town. He created some of his most visionary and socially engaged work here, without losing the touch that had already made him the beloved painter of small-town American life. At his death, he bequeathed his studio, archive, and many paintings to establish a museum of his work, now the Norman Rockwell Museum on 36 acres outside the town center.

Visitors happily occupy the classic rockers on the porch of the venerable Red Lion Inn on the corner of Main and Route 7. The Inn has been there since the 1770s, when an influx of white settlers was displacing the native Mohican population for whom the town had been created (as Indian Town, complete with an English missionary) in 1737. When the railroad arrived in 1850, so did the wealthy summer folk. Artists and writers came too, among them Daniel Chester French, sculptor of the Lincoln statue at the Lincoln Memorial and the Concord Minute Man. French’s home and studio, Chesterwood, is open to the public.

Naumkeag, designed by Stanford White, is a 44-room Berkshire cottage fantasy a mile from the town center that hosts Winterlights, a spectacular LED display that illuminates the extensive gardens Thursday-Sunday, 5 – 9 p.m., November 26 through the end of December. From a hilltop perch a couple of miles from the town center, the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health affords a stunning view over the Stockbridge Bowl and offers residential stays that focus on yoga, creative expression, wellness and self-discovery; more than 30,000 visitors take advantage of the Center each year.

Some drive, some walk, some cycle: most of Stockbridge’s attractions are within easy reach. The self-guided walking tour of the town is highly recommended by the Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce. On the tour, don’t miss the 1884 former Town Hall (you may know the interior from Rockwell’s The Marriage License).

The Stockbridge Library is a particularly fine small-town library, and some of the portraits of former citizens on the walls date from the 18th century; you’re welcome to stop in. The Austen Riggs Center, a therapeutic community, an open psychiatric hospital, and a center for education and research now in its one hundred and first year, is unobtrusively located right in the center of town; Norman Rockwell and his wife were patients.

Stockbridge is also home to some exceptional nature trails just south of town. Park at the end of Park Street, take the footbridge across the Housatonic, and take your choice of trails: a paved, handicapped-accessible trail that runs beside the river; a trail that leads up to Laura’s Tower, with a three-state view; and—not to be missed on a hot day—the trail into Ice Glen, with glacial boulders and caves of ice that last even into July. If you prefer strolling to hiking, head to the outstanding 16-acre Berkshire Botanical Garden just west of town.

Due to COVID, the Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce has cancelled the 32nd annual “Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas” celebrations originally scheduled for December 3 – 5, 2021. The town will still become a magical New England setting, decorated with holiday wreaths and festive lights for the season, well worth a stroll down Main Street. And the original painting of Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas can be seen at the Norman Rockwell Museum.

Once Upon A Table is a cozy spot for lunch or dinner in “the mews,” an alley right off main street. Those with a sweet tooth will also want to check out Peace, Love & Chocolate, right next door. Alice’s Restaurant, which was nearby, exists now only in song (Arlo Guthrie’s song, released in 1969). The new Tiffany’s Café has taken up residence at the Elm Street Market, also just off Main. The recent arrival of The Lost Lamb, “a French-style patisserie and snackerie,” is good news for croissant lovers—and lovers in general. The Lion’s Den, a basement bistro known for burgers and local brews at The Red Lion Inn (all roads lead to—and from— The Red Lion Inn), is temporarily closed for renovations, but finer dining is available upstairs. Many other first-rate restaurants and congenial eateries are located south of town along the road to Great Barrington and in other surrounding towns.

Jan Brett, Snowy Owl , detail, 2014. The Animals’ Santa ; G.P. Putnam’s Sons. ©2014

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