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Elm Court is a Vanderbilt mansion located on Old Stockbridge Road, straddling the town line between Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places〔(National Register of Historical Places - MASSACHUSETTS (MA), Berkshire County )〕 and until July 2012 was owned and operated as a hotel by descendants of the original builders. Elm Court was built as the Berkshire summer home of William Douglas Sloane and Emily Thorn Vanderbilt, a member of the wealthy United States Vanderbilt family. Designed by premier architectural firm Peabody and Stearns and gardens and landscape design by Frederick Law Olmsted, Elm Court is the largest American Shingle Style House in the United States, with 106 rooms.〔(The History of Elm Court Estate )〕 ==Commercial use, Decline and Restoration== Owners Colonel Helm George Wilde〔(hgwilde )〕 and his wife Marjorie Field Wilde (of William H. Vanderbilt〔 ) opened Elm Court in 1948 as an Inn ('Elm Court Club, Inc.) with an accommodation for up to 60 people. Dancing and dinner open to the public Saturday nights made for a popular spot for many years. Knott Hotels Corporation were retained as the operators of the Inn. The Wildes - who also owned the neighboring High Lawn manor (designed by Delano and Aldrich) and farm〔(Highlawn Farm - About Us, a historical sketch )〕 - pursued the Inn concept in order to preserve the estate and provide summer employment for the area's many teachers. The Inn eventually faltered and due to overwhelming operational costs the house shuttered in 1957. While some fine furnishings were removed the house was largely left merely locked up but intact as it had been in the 1950s. Unoccupied, secluded, and only lightly patrolled it fell prey over the years to massive vandalism, outright looting, some arson, and a general derelict state by the end of the 20th century. The massive elm tree on the grounds for which the property was named died in the early 1960s of disease. Upon the death of George Wilde in 1998 the Elm Court passed to his daughter Lila Wilde Berle〔(To The Manor Born )〕 of Stockbridge. Lila's husband, Peter A. A. Berle (1937–2007), was a highly respected environmentalist, New York State assemblyman, commissioner of the State Department of Environmental Conservation and president of the National Audubon Society She in turn sold the estate in 1999 to her son, Robert Berle, great-great-grandson of the Sloanes, and his wife, Sonya, for just under $1 million. They undertook a major restoration effort, repairing original details and adding new wiring, plumbing, heating, and opened the property as a luxury Inn while portions of the home remained a work in progress with restoration. In August 2005 the estate - with the manor house, greenhouse, carriage house and cottage - was placed on the market for sale for an asking price of $21,500,000 on . By comparison the highest price for any Berkshire County property sold was recorded January, 2007 for Southmayd Farm for $6.9 million〔(Stockbridge estate fetches $3.2M - Berkshire Eagle Online )〕 The property was reduced to an asking price of $17.5 million in July 2006 and a contract was signed for sale to a Florida-based hotel business ('The Kessler Collection') however that deal fell through and was mutually terminated by both parties.〔(Home - Berkshire Eagle Online )〕 Last listed at $14 million, it was taken off the market at the end of 2006. As of August 2009 the property was taken off the market. In the Spring of 2010 the Town of Stockbridge approved a permit for an 18-room hotel in the mansion. The Town of Lenox approved a sign permit for the property in the summer of 2010. These permits are in addition to the restaurant permit for the original horse Stable, already in place. (Town of Stockbridge, MA; Board of Selectmen Special Permit Hearing January 6, 2003). New roofs have been installed on the Butler's Cottage, the Gardner's Cottage, Stable and other support buildings at the estate. A new septic system for the entire property has been installed. The frontage of the property has been cleared of brush and invasive plant species. The Mansion and other buildings can now be viewed from Old Stockbridge Road, as well as the lake in the distance. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Elm Court (Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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