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Cassilis Farm in New Marlborough, being renovated by Construct into affordable housing, will be the site of a designer showcase fundraiser in June.

Construct to Host Designer Showcase

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NEW MARLBOROUGH, Mass. — Construct Inc., a nonprofit provider of affordable housing and supportive services to residents in 15 towns across the Southern Berkshires, will hold its first Designer Showcase event/exhibition.
 
Slated for the entire month of June 2024, the Designer Showcase will highlight the work of more than a dozen local and regional designers, as well as landscape architects and visual artists. Each exhibitor has been assigned a space at Cassilis Farm, a 27-acre, Gilded Age estate that Construct, along with the New Marlborough Housing Development Committee, purchased at auction with the intention of renovating and converting it into 11 much-needed affordable housing apartments.
 
"We have the opportunity to take advantage of Construct having acquired this magnificent estate," said board Secretary Hinda Bodinger, who is also co-chair for the Designer Showcase Committee. "Utilizing such a beautiful space allows us to highlight the talent of the designers, and to share our mission in a unique way with the greater community."
 
"As we've reached out to interior designers, landscape designers and others with our appeal to help us with the Showcase, the overwhelming response has been 'YES!,'" said co-Chair and board member Laura Jordahl. "Because they, like many businesses, have been directly affected by the shortage of affordable housing. All of us know that working to make Cassilis into a place that 11 families will call home will help to strengthen our community ties."
 
The Designer Showcase, themed "Nature in the Berkshires," will be a timed, ticketed walkthrough and will be open to visitors through five weekends in June. Additional events surrounding the fundraiser include a New Marlborough community day as well as a special opening night tour and reception at Cassilis Farm.
 
Berkshire Magazine is the official media sponsor of the Construct Designer Showcase.
 
Information about the Designer Showcase will be updated here, as well as via Construct's social media handles. Tickets may be purchased online

Tags: affordable housing,   showcase,   

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Clothing Brand Eileen Fisher Opens in Great Barrington

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

The Great Barrington store is the second in the country to offer a 'Renew' section with refurbished Eileen Fisher clothing. 
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — With the snip of ribbon, Main Street's newest clothing store opened on Thursday.
 
Eileen Fisher established her eponymous brand 40 years ago with an eye on easy, timeless, and sustainable clothing for women. The brand now has more than 50 storefronts and is carried in more than 300 department stores. 
 
The Great Barrington store is the sixth opened in Massachusetts. 
 
"Speaking for all of us at Eileen Fisher, we are really excited to be a part of this community," marketing strategist Jaimie Lafrano said at the ribbon cutting.
 
Lafrano said Eileen Fisher doesn't want to just be a clothing store but a place for the community and to learn from the community.
 
"It's really meant to be also a place where we want to build community, hold workshops here and do things not just selling. We want to be part of this community and learn from each other, so we're calling it 'Lab.' It's only the second one in the whole country," she said.
 
The store features a "Renew" section, where garments that have been returned for store credit and are ready to be sold again, part of the company's zero-waste initiative.
 
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