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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McCann Names Valedictorian, Salutatorian for Class of 2026
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The top students for McCann Technical School's class of 2026 have been announced by Principal Justin Kratz.
Valedictorian Landon Plankey LeClair and salutatorian Ryleigh Holland will speak at graduation, held on Wednesday, May 27, in the Amsler Campus Center at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
LeClair, son of Eric and Susan LeClair of the town of Florida, was enrolled in the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Program. He achieved the highest academic standing in the graduating class, earning an impressive cumulative grade-point average of 4.44. During his time at McCann, he demonstrated dedication to academics through a course of study that included AP Calculus, AP English, and AP Physics.
LeClair is a member of the National Honor Society, and SkillsUSA, recently placing first in the CNC 2-Axis Turning Programmer competitionat at the district level, qualifying him to advance to the state level.
He is a recipient of the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship and completed a co-op placement at Sinicon Plastics in Pittsfield, where he gained hands-on experience in his field.
In the fall, LeClair plans to attend Western New England University in Springfield, where he will major in engineering.
Holland, daughter of Michael and Kelly Holland of Stamford, Vt., was enrolled in the Computer Assisted Design
Program and achieved the second highest academic standing in her graduating class, earning an impressive cumulative GPA of 4.42.
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