"Sarah Morgan's Soiree" and Weekend of the Gilded Age at Ventfort Hall
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| Photo Courtesy of Ventfort Hall |
“Sarah Morgan's Soiree,” named for the woman who, along with husband George Hale Morgan, built Ventfort Hall in 1893, will take place at 7:30pm on Friday, September 11. The evening is part of a weekend of activities in Lenox that includes the annual Tub Parade, an Ice Cream Social, vintage train rides and more.
This year’s soiree will again feature Victorian parlor games led by Linda Henry of Amherst – these games were popular in their day and a big hit at the past two “Sarah Morgan Soirees.” The night will also include a one-half hour performance of “Berkshire Songs of the Gilded Age” by Madonna Meagher and Hilda Banks Shapiro of Barrington Performing Arts.
The highlight of the evening will be the unveiling of “The Golden Lady,” the newest work of art by John R. Burbidge, creator of Les Petites Dames de Mode. The spry 87-year old artist has designed and hand-made each of the 61, 29-inch-tall “Ladies” on view at Ventfort Hall. The project has taken over 30 years to create – each Lady taking about 6 months. This new Lady was made expressly for Ventfort Hall with a gorgeous yellow-golden silk satin fabric once owned by Mrs. Morgan herself and donated to Ventfort Hall by her great-granddaughter Margaret Morgan of Princeton, NJ who will be a special guest at the Soiree.
Jeffrey Folmer, Executive Director says, “Our visitors tell us daily that this exhibit is worthy of any major museum in the world! To have this new work of art made just for us, with its very special connection to Ventfort Hall is simply beyond our dreams.”
Burbidge, retired Senior Designer at Priscilla of Boston, worked for the firm for 40 years and designed two President’s daughters wedding dresses (Johnson and Nixon). A veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, he was influenced early on by a collection of “petites dames” at the Louvre, and began creating his Ladies in the 1970s. Immersing himself in the history of fashion from 1855 to 1914, he designed each dress as an “original” approaching it as if he were alive in that period.
“The Golden Lady” wears an evening gown fashionable for 1893, not coincidentally the year Ventfort Hall was built. Mr. Burbidge will be on hand to describe the gown and his creative process, and will be accompanied by his wife Cile Bellefleure-Burbidge (herself a renowned designer of wedding cakes that sell for up to $20,000 – two of which are displayed at Ventfort Hall). As a special surprise, Mr. Burbidge also designed and made a new gown for Mrs. Burbidge to wear just for this occasion – again in a style fashionable in 1893. A light buffet of Gilded Age sweets and savories along with wine and port will be offered.
Ventfort Hall will also participate in the “Weekend of the Gilded Age” on Saturday, following the Lenox Tub Parade. Immediately after the parade at about 2:00pm Ventfort Hall will hold an Ice Cream Social on the Verandah and Great Lawn. Tub Parade spectators wearing Victorian-style costumes and/or hats will be judged in several categories to win prizes.
Admission for “Sarah Morgan's Soiree” is $35 per person and the Ice Cream Social is $5 per person. Ventfort Hall will also be open as usual for “Picnics on the Porch” and for tours with admission. For further information call Ventfort Hall at 413-637-3206. The historic mansion is located at 104 Walker Street in Lenox.
An Official Project of Save America’s Treasures, Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum offers tours of the historic mansion, as well as lectures, concerts, teas, theater and other programs. This elegant Elizabethan-Revival Berkshire “cottage,” listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is open to the public year-around and is available for private rental. Built in 1893 for George and Sarah Morgan (sister of the financier, J. P. Morgan), Ventfort Hall has undergone substantial restoration, which continues.
