Ventfort Hall, reminder of the Gilded Age, offers virtual historic house tour
A remnant of the Gilded Age, this Berkshire Cottage was called “one of the most beautiful places in Lenox” when Boston architects Rotch & Tilden completed the house in 1893. Built by Sarah Morgan, sister of J. Pierpont Morgan, and her husband, George Morgan, the mansion has had several lives, including that of a summer home of Margaret Vanderbilt; a dormitory for the Tanglewood Music Festival, a summer hotel and a ballet camp. In 1997, The Ventfort Hall Association, a local preservation group, purchased the estate, saving it from demolition.
Under the care of the association, a significant portion of the mansion has been restored to its former glory. In addition to hosting a museum of the Gilded Age, Ventfort Hall has served as a filming location for “The Cider House Rules” and for “The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Big Foot.”
A virtual tour of the museum is available on Ventfort Hall’s website. House tours and events were canceled through the beginning of July. For more information about plans for this summer, visit the mansion’s website.
UPDATE: As of July 16, Ventfort Hall is open for self-guided tours by prepaid registration, Thursday through Tuesday at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. Please check the website for more information.
Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum
Lenox
gildedage.org
