Ventfort Hall Waltzing into Valentine's Day

Print Story | Email Story
LENOX - Ventfort Hall and the Gilded Age Museum will celebrate Valentine's Day, the birthday of its original owner, George Hale Morgan, in 1840, with three events.

First up is "Thé Dansents," or "Tea Dances," with special guests; then a book signing and appearance by "Les Petites Dames de Mode" creator John R. Burbidge, and a birthday for Morgan. All Georges are invited to attend the Thé Dansents for free!

On Thursday, Feb. 14, and Saturday, Feb. 16, from 5 to 7, guests will waltz into the early evening, savor a Victorian tea with tea sandwiches, sweets and chocolates plus favors for the ladies, and enjoy a viewing of the popular exhibit "Les Petites Dames de Mode" ("The Little Ladies of Fashion”) with Burbidge.

The exhibit of 60, 29-inches tall fashion models are fitted with exquisitely detailed costumes dating from1855-1914, when the waltz was all the rage. The exhibit will be available for viewing at all three events.

On Friday, Feb. 15, from 1 to 3, Burbidge will be on hand to meet with fans, talk informally about his ladies and autograph copies of his book "Les Petites Dames de Mode: An Adventure in Design."


Burbidge will do double duty by joining his wife, Cile, and another experienced dance couple, Harold and Lois Brown, in co-hosting both Thé Dansents. These experienced ballroom dancers will lead and demonstrate waltzes. The Burbidges are members of waltz societies in the Boston area and have attended the legendary New Year's balls in Vienna. As senior fashion designer for Priscilla of Boston for many years,  Burbidge also designed numerous ball gowns for his wife.

The Browns are longtime volunteers at Ventfort and have been active in social ballroom dancing for more than 25 years. As founding members of the Strictly Ballroom Dance group for 10 years, they were involved in planning and sponsoring all the parties.

The dances will include waltz music of the family Strauss. Guests are encouraged to wear festive attire: long skirts and suits, which enhance the movement and appeal of the dance.

Entrance admission for the Thé Dansents events is $15 per person (10 percent discount to members.) Reservations are recommended by calling 413-637-3206. The book signing is included in the cost of admission to the museum ($12; discounts for groups, seniors, students and children.) Ventfort Hall is located at 104 Walker St. 
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

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.

View Full Story

More Lenox Stories