LENOX, Mass. — Architectural historian Abigail Van Slyck will talk about her latest book, "Playhouses and Privilege: The Architecture of Elite Childhood," in which she examines children's cottages and playhouses built by upper-class families on both sides of the Atlantic.

 

A tea will be served after her presentation.

 

According to a press release: 

 

The adult grandchildren of Commodore Vanderbilt have an important role in the story, as they were among the first Americans to embrace a practice that had been pioneered by Queen Victoria, building small, yet habitable structures for the use of their children in Newport, on Long Island, and right here in the Berkshires.  Disarmingly quaint, these charming buildings were nonetheless deeply enmeshed in adult concerns, supporting parental ambitions for their offspring and for themselves.

 

Abby Van Slyck is an architectural historian and the author of three books: "Playhouses and Privilege: The Architecture of Elite Childhood" (University of Minnesota Press, 2025); "A Manufactured Wilderness: Summer Camps and the Shaping of American Youth, 1890-1960" (University of Minnesota Press, 2006)—winner of both the Abbott Lowell Cummings Prize and the "Alice Davis Hitchcock Award;" and "Free to All: Carnegie Libraries and American Culture, 1890-1920" (University of Chicago Press, 1995). 

 

 Tickets are $45. Members receive a discount code for $5 off all ticket prices. Students 22 and under are $22. Ticket pricing includes access to the mansion throughout the day of this event from 10 am to 4 pm. Reservations are strongly encouraged as seats are limited. Walk-ins accommodated as space allows. For reservations visit https://gildedage.org/pages/calendar or call (413) 637-3206. Note that all tickets are nonrefundable and non-exchangeable. The historical mansion is located at 104 Walker St. in Lenox.