A Stockbridge Gilded Age Cottage - Naumkeag

House Museum

Jun 25

Nestled in the rolling hills of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Naumkeag is one of the Berkshires' most enchanting Gilded Age estates. Once the summer home of New York City lawyer and U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain Joseph Hodges Choate and his wife, Caroline, the property reflects the elegance and grandeur of America's late 19th-century elite.

Completed in 1887, the 44-room Shingle-style mansion was designed by renowned architect Stanford White. Though the Choates modestly referred to it as their "country cottage," the impressive home features 17 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, and striking brick and stone details that overlook the surrounding Berkshire landscape.

While the mansion is beautiful, the gardens are the true highlight of a visit to Naumkeag. The estate's twelve distinctive gardens invite visitors to wander through a series of carefully designed outdoor spaces, from the tranquil Chinese Garden and fragrant Rose Garden to the Evergreen Garden, Afternoon Garden, and the stately Linden Allee. Beyond the formal gardens, nearly 50 acres of meadows, woodlands, pastures, and historic farm buildings create a peaceful setting that feels worlds away from modern life.

Naumkeag offers a memorable glimpse into the elegance of the Gilded Age while showcasing some of the most beautiful landscapes in the Berkshires.

Here is what caught my eye. I hope you enjoy!

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The Normandy-style front facade of the home with dormers and covered entrance

The house with the stone and brick turret

View of the house from the Afternoon Garden

The rear of the house with Afternoon Garden Venetian poles

The house with Serpent Garden in the foreground

The massive front door with bronze details

The three main rooms on the first floor are off this central reception hall which contains a carved oak smoke hood over the mantle.

A portrait of Mr. Choate hanging over an intricately carved bench in the central hall

The central hall windows looking out onto the back porch and the Berkshire Hills in the distance

The Library with Mabel Choate’s 1st edition murder mysteries from the 1930’s-40’s

The comfortable Library with an inviting place to sit and read

The formal Drawing Room with piano

The Drawing Room

The dining room with Japanese grass wall paper

The gold painted tin ceiling in the dining room to creates a glow while dining.

Mabel Choate made Naumkeg her home for over 70 years, leaving the house and its contents to the Trustees in 1958. This is the closet with her coat and gardening items. They remain here exactly as they were the day she last left the house.

Kitchen refrigerator

Off the central hall is the staircase with carved details and arched windows.

Second level hallway

Bedroom

Mabel Chote’s bedroom with traveling trunks

The Afternoon Garden with Venetian poles

The Evergreen Garden

Evergreen garden with boxwoods surrounding the fountain and pool and a view of the hills

Springtime tulips

Pictured here is the Blue Steps, a series of deep blue fountain pools with a staircase and birch trees on either side.

Blue Steps

Elaborate Chinese Temple Garden

House with tiers

Far off view of Monument Mountain

Tulips

Trees line the drive as you leave.

In 1929, the estate passed to daughter Mabel Choate, who was a philanthropist, horticulturist, art collector, avid traveller and preservationist. She put her own stamp on the estate collaborating with landscape architect Fletcher on creating beautiful gardens including the Blue Steps. Mabel saved the Mission House on Main Street in Stockbridge by helping fund the preservation, and creating an endowment. She wanted it to be a memorial to her parents. Despite her privileged and intensely private life, Mabel was very generous and believed in saving history. Upon her death in 1958, she bequeathed Naumkeag to The Trustees of Reservations.

The Berkshires was also the summer retreat for Edith Wharton (see The Mount-Edith Wharton’s Lenox Retreat) in Lenox and Daniel Chester French (see A Stockbridge Artist Studio-Chesterwood) in Stockbridge.

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