The French Blue at The Mount

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LENOX, Mass. - On Thursday, November 19th, The Mount is pleased to present a reading and book-signing in The Mount’s drawing room featuring Richard Wise’s new novel, The French Blue. A reception will follow the event.

The adventures, loves, life, and times of the 17th century adventurer, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, are chronicled by Richard W. Wise in his first novel, The French Blue. Now, almost 400 years since Tavernier’s birth, his legacy includes not only his writings but also his lasting reputation as the man who found and sold the world’s most famous gem, The French Blue, known today around the world as The Hope Diamond.

Richard Wise’s sweeping historical epic is based on true events recounted by Tavernier himself in his 17th century best seller, The Six Voyages. In this captivating journey, Wise sweeps the reader along time and space as Tavernier wheels and deals, buying and selling rare gemstones and jewels. Voyage by voyage--through pirate attacks, wars, desert treks and storms at sea--Wise vividly brings Tavernier to life as he embarks on a pearling expedition or ferrets out the diamonds of Kollūr and the rubies of Burma’s Valley of the Serpents. 

Richard W. Wise is a self-taught goldsmith and a Graduate Gemologist, as well as an international gem dealer. He is a former Gemology Columnist for National Jeweler and contributing editor for Gemkey and Gem Market News. His articles on gemstones have appeared in Gems & Gemology, Colored Stone, Lapidary Journal, Jeweler’s Quarterly, JQ, Jewelry News Asia, Modern Silver and many other publications. Since its publication in 2003, his first book, Secrets Of The Gem Trade: The Connoisseur’s Guide to Precious Gemstones, has become a critically acclaimed success, with over 30,000 copies sold. To learn more about his newest book, visit www.thefrenchblue.com. 

The reading will take place on Thursday, November 19th at 6 pm in The Mount’s drawing room and will be followed by a reception. The Mount is located at 2 Plunkett Street in Lenox, just east of the intersection of Plunkett and Route 7.

Admission is free, however, as space is limited, reservations are strongly encouraged. To reserve tickets, or for more information, please call The Mount at 413-551-5111 or visit www.edithwharton.org.
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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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