Even though it’s the dead of winter and we aren’t outside playing on our lawn right now, we are thinking ahead to this summer.  Days are long, skies are clear and all we want to do is be outside.  That’s why we decided to add  a bocce set to our lawn game collection.

Bocce is very popular in Europe and was brought to America by Italians.  Descended from a game played in the Roman Empire, bocce involves rolling balls on a clay, asphalt or smooth lawn.  Anywhere between two to eight players compete in teams.  The United States Bocce Federation has a great website with information, playing tips, and tournament schedules.  They are aiming to get bocce into the Olympic Games!

Even if you are not as serious as those bocce enthusiasts, you will find our bocce set to be the very best available on the market. The Perfetta Club Pro Bocce Set I just ordered should last for years to come and be a focal point for many happy memories.  Our lawn is great, the views spectacular and we have no doubt that bocce is going to become a favorite pastime here at Winthrop Estate!

Family Vacation

In the Berkshires, we are enjoying warm summer weather this week and the garden is growing tall.  A full schedule of weddings and family events is ahead of us.  The busy summer season, which started in early May for us, always tends to go by fast.

Many of our guests have already inquired about repeat visits.  Though the estate is almost completely booked this year already, there are a few weekends still left.  Labor Day weekend is one of them and with the Tanglewood Wine and Food Classic September 1-4, and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, it will be a great time to be in Lenox.  The Winthrop Estate is just about a mile from Tanglewood’s main gate and the Jazz Festival and the Wine and Food Classic are real treats, (if you like good jazz, wine and food)!

Labor Day weekend is a nice time to gather the family in Lenox, just before school starts for the young ones and as the trees are starting to turn.  There are so many things to do at that time if you want to venture off property; see a Shakespeare & Company production, visit the Mount or Chesterwood, enjoy a lazy day and a hike in Kennedy Park just a few minutes from the Winthrop Estate, or take the kids out for a sweet at Patisserie Lenox.  There’s plenty to do in this area. Here are more ideas for family fun in the Berkshires.

Photo credit to John Fitzpatrick of MomentsKept.com.

Master Bedroom, photo by John Seakwood

Anchored by a “palace-size” Oushak Peshawar carpet, c. 1990, this grand room features a Georgian style sofa with loose down cushions in a pistachio green woven fabric at the foot of the bed. There is a pair of Biedermeier fruitwood open armchairs for the first quarter of the 19^th Century. Early 20^th C. floral watercolors in shades of pink add a feminine touch. A group of early 20^th Century English prints depicting the Four Seasons hang on either side of the fireplace. We just added a handsome Biedermeier day bed from the first quarter of the 19^th Century adds the perfect spot for the afternoon nap.

The lawn outside the shed at Tanglewood in Lenox Massachusetts

Today a couple returned from a Berkshire County excursion and expressed that they had been pleasantly surprised with the number and variety of fun things to do in the area.  I asked the two what they had managed to discover and they mentioned visiting the Norman Rockwell Museum.  This venue is only one of many fun places to visit in the Berkshires.  Check out these links for some ideas:

Colonial Theater

Tanglewood

Jacob’s Pillow

Shakespeare & Company

The Three Muses, our fountain, in Autumn

This picture of the fountain of the Three Muses, made of marble from Baci, Italy, was taken in the fall when the Copper Beech Tree just to the east of the fountain was a rich burgundy. The trunk of the Copper Beech is probably more than four feet in diameter. The area under the branches is covered by a soft mossy green covering and the roots poke thorough in a few places and leaves can grow off them right near the ground. A few of the roots hold water after a rainstorm and I have seen birds bathing there.

We often focus on the grandeur of the Winthrop Estate on the whole, and how majestic the design of the estate and the grounds is. But when you are actually in the estate, you can’t help but notice the smaller details. Like how the bathtubs are larger than any you would find in a hotel today because the Winthrop Estate is over a century old. And how the light reflects off the curtains in the dining room. And how each room is furnished down to the tiniest detail.

The Winthrop Estate sure is perfect for that special wedding!