Friday Front Porch Feature: A Historic Georgian Colonial

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Are you looking for a historic home perfect to live and host in? Then this is the home for you.

Our Friday Front Porch is a weekly feature spotlighting attractive homes for sale in Berkshire County. This week, we are showcasing 65 Crofut St.

This 1930 home has five bedrooms and five bathrooms. It is 4,948 square feet with more than two acres.

The brick home includes a heated in-ground pool, a two-car basement garage, and comes fully furnished.

The home was designed by Henry Seaver, who designed many local buildings including the Berkshire Museum, Lenox Town Hall, and Pittsfield High School. Many of the original and replica 18th-century details including the woodwork, mantels, and wainscoting have been preserved. 

The house is on the market for $1,350,000.

We spoke to Conor Meehan from Stonehouse Properties LLC, which is listing the property. 

What do you think makes this property stand out in the current market?

What sets this home apart is the rare combination of architectural pedigree, preserved history, and true turnkey living. Designed by notable architect Henry Seaver in 1930, it carries the scale, craftsmanship, and proportions you'd expect from that era, but it's been thoughtfully updated for modern life and is offered fully furnished. Its proximity to downtown Pittsfield, Tanglewood and Lenox adds a lifestyle component that's increasingly hard to find.

Do you know any unique stories about this home or its history?

The home was originally built for sisters Elizabeth Campbell and Grace Campbell Van Norden, and for decades it served as a gathering place for Pittsfield's social and civic life, hosting events and community meetings. One of the most fascinating details is that the house incorporates architectural elements from two of Pittsfield's earliest homes — 18th-century mantels, doors, and millwork that were carefully preserved and integrated into the design. It gives the home a layered sense of history that you can actually feel as you move through it.

What kind of buyer do you see this home being perfect for?

This is a great fit for someone who appreciates historic architecture but doesn't want to take on a project. It also works beautifully for a buyer looking for a Berkshire retreat with space to host — whether that's extended family, guests, or even a rental component. With its layout and multiple bedroom suites, it lends itself well to multi-generational living or a luxury second home with income potential.

What would you say to a buyer trying to imagine their life in this space?

It's easy to picture long summer evenings with friends spilling from the kitchen out to the patio and pool, or quieter mornings in the sunroom with coffee and a book. The house has a natural flow for both entertaining and everyday living, and its proximity to culture, dining, and the outdoors means there's always something to step out and enjoy — or you can simply stay in and feel completely at home.

Are there any recent renovations or standout design features?

What stands out most is how beautifully the home balances preservation and modern comfort — original millwork, fireplaces, and proportions alongside thoughtful updates, including a new high-efficiency heating system. The kitchen, butler's pantry, and multiple living spaces make it highly functional, and the curated furnishings allow for immediate enjoyment.

What was your first impression when you walked into this home?

The sense of scale and warmth right away. There's a graciousness to the rooms — the ceiling heights, the moldings, the way light moves through the space — that immediately gives you the feeling that this is a home that has been both well-designed and well cared for over time.

How would you describe the feel or atmosphere of this home?

It has a quiet elegance to it — refined but very livable. There's a strong connection to its history, but it doesn't feel formal or untouchable. Instead, it feels welcoming, layered, and comfortable in a way that invites people to gather, which is exactly what it's been doing for nearly a century.

You can find out more about this house on its listing here

*Front Porch Feature brings you an exclusive to some of the houses listed on our real estate page every week. Here we take a bit of a deeper dive into a certain house for sale and ask questions so you don't have to.

 




Tags: front porch,   Real Estate,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

The Round Stone Barn is 200 as Hancock Shaker Village Celebrates

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires.com

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Hancock Shaker Village shared a bicentennial birthday, inviting the community to take part in the festivities.

On Sunday, Hancock Shaker Village celebrated the 200th birthday of their signature Round Stone Barn, the only circular barn ever built by the Shakers.

"The Round Stone Barn turned 200 this year," Hancock Shaker Village CEO Carrie Holland said. "It was erected in 1826, so we thought we would celebrate with the whole community. We'd do some cupcakes, and then we're lucky to work with Yo-Yo Ma's team to curate some special performances in the Round Stone Barn."

The community was invited to come to the village for free and take part in a wide range of activities including tours, live music from Ida Mae Specker Trio and Tanglewood, demonstrations, and more. 

The Round Stone Barn is widely recognized as an architectural icon and agricultural wonder. 

The Shakers operated a working dairy farm at Hancock until the 1950s, and the barn was originally a stable for its 52 milk cows, according to the museum's website. 

It has ground-level access on all three levels so, wagons could enter on the upper level to deposit hay into the central haymow on the main floor below, then the empty wagons would be driven around the circular barn floor and exit the same door it came in, eliminating the potentially dangerous activity of backing wagons out of a barn, the website said. 

The cows stabled on the main floor faced inward toward the haymow for ease of feeding and manure was shoveled through trapdoors to the cellar, where it was stored until needed as fertilizer in the gardens.

"Every time anyone comes into the timber frame, it's the very first thing that they see, and they always say, 'It's just like a photograph,' and it is," Director of Collections Kathleen Lynch said. "It's beautiful. People want to get married in front of it. We did our Christmas the festival of trees in here, and the mechanisms of it are so phenomenal."

Hundreds enjoyed music in the round barn and celebrated with free cupcakes and food trucks while listening on the history the village portrays.

"I think this is one of our most iconic buildings, and a lot of people have their own memories tied to it," Holland said. "We do baby animals here, and so there's personal history. ... But it's also a fantastic opportunity to share a bit about the Shakers, their design techniques and practices, their  sort of obsession with making operations efficient, because this is used as a dairy barn, and so they created these three layers to make their operations more efficient."

"So you can talk about their innovation. Of course, they're the longstanding legacy of agriculture here. So it provides us an opportunity to kind of share the Shaker history in this beautiful space, tied to folks who have their own personal memories here as well, and it's such an impressive, beautiful spot. I have such appreciation for what it took to build this 200 years ago, and whenever we can do fun things and throw good parties here, it's a great day.""

Holland helps build momentum for the unveiling of Hancock Shaker Village's new visitor center that is planned to take place next month.

The new facility will include updated galleries, community event spaces, collection storage, and research areas for the museum's collection of over 22,000 Shaker artifacts and ephemera. The renovated building aims to enhance the visitor experience through improved orientation, expanded program offerings, closer access to collection items, and views of the surrounding landscape. 

"Part of what we're also celebrating is past, present, future, and the future," Holland said. "We're very excited for expanded programming. We're opening our new visitor center, our Center for Shaker Studies, so that creates a whole new opportunity for our visitor experience, our galleries, our stewardship, and then that relates also to the programming that we can do in the historic village."

View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories