Birchwood Inn » Lenox MA

Downton Abbey Was Inspire by Lenox Author

innkeeper — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 22:33:38 +0000

Downton Abbey fans — and aren’t we all? — are you aware that Historic Lenox, MA has ties to the series to which we are all addicted?

According to Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton Abbey, his writing is very much influenced by author Edith Wharton, who lived and wrote in Lenox (I’m quite sure that most of you read Ethan Frome in school). Her restored home The Mount is at the top of my must-see in Lenox list I share with my guests.

Says Fellowes, “I think I was in my thirties when someone gave me a copy of The House of Mirth (which was written at The Mount) and I was instantly impressed by the extraordinarily contemporary feeling of Wharton’s writing. Her dialogue was so immediate, her understanding of emotional predicaments was so vital.”

Fellowes is the recipient of the 2012 Edith Wharton Lifetime Achievement Award. He suspects that the reason for the success of Downton Abbey is that he “is kind to them in their weaknesses, kind to them… in the error of their ways.” If he has achieved this, Fellowes went on to say, “It is a lesson I learned directly from Edith Wharton… I feel most fortunate to have made her acquaintance.”

You, too, can experience Wharton’s aura and era by visiting the home and gardens she designed when The Mount reopens in the spring on your next trip to our Lenox, MA bed and breakfast.

Our Inn in Lenox, MA offers 12 accommodations enjoy Berkshires, Bed & Breakfast,Inn in Lenox MA featuring private baths, cozy fireplaces and more. You can read the original blog post here Downton Abbey Was Inspire by Lenox Author.

Travels with Charley: from Lenox MA to Paris

innkeeper — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:45:44 +0000

I am just back from France. Will Paris ever be the same?

I loved my first plane ride. I curled up under Ellen’s seat and slept all the way to France. First escalator? A piece of cake!

I walked my little paws off! Wow, the City of Lights is enormous, especially considering that I am used to Lenox, MA, with a population under 5,000. And I made new friends, including Ellen’s son Eric, a musician who lives in Paris. Eric wasn’t really a dog person, but we hit it off right away. Cute works every time!

Where did we go? Everywhere! Our apartment was on the Left Bank, around the corner from Notre Dame, and dated from the 16th century. I really liked trying to catch the cats. Being so close, we just had to visit Notre Dame. Awesome!

We crossed Pont Neuf to get to The Louvre. I really liked the fountains, but Ellen wouldn’t let me swim in them. The lines were endless — it was a school holiday — but we discovered that anyone with a disability (remember Ellen’s hearing problems) goes to the head of the line, and entrance is free. We liked that a lot, especially considering that neither of us are great at lines.

The cafes, bistros, and restaurants were all excellent, but Ellen particularly liked a little hole-in-the-wall that had two long tables crowded into a room only slightly larger than our powder room and served only foie gras and oysters. I liked the patisseries best, especially ones that had macaron (not really at all like our macaroons) crumbs on the floor.

My godmother Lynnette arrived, and we spent lots of time in Foodie Heaven, aka Bon Marche. They even have a caviar bar! You don’t find that at Stop and Shop or Guido’s!

We walked everywhere, not an easy feat considering that it was during the two-week school holiday, but while the food traffic was something I have never experienced (after all, I live in Lenox, population barely 5,000!), it sure beat the gridlock on the street. We discovered the Batobus, a water taxi that picks up and drops off people at all of the Paris “must-sees.” What a great idea!

My friends Yvonne and Ian arrived, and the next morning we left Paris and took the train to Nimes. But that’s a story for another day. I can’t wait for our next adventure, but I am happy to be back home at our Lenox MA bed and breakfast!

A Most Wonderful Hug from Yo-Yo Ma in Lenox MA

innkeeper — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 21:02:32 +0000

I was at Bistro Zinc in Lenox MA for lunch today when cellist extraordinaire Yo-Yo Ma came in with Boston Symphony Orchestra Director Mark Volpe. I never ever approach someone famous, respecting their privacy, BUT this time I just had to.

I proceeded to tell Yo-Yo Ma my story. When I started to lose my hearing, it was only natural that I no longer could hear music. For more than 10 years I didn’t hear music, but I went to Tanglewood concerts anyway, hoping to feel the music.

And then I got my first cochlear implant in 2000 and went to Tanglewood to give it a try with music. The very first musician I heard in more than 10 years was Yo-Yo Ma. He has had a special place in my heart ever since.

As I told him the story, he had tears in his eyes. And when I finished, he gave me a big hug. He is a very special person to me… and to millions of others.

We’ve Got THE Winner!

innkeeper — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 11:02:15 +0000

The 2nd Annual Berkshire British Motor Car Festival was an overwhelming success this weekend! Thousands of residents and guests ogled the brilliantly polished British cars, old and new, Mini-Cooper to Rolls Royce, lining Lenox, MA’s main streets near our Berkshires bed and breakfast.

“Gee, that looks like the car I had in college,” was heard over and over again, especially when spying a Triumph or MG. The festival evoked many old memories and created new ones.

Saturday’s competition yielded many “best in class” winners as well as the coveted “Best in Show,” awarded to Birchwood Inn guest Dave Hutchinson and his red 1961 Triumph Italia 2000 Coupe.

The Italia 2000, also called the TR3, was manufactured between 1959 and 1962, combining Italian artistry and British craftsmanship. Due to the car’s expensive price tag of $5,000!!!, only 329 were produced and a handful of 30 or so were sold in the US. Dave has babied his TR3 for more than 30 years. It’s a real beauty!

Congratulations to the festival’s organizers, the participants, the many car fans, and of course, the grand prize winner Dave Hutchinson!

"Best in Show" winner Dave Hutchinson, his wife Charlene, and his 1961 Italian 2000 Coupe.

We’ve Got Snow and The Arts

innkeeper — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:19:50 +0000

In Winter, Berkshires Culture Moves Indoors

Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times

Top: Ventfort Hall in Lenox, Mass., where Anne Undeland performs “Open Marriage” in the library, right. Above: A work by Adrian Paci, left, at Mass MoCA in North Adams.

Original Article By Mark Vanhoenacker

There’s far more to the Berkshire Mountains than Tanglewood, and the arts and culture do continue after Labor Day all around our Lenox Bed and Breakfast. As Mark Vanhoenacker says in The NYT, “even in January, cultural life here thrives, at museums, theaters and music halls. And when it’s time for a little après-edification, you’ll find acres of elbow-room on area slopes.”

Why not start your cultural tour in North Adams, at Mass MoCA, one of the largest museums of contemporary art in the world? There are currently some exciting exhibits. And Mass MoCA’s performance stages are busy as well, such as jazz vocalist Catherine Russell on Feb. 18.

“The grande dame of Berkshire museums, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, just down the roadin Williamstown. The Rembrandt and Degas exhibition runs until February 5. “Clark Remix” opens Feb. 12. Pittsfield, which celebrated its 250th birthday in 2011, Pittsfield host 10×10 on North, the county’s first-ever winter contemporary arts festival, Feb. 16 to 26, featuring “exactly 10 of a number of things, including short pieces by two theatrical groups, Barrington Stage and New Stage; performances by poets, tango dancers and singer-songwriters; and short films.”At the Colonial Theater, a treasure from the Gilded Age, offers a busy winter calendar, including the Turtle Island Quartet (Feb. 17) and the Cajun masters BeauSoleil Avec Michael Ducet (Feb. 24).

In Lenox, Shakespeare & Co., as Vanhoenacker notes, “never lets the floorboards cool.” This season’s winter programming includes Molière’s comedy “The Learned Ladies,” which opens Feb. 3.

We hope you have the opportunity to enjoy some of these fantastic cultural events during your stay at our Berkshires Inn!

Shakespeare & Co. Celebrates 35th Anniversary

innkeeper — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:07:33 +0000

There are anniversaries galore in Lenox this year — Tanglewood, Jacob’s Pillow and now Shakespeare & Co, all near our Lenox Bed and Breakfast.

Shakespeare & Co’s 35th season is one of rebellion and revolution, and features one of Lenox’s favorite visitors, Academy Award-winning Olympia Dukakis (she loves Cafe Lucia!), in “The Tempest” and OBIE Award-winning actor John Douglas Thompson in “Satchmo at the Waldorf.”

“The season is designed to look at who we were, who we are, and where we’re going,” said artistic director Tony Simotes. “Revolution and rebellion, that the energy of the theater. That’s what we do.”

The summer portion of the company’s 35th anniversary season runs from May 25 through Labor Day.

Highlights include “The Tempest,” mid-July-mid-August; “Satchmo at the Waldorf,” mid-August-Labor Day; and “King Lear,” mid-June-mid-August.

The season also features “Endurance,” the story of the unlikely survival of Sir Ernest Shackleton and crew in Antarctica; and “Red,” a play based on painter Mark Rothko.

“Cassandra Speaks,” a play about controversial journalist Dorothy Thompson; “Parasite Drag,” a dark comedy of two estranged brothers; and “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife”; a comedy about a depressed, unfulfilled Upper West Side wife, round out the season.

A star-studded season for a star-studded anniversary! We hope you have the chance to enjoy this exciting season during your stay at our Bed and Breakfast in Lenox!

Hot Time in the Old Lenox December 9, 10 & 11

innkeeper — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:52:29 +0000

Quinn says: Lenox, MA, in the heart of The Berkshires, has been

compared to a Currier and Ives sketch. This is especially true during

the December holiday period. And there’s nothing that says New

England better than Lenox village dressed in holiday-style.

Catch the spirit on the weekend of December 10 when the village hosts

the Lenox Caroling Festival. The festival is a gala weekend, a

Christmas stocking filled with holiday events. The celebration

of seasonal songs begins on Saturday, December 10. Thirty or more

of the Northeast’s finest choirs and choral groups have been invited

to lift their voices in a day-long songfest and competition, 10 am to

noon and 1:30 pm to 4 pm throughout the village (in case of

inclement weather, the festival will move to indoor venues).

During the weekend you can also tour many of the village’s renown

bed and breakfast inns, including Birchwood Inn (Our Lenox Bed and Breakfast is

offering holiday special rates this weekend — and throughout most

of November and December as well) and sample holiday treats from

our special local restaurants (Quinn notes that this is her favorite event,

ever optimistic that there will be some cookies that drop on the floor!)

Lenox’s unique shops and restaurants will also be featuring festival specials.

On Saturday, from 6 pm to 7 pm, enjoy the Carolers’ Reception,

award presentations, and sing-a-long at Shakespeare & Co. For a

great feel-good experience, moreover, see David Sedaris’ “Santaland

Diaries” 7:30 pm on Saturday as well as two matinee performances,

Friday and Saturday at 2 pm.

Trinity Church invites everyone to its Holiday Fair and Silver Tea

on Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm.

And what are the holidays without a gingerbread house? The Lenox

Library hosts the annual Gingerbread Contest on Sunday, 10 am to

3 pm.

This is a most special weekend, for sure, but everyday is special

in Lenox during the holidays. Come and celebrate the season of

lights with us at our Lenox MA Inn!

It Was the Best of Times

innkeeper — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:19:14 +0000

Says Quinn: Despite Irene’s unwelcome end-of-summer visit, this was one of the best of my 12 summers at Birchwood Inn.

Ellen and I have created a Top Ten Best of Summer 2011 list:

# 10 -Best play we missed: “Sylvia” — about a dog of course — at the Berkshire Theatre Festival

# 9 -Best Tanglewood Concert we missed: “Porgy and Bess”

# 8 -Best book read this summer: “The Greater Journey”

# 7 -Best exhibit: Pissarro at The Clark Art Institute (until Oct. 6)

# 6 -Best new Lenox food experience: Berkshire Gelato next door to Prime

# 5 -Best new breakfast recipe: Peach Croissant French Toast Panini

# 4 -Best breakfast fruit course: Honeydew “Gazpacho” and Bircher Muesli

# 3 -Best food blog: Eight Broads in the Kitchen at Bed and Breakfast Foodies

8 Broads... and a Dog

# 2 -Best park for hiking or walking a dog: Kennedy Park

# 1 -Best summer weekend: James Taylor and the annual 4th of July Party Time at our Lenox MA Bed and Breakfast!

Dog Days? I’m Insulted

innkeeper — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 07:53:11 +0000

As a most fine and upstanding canine, I am not at all happy that these miserably hot days in the Northeast, with unheard of temperatures in the 90s and humidity that even curls my hair, are called Dog Days. Dogs are cool!

Here in Lenox, in the heart of the Berkshire Hills in Western Massachusetts, there are gentle breezes in the garden and on the front porch at Birchwood Inn.

The leafy hiking trails in Kennedy Park across the street are very pleasant. There is plenty of shade under the ancient oaks at Tanglewood, and fortunately the air-conditioning is working mighty fine at Shakespeare & Co., Jacob’s Pillow, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Barrington Stage Co., The Colonial, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. I also love taking a cool respite at The Norman Rockwell Museum, The Clark Art Institute, and MASS MoCA.

And there’s nothing more refreshing than a swim in one of the many nearby mountain lakes.

Nothing doggy about it. Why not the Cat Days of Summer?

And that’s the way I see it. Quinn