Experience Gilded-Age style and splendor at this marvelous estate, renowned for its elegant gardens and rare Berkshire “Cottage.”

What makes Naumkeag a special place?
With its gracious house, magnificent gardens, and panoramic views, Naumkeag is a quintessential country estate of the Gilded Age.

This architectural masterpiece is, at its heart, a family home. Joseph Choate, a leading 19th-century attorney, hired the architectural firm of McKim, Mead, & White to design the 44-room “cottage,” Naumkeag, which would serve as a summer retreat for three generations of Choates.

With its views of Monument Mountain, its stunning collection of gardens created by Joseph Choates's daughter, Miss Mabel Choate, and Fletcher Steele over 30 years, its original artwork, and its shingle-style house, Naumkeag creates an unforgettable experience for visitors. Don't miss the self-guided audio tour of the Naumkeag gardens, including the Blue Steps, a series of deep blue fountain pools, flanked by four flights of stairs and a grove of white birches. Walk through the equally beautiful Afternoon Garden, Tree Peony Terrace, Rose Garden, Evergreen Garden, and Chinese Garden to encounter the playful, inventive spirit of Miss Choate and Mr. Steele.

Bequeathed in its entirety in 1958 – from furniture to garden tools to its intact dairy barn – Naumkeag, a National Historic Landmark, provides a special link to Berkshires history. More than that, it is a place where you, like the Choates, can find beauty and rejuvenation in a lovely place.

When to Visit
Open May 22, 2010 to Columbus Day, daily, 10AM to 5PM Allow a minimum of 1 hour for the garden, 2 hours if also taking house tour.

Facilities

• Public restrooms available.
• The Naumkeag gift shop sells books on the historic firm of McKim, Mead & White, Naumkeag' s famous architects, and Fletcher Steele, the landscape architect who worked with Mabel Choate to design and plant Naumkeag's gardens. In addition, visitors can buy post cards and blue and white porcelain.
• Trustees members receive a 10% discount on all merchandise in the gift shop.
• Weddings, receptions, small business events may be arranged on a limited basis. For more information, e-mail westregion@ttor.org or call 413.298.3239.

Regulations & Advisories

• Access to the house is via guided tour only. You may take a self-guided audio tour of the gardens.
  
   
• Photography is not permitted inside the house.
  
  
• Dogs are not allowed in the gardens.
  
  
• Mountain biking is not allowed on the reservation.

Directions

5 Prospect Hill Road
Stockbridge, MA 01262
Telephone: 413.298.3239
E-mail: westregion@ttor.org

Latitude: 42.290
Longitude: -73.316

Get directions on Google Maps.

From Points East: Mass Turnpike (I-90),
Exit 2. Take Rt. 102 West approx. 5 mi. into
Stockbridge. Turn right onto Pine St. and
bear left onto Prospect Hill Rd. Follow for
0.5 mi. to entrance and parking (20 cars)
on left.

From Points West: I-90 East to Exit B3,
NY Rt. 22 South. Take 1st left onto Rt. 102
East. Follow approx. 7.5 mi. to Stockbridge.
Turn left onto Pine St., then bear left onto
Prospect Hill Rd. Follow directions above.

Admission

When to Visit
Open May 22, 2010 to Columbus Day, daily, 10AM to 5PM Allow a minimum of 1 hour for the garden, 2 hours if also taking house tour.

Fees
Trustees Members: FREE. Nonmembers: house and gardens - Adult $15; Child (up to 12) Free. Pre-booked groups of 15 or more receive a discount; call 413.298.3239 for details. Admission includes a garden audio tour.

Property History

Since the 1870s, Joseph and Caroline Choate had summered in Stockbridge with their young family. Like so many others, both then and now, they fell in love with the Berkshires and decided to build a summer retreat of their own. In 1884, Choate sought the advice of his friend, Charles McKim, of the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White. The result was Naumkeag – a gracious 44-room “cottage” with breathtaking views over the Housatonic River Valley.

Naumkeag was a creation of the Gilded Age, a time of transformation after the Civil War, a time when Andrew Carnegie and Cornelius Vanderbilt built their fortunes. The newly rich cemented their social position by constructing elaborate European-style country estates. The Choates were part of this social mix, but Naumkeag was a bit different – instead of a showplace open six weeks a season, it became a beloved family home used from April to November.

Naumkeag was the Native American name for Salem, Massachusetts, where Joseph Choate was born. Choate graduated from Harvard Law School and moved to New York City where he quickly rose to prominence. During his illustrious legal career, Choate was the premier courtroom lawyer, arguing cases in front of the Supreme Court. In 1899,Choate was appointed by President McKinley to be the Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Caroline Choate was a trained artist interested in women’s education, co-founding Barnard College.

Their daughter, Mabel Choate, inherited Naumkeag in 1929, and for the next 30 years worked with landscape architect Fletcher Steele to create the magnificent gardens for which Naumkeag is now known, including the world-famous Blue Steps. Today, Naumkeag provides a glimpse – through the eyes of one family – into a brief and now-vanished period of American history.

Mabel Choate bequeathed Naumkeag in its entirety, including all of the household furnishings and fine art, to The Trustees of Reservations. Since the property’s opening in 1959, it has become a popular destination for area residents and visitors to the southern Berkshires. Approximately 11,000 people tour the house and experience the beauty and tranquility of the gardens each year.

Property Acquisition History
Original acreage a bequest, with endowment, of Miss Mabel Choate in 1959. Additional land given by J. Graham and Margaret Parsons in 1985.

Programs

Guided house tours offered Memorial Day Weekend - Columbus Day Weekend, 10AM - 5PM. Last tour departs at 4PM. Members: FREE. Nonmembers: Adult $12, Child (6–12) $3. Pre-booked group house tours for 15 or more receive a discount; call 413.298.3239.

You can also take a self-guided audio tour of the Naumkeag gardens.

Consult the events calendar for details.

Special Exhibit: 200 Years of Berkshire Brides at Naumkeag, Ventfort, and Arrowhead
This year, the Trustees of Reservations are partnering with the Berkshire Historical Society and Ventfort Hall to display “Something Old, Something New: 200 years of Berkshire Brides.”  Visitors to Naumkeag, Arrowhead, and Ventfort Hall will enjoy displays of historic wedding gowns and related accessories that are as much as two centuries old! 

Naumkeag was the Stockbridge estate of Joseph Hodges Choate, U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1899 to 1905. An 1895 wedding breakfast is the inspiration for the Naumkeag exhibit in its dining room. As Miss Mabel Choate, Joseph Choate's daughter, recalled the marriage of her cousin Carl, “We were all elated by the engagement between Carl de Gersdorff and Suzette Crowninshield. They were wonderfully suited to each other and Suzette was not only an outstanding personality, but very charming and we were all thrilled at the thought of having her in the family. Later in September the wedding took place. They were married in St. Paul’s Church, and afterwards the wedding breakfast at Naumkeag. It was a delightful and simple affair…” Thomas Hayes of Real Gustavian Antique Shop, Great Barrington, will decorate the dining room using the original glass, porcelain, and silver from Naumkeag’s collections.

The Berkshire Historical Society is housed at Arrowhead, an 18th-century building which was home to Herman Melville and his extended family from 1850 to 1863. There he wrote Moby Dick. His sisters, Helen and Catherine, lived there, were married at St. Stephens Church in Pittsfield, and had their wedding receptions at Arrowhead. In addition to many other historic gowns, there will be one wedding gown associated with the Melville family that will be on display.

Ventfort Hall, one of the first Berkshire “cottages,” built in 1893 by the sister of J.P. Morgan, is also home to another exhibit – the separate, but related Les Petites Dames de Mode (The Little Ladies of Fashion). This exhibit features 60 exquisite, 29-inch-tall costumed Victorian Ladies. Mrs. Cile Bellefleur-Burbidge, a renowned wedding cake designer, will unveil a new 3-foot-high creation made specifically for this exhibit. Her cakes, which sell for up to $20,000, have been exhibited at the Smithsonian, Tiffany’s, and the Peabody-Essex Museum.

For details, visit:

Berkshire Historical Society at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 413.442.1793 x10

Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum, 104 Walker St., Lenox, MA, 413.637.3206

The Colonial Theatre, 111 South St. Pittsfield, MA, 413.997.4444

Volunteer Opportunities

Work Parties

Maps and Resources

Self-guided landscape tour brochure provided with admission to house and/or gardens. Souvenir full-color guidebook available for sale in gift shop. You can also take a self-guided audio tour of the gardens.

Additional resources:

• Read "A Touch of Nonsense: Miss Choate and Her 'Horticultural Mentor' Cultivate Wit & Whimsy at Naumkeag" from the Spring 2007 issue of Special Places magazine.
• Naumkeag Garden House and Gardens Map (PDF)

Private Functions

Weddings, receptions, small business events may be arranged on a limited basis. For more information, email westregion@ttor.org or call 413.298.3239.

Planning Your Visit

Community Links
Berkshire Visitor Bureau

Before You Go
We encourage you to visit as many Trustees properties as you can.

Wherever your travels take you, please observe all posted regulations, follow special instructions from property staff, and keep in mind the Stewardship Code:

• Protect wildlife and plants.
• Guard against all risk of fire.
• Help keep air and water clean.
• Carry out what you carry in.
• Use marked footpaths and bridle paths.
• Leave livestock, crops, and machinery alone.
• Respect the privacy of neighboring land.
• Enjoy and share the landscape with others.

Click on links below for further visitor information:

Before Setting Out

Enjoying Trustees Reservations

Safety

About Hunting on Trustees of Reservations Land

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