Lenox

lenox still gilded after all these years

From top: Town Hall, Casablanca, Alta.

Set out on foot in downtown Lenox

and you’ll be passing—and perhaps entering—the stylish shops, galleries, and eateries that beckon from every street and side street. You can walk to Shakespeare & Company’s campus and Ventfort Hall on nearby Kemble Street, and Tanglewood itself is just a mile and a half away. When did Lenox become fashionable? In 1821, to be precise, when a son of the Sedgwick family moved here from neighboring Stockbridge. He was soon joined by his sister, best-selling novelist Catharine Sedgwick, who was the region’s first literary luminary. Some of their friends from Boston started building grand “cottages” in the neighborhood, and one rented a cottage of the humble kind to Nathaniel Hawthorne and his family in 1850. Although the Hawthornes only stayed for a year and a half, the author of The Scarlet Letter wrote Tanglewood Tales on the grounds of what would later become the summer home of the Boston Symphony; the name “Tanglewood” is Hawthorne’s own invention.

In addition to the Bostonians, wealthy New Yorkers like Edith Wharton built some 75 impressive country houses in Lenox and Stockbridge in the latter 19th and early 20th century, and some of them, including Wharton’s (The Mount) are open to the public.

Ventfort Hall, built for J.P. Morgan’s sister in 1893, even has a museum dedicated to the Gilded Age in several of its 50 rooms. Canyon Ranch Spa occupies another “cottage” (with extensive add-ons for recreation and wellness). Blantyre, a member of the Relais & Chateaux network, has re-opened after an $80-million renovation and now boasts a Café Bouloud restaurant. And, after a $130-million renovation, the former Cranwell has emerged as an all-inclusive wellness retreat called Miraval Berkshires and the more à la carte retreat called Wyndhurst Manor & Club.

Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is the jewel in the Lenox crown—the place for premier classical music performances as well as concerts by big names in rock, folk, and pop. The setting is as spectacular as the music, and a picnic on the lawn at Tanglewood has been a tradition for many visitors over the years. This summer, the BSO is offering a shortened season with all performances held in the Shed to allow for ample spacing between picnickers.

Shakespeare & Company will host its season in two outdoor theaters on its Lenox campus. There’s great shopping in Lenox. Popular upscale clothing retailer The Casablanca Group has three stores in Lenox: Casablanca and Swtrz on Church Street and Shooz on Housatonic Street. (Their fourth boutique, GB9, is located in, you guessed it, GB.) Catwalk, one of the Berkshire Humane Society’s two resale outlets (the other’s in Great Barrington), is on Church Street. Steilmann, on Walker Street, carries women’s European fashions, and trendy CERI Boutique has opened a women’s clothing store on Housatonic Street. Purple Plume, MacKimmie Co., Glad Rags, and design menagerie are other well-known shops. Lenox Print & Mercantile, also on Housatonic, offers vintage treasures as well as crafts by over 60 local artisans. An American Craftsman on Walker Street features the work of many artisans working in wood, clay, fiber, metal, glass, leather, and mixed media. The Bookstore & Get Lit Wine Bar is open, although not yet offering readings. (Check out the Lenox Library instead.) And on Route 7, just north of town, is the Arcadian Shop, the Berkshires’ leading outdoor sports retailer. Lenox eats well. Alta, Bistro Zinc, and Nudel are three good reasons. The more casual Firefly, has re-opened under new owners. Haven Café and Bakery on Franklin Street at the foot of downtown has excellent light fare for breakfast, lunch, and weekend brunch. A special treat for the palate is right off Route 7: superb chocolates and great coffee and cocoa await you at cozy Chocolate Springs Café. Saveur magazine recognized chocolatier Josh Needleman as one of the top 10 in the United States. Lenox is still gilded, but in a good way.