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The first time you see a Berkshire Cottage you may wonder, “What is that?” Because the “cottage” may now be a luxury hotel, a house museum, or even a restaurant. Or it may still be what long ago it was built to be—a private home. The Berkshire Cottages are mansions from the gilded age. Many are still available to visit - as hotels, spas or non-profit organizatons.
Sometimes there are tangents of local history that lead to major events. Take the case of Ulysses S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln and a bitter rift between their wives that could have affected what happened at Ford’s Theater in Washington at the end of the Civil War. Grant’s link to Bucks is hands-on. About the time of the war, the U.S. Army general visited his card-playing buddy and wealthy Philadelphia merchant Adolph Borie at his “The Dell” mansion overlooking the Delaware River in Andalusia. There, Ulysses demonstrated his carpentry prowess by building a log cabin doll house fo...
John W. Sloane was no stranger to the Berkshires or Lenox when he and his wife, Adela Berry Sloane, built their Tudor-style cottage in 1894. His brother, William Sloane, and his wife, Emily Vanderbilt Sloane, built the nearby estate, Elm Court, in 1886. The brothers, who owned W & J Sloane, were Scottish immigrants who made their fortune importing oriental rugs and selling home furnishing. The brothers established the first home furnishing store in the country and soon became a favorite of the New York elite. When Sloane bought the property in 1894, another mansion by the name of Wyndhurst al...