"Sarah Morgan's Soiree" and Weekend of the Gilded Age at Ventfort Hall

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Photo Courtesy of Ventfort Hall
LENOX, Mass. - Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum will kick off this year’s “Weekend of the Gilded Age” with a Victorian evening of songs, parlor games, refreshments, special guests and the highlight – the unveiling of a new work of art by John R. Burbidge.

“Sarah Morgan's Soiree,” named for the woman who, along with husband George Hale Morgan, built Ventfort Hall in 1893, will take place at 7:30pm on Friday, September 11. The evening is part of a weekend of activities in Lenox that includes the annual Tub Parade, an Ice Cream Social, vintage train rides and more. 

This year’s soiree will again feature Victorian parlor games led by Linda Henry of Amherst – these games were popular in their day and a big hit at the past two “Sarah Morgan Soirees.” The night will also include a one-half hour performance of “Berkshire Songs of the Gilded Age” by Madonna Meagher and Hilda Banks Shapiro of Barrington Performing Arts.

The highlight of the evening will be the unveiling of “The Golden Lady,” the newest work of art by John R. Burbidge, creator of Les Petites Dames de Mode. The spry 87-year old artist has designed and hand-made each of the 61, 29-inch-tall “Ladies” on view at Ventfort Hall. The project has taken over 30 years to create – each Lady taking about 6 months. This new Lady was made expressly for Ventfort Hall with a gorgeous yellow-golden silk satin fabric once owned by Mrs. Morgan herself and donated to Ventfort Hall by her great-granddaughter Margaret Morgan of Princeton, NJ who will be a special guest at the Soiree.

Jeffrey Folmer, Executive Director says, “Our visitors tell us daily that this exhibit is worthy of any major museum in the world! To have this new work of art made just for us, with its very special connection to Ventfort Hall is simply beyond our dreams.”

Burbidge, retired Senior Designer at Priscilla of Boston, worked for the firm for 40 years and designed two President’s daughters wedding dresses (Johnson and Nixon). A veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, he was influenced early on by a collection of “petites dames” at the Louvre, and began creating his Ladies in the 1970s. Immersing himself in the history of fashion from 1855 to 1914, he designed each dress as an “original” approaching it as if he were alive in that period.

“The Golden Lady” wears an evening gown fashionable for 1893, not coincidentally the year Ventfort Hall was built. Mr. Burbidge will be on hand to describe the gown and his creative process, and will be accompanied by his wife Cile Bellefleure-Burbidge (herself a renowned designer of wedding cakes that sell for up to $20,000 – two of which are displayed at Ventfort Hall). As a special surprise, Mr. Burbidge also designed and made a new gown for Mrs. Burbidge to wear just for this occasion – again in a style fashionable in 1893. A light buffet of Gilded Age sweets and savories along with wine and port will be offered.

Ventfort Hall will also participate in the “Weekend of the Gilded Age” on Saturday, following the Lenox Tub Parade. Immediately after the parade at about 2:00pm Ventfort Hall will hold an Ice Cream Social on the Verandah and Great Lawn. Tub Parade spectators wearing Victorian-style costumes and/or hats will be judged in several categories to win prizes.

Admission for “Sarah Morgan's Soiree” is $35 per person and the Ice Cream Social is $5 per person. Ventfort Hall will also be open as usual for “Picnics on the Porch” and for tours with admission. For further information call Ventfort Hall at 413-637-3206. The historic mansion is located at 104 Walker Street in Lenox.

An Official Project of Save America’s Treasures, Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum offers tours of the historic mansion, as well as lectures, concerts, teas, theater and other programs. This elegant Elizabethan-Revival Berkshire “cottage,” listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is open to the public year-around and is available for private rental. Built in 1893 for George and Sarah Morgan (sister of the financier, J. P. Morgan), Ventfort Hall has undergone substantial restoration, which continues.
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A Boutique Hotel is Bringing Guests a Luxury Stay in Lenox

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

LENOX, Mass. — A new Inn is bringing a boutique-style stay for visitors and locals to enjoy.

Owners, Sullivan Capital LLC, purchased the property, located on 135 Main Street, in 2024. After a year or renovations, Garden Gables Inn is open for business. 

"Garden Gables started off as one of the many Berkshire cottages, 1790 was the date on that, and it's always operated as an inn," said Hospitality Manager Yvonne Walton. "It's just a great gathering place and relaxation spot for people to come and get the feel of Lenox, and just slow down and enjoy the nature and the surrounding area...get culture and art and see some great concerts. I think it'll be a wonderful place, definitely does more of the upper-scale hospitality." 

Owners Niko Giallouis and Eric Sullivan bought the property from the former owner. Sullivan had his eye on Lenox since attending a wedding almost 10 years ago.

"I came to a wedding in Lenox, probably six or seven years ago. Personally, just kind of fell in love with the area, and I guess that's kind of how it got on my radar. So you know from that perspective, as we got into the hotel business out towards an area, it was a place I was kind of monitoring and waiting for the right property to show up."

After purchasing the two underwent a full renovation, a project that cost around $1.5 million. The building, first built in 1780, required some TLC. Sullivan's wife, Jessica, who owns Jessica Sullivan Design, designed the inn.

Sullivan said they installed a new roof, repainted everything, renovated the bathrooms, installed new floors, a new HVAC system, and new plumbing.

"We really touched everything from the outside...I mean, all the aesthetics and layouts changed a bit," he said. "As I said, put about a million and a half into it. All new furniture, fixtures, everything. The design's completely different. It wasn't a full gut, but it was a heavy, heavy renovation."

The two like to collaborate with local businesses, and they make a point to direct visitors to local restaurants, businesses, and attractions.

"If guests are asking for recommendations, our customer service team, our guest services team, will relay that kind of information. Even if we can call and make a reservation for somebody, happy to do it," he said. "We aren't doing breakfast, but what we do is we have partnerships with a lot of the breakfast places downtown. We actually purchase a gift certificates for each person each day, so that they can use that to go downtown."

Sullivan hopes that guests don't see their inn as just a place to sleep and dump their bags, but make it an experience for anyone who stays.

"We really focus on kind of the experience side of things, so again, we want to give you the best experience you can have here...and we want that not just to be the place you put your bag and go do things. It's important to think of everything," he said.

Sullivan said partnerships are important to their business and are a way to connect with locals.

"The local partnerships, I can't stress that enough, because no matter how much and how great the room is, people are still going to want to go do other things," he said. "So, I think it just benefits everybody if we're all working together and so forth, and supporting the community, being neighborly too, because we are surrounded by residential homes...But we really try to put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, a lot of love into the building, all the details, really care about the senses," Sullivan said.

The Inn's check-in and reservations are completely online. When guests arrive, all they have to do is check in online and receive their code that they will use to enter their room. Sullivan hopes this helps create less stress for guests and gets them to their room as fast as possible, especially after a long trip.

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