“The Race To The North Pole: Jesup, Crane And The Money”

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LENOX, Mass. - In 1909, both Robert Peary and rival Frederick Cook claimed to have been the first man to reach the North Pole. Did either one actually make it? That Peary won first place in the history books is due in no small part to the backing of certain influential businessmen.

Berkshire historian Richard S. Jackson, Jr., will reveal this lesser known back-story at Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum when he gives a visual presentation titled “The Race to the North Pole: Jesup, Crane and the Money” at 4:00pm on Saturday, June 6. Historian Cornelia Brooke Gilder, who has assisted Jackson with research and photographic material, will introduce the lecturer. Both will be on hand to answer questions and will also be available for a “meet and greet” during a Victorian Tea that will follow the presentation.

Prominent businessman and philanthropist Morris K. Jesup of New York and Lenox was the initial chief backer for Peary and his expedition. For over a decade Peary was a regular visitor at Belvoir Terrace on Cliffwood Street, the Lenox estate of Jesup and his wife Maria. In New York, Jesup was president of the Peary Arctic Club. When he died several months before the final expedition, the vice-president of the club, Zenas Crane of Dalton, stepped in with crucial funding. The combined financial support of these leaders literally made history, according to Jackson. He will show that not only did it create a series of events in the Arctic one hundred years ago; it also influenced how they were recorded for posterity.

Jackson’s inspiration for his lecture has been the special exhibition at the Berkshire Museum, “The Race to the Arctic.” He has long held an interest in the Arctic. For his own northern voyages, he cruised “Iceberg Alley” along the Labrador coast and in 1968 filmed Inuit life at Resolute Bay, one of the northernmost settlements in the world, not far south of the Magnetic North Pole.

Jackson and Gilder co-authored Houses of the Berkshires, 1870-1930, Acanthus Press. At one time Jackson was chief of staff of the office of the House Minority Leader in the Massachusetts legislature in Boston. He then returned to the Berkshires as president of WBEC, Inc., where he regularly wrote and broadcast radio editorials. He is past chairman of the Lenox Historical Commission and the Tanglewood Council, member of the Naumkeag Committee and trustee of Hancock Shaker Village. In recent years, he has been a real estate agent for Wheeler & Taylor Realty.

Admission is $15 for nonmembers and $12 for members. For reservations and inquiries call Ventfort Hall at 413-637-3206 or visit www.GildedAge.org. The historic mansion is located at 104 Walker Street in Lenox.
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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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