The Oblong Road estate that once belonged to novelist Sinclair Lewis and is renowned for its spectacular views has been sold by the Carmelite Fathers, a Roman Catholic order, to its next door neighbor for $2.1 million.
According to transactions recorded April 17 in the Northern Berkshire Registry of Deeds in Adams, the Carmelite Fathers sold the property at 239 Oblong Road to Linda H. White of 237 Oblong Road for $2.1 million.
Subsequently, that transaction was followed by three others.
The middle, 50-acre lot containing the 10-bedroom house and buildings, was sold to the KRSE Nominee Trust for $900,000.
Another parcel, of forest and uplands, was sold to the Macomber Mountain Nominee Trust for $10.
And White transferred, for no consideration, 101 acres to herself and her husband, Dr. Eric White.
Linda White, contacted by telephone, said “Our aim has always been to maintain the integrity of the property, and we think we’ve accomplished that.â€
Neither attorney Adam Filson, trustee of the KRSE Nominee Trust, nor attorney F. Sidney Smithers, trustee of the Macomber trust, would disclose the identities of the principals of the trust.
Filson said the house will be a private residence, not multi-family. There are no plans to demolish the buildings, which include a 22,000-square-foot concrete block addition that houses a chapel, dining hall and 30 dormitory rooms.
The Carmelite Fathers most recently operated the property as a retreat center.
But when it went on the market last year, a Carmelite spokesman in Middletown, N.Y., said the order planned to concentrate on its missions in Southeast Asia and the Caribbean.
The 1916 house, then called Thorvale, was home to Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Sinclair Lewis for five years, until 1951. The Carmelite Fathers bought it the following year for $60,000.
White is director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival’s Greylock Theater Project in North Adams. Eric White is an orthopedic surgeon at North Adams Regional Hospital.
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Companion Corner: Mimi and Herman at Second Chance
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
ARLINGTON, Vt. — There is a sweet bonded pair of felines looking for a new home together.
iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home.
Mimi and Herman have been at the shelter since May and are 9 years old.
Feline program administrator Santana Snyder introduced us to them, noting this is their second time at Second Chance.
"They are a bonded pair of nine year old kitties that came to the shelter because their previous owner had to go to a nursing home," she said. "They were adopted from the shelter as kittens, and things just changed. They've been together, like I said, their whole life, brother and sister, so they do need to go together."
The two have a bit of differing personalities as Mimi is more outgoing than Herman, who is quite shy and will hide at first.
"Herman's definitely gonna take time to warm up. He is a little bit of a scaredy cat. He hides a lot. It took a little while for him to come out and sit on the cat tree and be out in the open here. Mimi took pretty quickly to being out and about and interacting with everybody, so they just need somebody that's going to have some patience with them and kind of let them come out of their shell at their own pace," she said.
Mimi likes to play and be around you. Herman has mainly hid since being at the shelter.
Herman does have one eye but it does not bother him.
"Mimi will get playful every now and then I don't think I've ever seen Herman play. Herman is missing an eye. He was, I guess, found like that as a kitten before he even came to the shelter originally," said Snyder. "Doesn't seem to bother him any. It's completely closed, but he sees perfectly fine out the other one."
But the two are healthy besides being on a diet, as Herman is pushing 20 pounds.
The two would do well in a quiet home without kids. They have not been with other animals previously.
"A quiet home, for sure. We would probably say no kids. They've never been around cats or dogs before, but potentially mellow, feline-friendly cats would be OK. They spend most of their time as senior kitties just lounging, napping, getting attention from the visitors at the shelter," she said. "I definitely think maybe an older couple would be really good for them. Someone who's home a lot, they're kind of used to that in their previous home."
But the two are ready for their new home where they can give and receive love from a new family.
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