“A Home For The Holidays” Opens At Ventfort Hall

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LENOX, Mass. - On Friday, November 27, Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum will kick off an exciting holiday season with beautiful decorations, theater performances, concerts, dance, tours, Victorian Holiday Teas, free hot mulled cider, and a Museum Shop stocked full of gift ideas for Christmas.

A host of volunteers including the Ventfort Hall Flower Ladies will provide glorious holiday decorations for the Lenox mansion, which has expanded its restoration efforts this year to include the second floor. The decorations will be reminiscent of the1890s when Ventfort Hall was the scene of grand soirees.

The library will include a special Christmas tree decorated with charming Gilded Age style ornaments handmade by participants in the “Ventfort Kids” programs. Tom Hayes of Country Dining Room Antiques and others will again decorate the grand Dining Room, creating a picture of a lavish Christmas dinner party that would have been hosted by owners George and Sarah Morgan (sister of J.P. Morgan). A Carousel Horse from Pittsfield’s Berkshire Carousel project will be on display as well as the artful Santa Clauses created by Swiss artist Kaaren Scanio. Plus, just perfect for the holidays, are the exhibits of Les Petites Dames de Mode, (The Little Ladies of Fashion) and Something Old Something New: 200 Years of Berkshire Brides.

The holiday events include:

FRI, NOV 27, 7PM - From Schubert to the Beatles A performance/lecture by Jakov Jakoulov with artist’s reception. $20

SAT, DEC 5, 10-Noon -“Ventfort Kids” Craft – Creating Gilded Age Ornaments FREE! Pre-registration required!

SUN, DEC 6, 3:30 - 5:30PM American Dance Institute’s “Merry Nutcracker Tea Party” Classical ballet highlights from “The Nutcracker” and more. Plus English Reel lessons. With Victorian Holiday Tea $7 kids, $15 adults ($12 members), children 5 and under Free

SAT, DEC 12, 10am - Noon “Ventfort Kids Craft” Build a work-of-art Centerpiece $15

SAT, DEC 12, 3PM Glitter and Gold – Operatic and Holiday Favorites With Victorian Holiday Tea $25


SAT, DEC 19, 10am-noon “Ventfort Kids Craft” Stitch and appliqué a beautiful felt stocking $15

SAT, DEC 19, 3-5PM Berkshire Music School Choir - ‘Kindred Spirit’ With Victorian Holiday Tea - $7 kids, $15 adults ($12 members), children 5 and under Free

SAT, DEC 26 “Ventfort Kids Craft” - Masterpieces in Marzipan $15

DEC 26 – 31 Paris 1890 - Unlaced! Returns for one week only! Dec 26 & 27 4pm, Dec 28 7:30pm Dec 29 4pm Dec 30 7:30pm Dec 31 4pm - New Year's Eve includes a reception with the actress with sparkling cider, cheese and crackers. Tickets - $22 (New Year’s Eve show & reception $25)

MON, DEC 28 & WED, DEC 30, 3PM Marionette Shows “The Fool and the Flying Ship” With Children’s Holiday Tea $7 kids, $15 adults ($12 members), children 5 and under Free

Free hot mulled cider is served with tour admission. Winter hours are 10am to 5pm weekdays with self-guided tours available, and 10am to 3pm weekends with guided tours at 10am, 11, noon, 1pm and 2pm, plus guided tours during Christmas Week from December 26 to 31 at 10am, 11, noon, 1pm and 2pm.

Ventfort Hall’s Museum Shop is open daily to the public without admission fees.

For further information and to make event reservations, call Ventfort Hall at (413) 637-3206. Ventfort Hall is located at 104 Walker Street in Lenox. Closed Christmas and New Year’s Days.
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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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