National Register of Historic Places

Ventfort Hall Porch, Lenox, Mass (2)

by

The porch on the southwest side of Ventfort Hall in Lenox, around 1893. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The scene in 2018:

This porch is the same one that is shown in an earlier post, except this view shows the porch from the outside of the house, rather than from the porch itself. The scene is also very similar to the previous post, which features a close-up of the steps in the lower center. The first photo was taken around 1893, and it shows the exterior of Ventfort Hall as it appeared at the time of its completion, when it was used as the summer home of George and Sarah Morgan.

Ventfort Hall remained a private residence until 1945, and it subsequently saw a variety of different uses before being abandoned in the late 1980s. By the early 1990s it was badly deteriorated and threatened with demolition. It was purchased by a developer, and it was stripped of much of its interior woodwork, but it was ultimately preserved after being purchased by the Ventfort Hall Association in 1997.

The house then underwent a major restoration, on both the exterior and interior, and it opened to the public as a museum in 2000. Around the same time, the exterior of the house was also used as a filming location for the 1999 film The Cider House Rules, with Ventfort Hall taking on the role of St. Cloud’s Orphanage. Today, the house is still open as a museum, and, aside from different landscaping, this scene is very similar to its appearance some 125 years ago.

Ventfort Hall Painters, Lenox, Mass

by

A group of painters standing on the steps of Ventfort Hall in Lenox, on May 13, 1893. Image courtesy of the Lenox Library Association.

The scene in 2018:

Ventfort Hall was completed in 1893, and it was originally the summer home of wealthy New York banker George Morgan and his wife Sarah, who was the sister of J. P. Morgan. Sarah had inherited $3 million (around $85 million today) when her father, Junius Spencer Morgan, died in 1890, and she and George subsequently purchased this property in Lenox and built this house. The first photo shows a group of painters, who are standing on the steps on the southwest side of the house on May 13, 1893. They were presumably working on putting the finishing touches on the new house, and preparing it for the 1893 summer season.

Sarah Morgan ultimately spent only a few summers here at Ventfort Hall before her death in 1896, but her family continued to own the property for several decades, often renting it out to other wealthy families. The Bonsal family purchased the house in 1925, and owned it until 1945, when it was sold and converted into a dormitory for Tanglewood. It would go through several more uses during the second half of the 20th century, and it was ultimately abandoned in the late 1980s and threatened with demolition.

Thankfully, Ventfort Hall was preserved and restored, starting in the late 1990s. It is now open to the public as the Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum, and this scene on the steps is not significantly different from its appearance in the first photo, taken 125 years earlier. There have been a few changes, such as the installation of handrails on the steps and statues atop the balustrade on the left, and the steps themselves have seen more than a century of wear, but overall this spot is still easily recognizable from the first photo.

Ventfort Hall Entryway, Lenox, Mass

by

The entryway at Ventfort Hall in Lenox, probably in the 1890s. Image courtesy of the Lenox Library Association.

The scene in 2018:

Ventfort Hall was completed in 1893, as one of the many grand summer estates that were built in the Berkshires during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first photo was probably taken soon after its completion, and it shows the first floor entry hall. The main entrance, located on the northeast side of the building, is just around the corner to the right, as is the grand staircase. This scene, which faces to the northwest, shows an ornate fireplace in the center, and it is flanked by doors on either side. To the left is the library, and to the right is the drawing room.

This house was used as a summer residence throughout the first half of the 20th century, but these large homes in the Berkshires had begun to fall out of fashion by the postwar era. With 28 rooms and 28,000 square feet, Ventfort Hall was far too large for a private home, so it was converted into institutional use. It was first used as a dormitory, then as a hotel, a ballet school, and finally as a religious organization before finally being abandoned in the late 1980s. By this point, the building was badly deteriorated, and it was sold to a developer and threatened by demolition in the early 1990s.

During this period, the interior woodwork was stripped in anticipation of demolition, but the property was ultimately acquired by the Ventfort Hall Association in 1997. In the years that followed, this organization restored both the interior and exterior, including re-installing the woodwork, most of which had been left here on site. Some of the pieces were unaccounted for, but these were replaced with modern replicas. The 2018 photo shows some of the new woodwork, which has a light color that contrasts with the darker original wood. Overall, though, this scene is not significantly different from the first photo, thanks to the meticulous restoration work over the past two decades.

Ventfort Hall Porch, Lenox, Mass

by

The porch on the south side of Ventfort Hall in Lenox, around 1893. Image courtesy of the Lenox Library Association.

The scene in 2018:

As discussed in an earlier post, Ventfort Hall was built in 1893 as the summer home of George and Sarah Morgan. George was a wealthy New York banker, and his wife Sarah – whose maiden name was also Morgan – was the sister of financier J. P. Morgan. The house was the work of the Boston-based architectural firm of Rotch & Tilden, and it features a Jacobean Revival design that gives it the appearance of a 17th century English country house.

The main entrance of the house is located on the northeastern side of the house, which faces toward Walker Street. On the opposite side of the house is a long porch, shown here, which faces to the southwest. The first photo was probably taken soon after the house was completed, and it shows the porch cluttered with a mix of wicker furniture. Also visible in this photo are curtains attached to each column, which presumably provided shade on sunny summer afternoons.

Today, around 125 years after the first photo was taken, this scene has not changed significantly. Ventfort Hall was last used as a private residence in the mid-20th century, and it subsequently became a dormitory, hotel, ballet school, and religious organization, before ultimately being restored in the late 1990s. It is now open to the public as the Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum, and it is one of several historic house museums in the Lenox area.

Ventfort Hall Drawing Room, Lenox, Mass

by

The drawing room at Ventfort Hall in Lenox, probably around the 1890s. Image courtesy of the Lenox Library Association.

The room in 2018:

Although the term is rather archaic now, a drawing room was essentially a living room, functioninging as a place that guests could “withdraw” to after a dinner party. Here in Ventfort Hall, the drawing room is located in the northwest corner of the first floor, next to the main entrance and across the entry hall from the grand staircase, which can be seen beyond the doors in the present-day photo. The first photo shows the room at some point around the 1890s, probably soon after the house was completed in 1893.

Ventfort Hall remained a summer home for more than 50 years, and the drawing room was likely used for its original purpose throughout much of this time. However, the last private owner sold the property in 1945, and the house subsequently became, at various times, a dormitory, a hotel, a ballet school, and a religious school. By the late 20th century, it had deteriorated on both the interior and exterior, and it was nearly demolished in the 1990s. It was ultimately preserved, though, and the house was restored to its original appearance and opened for public tours starting in 2000.

Today, the property is the Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum, and the historic home is still open for guided tours of the interior. Here in the drawing room, the furnishing is not identical to the first photo, and plain white walls have replaced the busy Victorian wallpaper, but otherwise the room is easily recognizable from the first photo, including the restored ceiling and the ornate mantelpiece. Because of its location adjacent to the front door, the drawing room now serves as the museum’s gift shop, as shown in the present-day scene.

Ventfort Hall Grand Staircase, Lenox, Mass

by

The grand staircase in Ventfort Hall in Lenox, around the 1890s. Image courtesy of the Lenox Library Association.

The staircase in 2018:

As discussed in more detail in the previous post, Ventfort Hall was completed in 1893 as the summer home of George and Sarah Morgan. Sarah was the sister of financier J. P. Morgan, and she constructed this house soon after receiving a $3 million inheritance from their father, Junius Spencer Morgan, upon his death in 1890. However, she died only three years after the house was completed, and George died in 1911, but the house remained in the Morgan family until 1925, when it was sold to railroad executive William Roscoe Bonsal.

The house was designed by the Boston architectural firm of Rotch & Tilden, with a brick, Jacobean Revival exterior. The interior consists of 28 rooms, but perhaps the most impressive space in the house is the grand staircase, shown here in this scene. It is located just inside the main entryway on the north side of the house, and it features a carved oak banister and oak paneling, matching the Jacobean style of the house. The second floor is decorated with arches, and above them is an ornate plaster ceiling.

Ventfort Hall remained a summer residence until around 1945, and during the second half of the 20th century it was used for a variety of other purposes, including a dormitory, hotel, and ballet school. From 1976 to 1987, it was part of the Bible Speaks College, but it subsequently sat vacant and was threatened with demolition. However, in 1997 it was acquired by the Ventfort Hall Association, which restored it and opened it as a museum.

Today, the appearance of the grand staircase has hardly changed since the first photo was taken some 125 years ago. Much of the interior suffered from neglect in the late 20th century, but the staircase remained well-preserved, and it remains one of the highlights of the building’s interior. Ventfort Hall is still open to the public for tours, and its restoration marks a major accomplishment for historic preservation in the Berkshires.