October was always “peak season” at Lenox’s Osceola House for others, but original owners Edward and Sarah Livingston would be at their French country house “Villa Clermont” in the Pyrenees, conditioning their horses for the fox-hunting season.
This is just some of the fascinating knowledge that historian Cornelia Brooke Gilder and local craftsman Steve Baum will impart at a benefit lecture hosted by present owners Ernie and Jo Faraci in the mansion’s elegant reception rooms on Saturday, October 19 at 3:30 pm. The event titled “October at Osceola House” will include the visual presentation as well as seasonal refreshments, benefiting the restoration and educational programs of Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum.
Boston architects Rotch and Tilden designed Osceola House for the Livingstons in 1889, shortly before beginning their biggest Lenox project, Ventfort Hall. Both were among the five Lenox “cottages” designed by the firm, all of which are extant.
Over the thirty-year period that the Livingstons owned Osceola House, it was frequently rented, and these long-term tenants, often their friends, were active in Lenox’s social life. Gilder will recount untold stories of Gilded Age romances, festive parties, sudden deaths and financial ruin which occurred in the mansion.
Baum, long experienced in Rotch and Tilden’s architecture through his extensive work at Ventfort Hall, will focus on the recent restoration work at Osceola House which he directed, bringing it back to the splendor of the Livingstons’ day.
Tickets for the Osceola House benefit event are $75. Reservations are highly recommended as seating is limited. For information or reservations call us at 413-637-3206. Osceola House is located at 25 Cliffwood Street in Lenox.
