Well, friends, today I visited The Mount, and it was just as majestic and beautiful as I had hoped. I took so many pictures that the battery to my camera died. As a result, I have far too many pictures to put on the blog; however, I will post some of the best. Also, I am exhausted, so today's post will be more of a picture collection than a write up. I intend to visit The Mount again while I'm here, so later this week I will write a more thorough post about Wharton and the history of her house.
The estate is about 113 acres, which Wharton and her husband bought upon her success with The House of Mirth. The Mount's website has an excellent and concise article about the history of the estate. Built in 1902, The Mount is glorious and was one of Wharton's favorite places, although she moved to France in 1911 and never lived in America again after that. The house and estate were private property until it was transformed into a girls' school in 1942. By the 1970s, the school went bankrupt, and the house was used by the Shakespeare Company until the 1990s when historic restorations began. Now, it is a registered historic home and one of only 5% of historic sites devoted to women.
When I arrived, the docent asked me if I knew anything about Edith Wharton. When I told her I wrote my Master's thesis on her, she goes, "Oh, so you know about this house, then?" I told her yes, and I declined the offer to take a group tour. I prefer exploring things for myself, and later when I overheard the tour I was glad I declined: the information they were giving about Edith's work during World War I was so basic that my teeth were gnashing; I wanted to pipe in SO BADLY and fill in the gaps, but instead I gritted my teeth and walked to another room. Here are some shots of the entrance:
The estate is beautiful...and Wharton designed it herself! To me, that is the really cool thing about this house and estate: not only did not belong to one of America's most important authors who was also a woman, but the author herself designed it.
There are three floors: the first has little and was basically where guests would enter so that the butler could decide whether they were worthy of visiting; the second floor has the drawing room, library, and den, and from there is where you can access the veranda (which is exquisite!); the third floor has the bedrooms, including Edith's, Teddy's, a guest room, and Henry James's room (as Edith's mentor and best friend, he was a frequent guest).
As you can see the staircase was elegant. Although, I have no idea why the docents running this place chose this leopard print carpet to put on the stairs. I understand having carpet, but leopard print? You know who would have despised it most of all? Edith Wharton! Especially given she often said cats were just snakes with fur.
There was not much to photograph on the first floor, other than some servant areas. Doesn't this just make you feel like you're on Downton Abbey? Speaking of which, Edith's butler was very close to her, and he came with her when she got married and worked for her until his death. Very Carson and Lady Mary.
Also, Edith put an elevator in her house. Pretty swanky!
The second floor is lovely and very bright.
On the third floor is Edith's bedroom and her boudoir, which she used as an office. Teddy Wharton and Henry James had rooms, too. The museum noted that a lot of the furniture in Edith's rooms is donated, and they had corresponding pictures that were taken in Edith's day so that you could see what it really looked like. The desk, however, really was Edith's.
Because this post is already extremely long, I'll put up pictures of the grounds tomorrow. I took an ungodly number of pictures, and I'm sure all of you will enjoy them. For now, so long!
Laura
Today has certainly been a mix of ups and downs. Truthfully, I had trouble sleeping last night on account of feeling nervous about travel and wistful about leaving Northampton. Over my brief visit, I had truly come to adore this little town, and leaving it was most difficult this morning. The journey to Lenox, however, has been full of surprises and revelations.
I checked out of the hotel this morning and planned to walk to the Northampton bus station to save a few bucks, but as I was walking across the parking lot, I heard someone shout out to me, "Hey! Are you heading to campus?"
I turned around and saw a woman looking out of her car window. "No, I'm heading to the bus station," I said.
"Would you like a ride?" she asked.
"Sure!" I said. "Thank you so much!"
The Good Samaritan got out of her car, put my suitcase in her trunk, and helped me into her car. Her daughter was in the backseat in her little car seat. I would guess she's about four or five years old, and she was wearing a hot pink Smith sweatshirt. The woman was very sweet and told me she had made the same walk I was about to do so many times that she thought she'd help me out. I was touched by her kindness and thanked her profusely. She said she graduated from Smith in 2001 and was back for a conference. When we got to the bus station, she again got out of the car and pulled out my suitcase for me. I thanked her and shook her hand. Helen was her name, and I'll certainly remember her.
The ride to Lenox was pleasant and without any major difficulty. I had one transfer in Springfield, then rode to Lenox.
Lenox is located amid the mountains. As I looked out the window, I kept thinking about the mountain passages from Summer by Edith Wharton. As I thought about this book, images from the novel began to pop in my head, and then I thought more somberly about Wharton and the impact her books have had on me and my life. As a result, I was suddenly flooded with memories of high school, particularly eleventh grade. So many horrible memories came back to me, all as I remembered the circumstances in which I first read her books.
The truth is I discovered Wharton through Martin Scorsese's movie of The Age of Innocence - it's one of the few times I watched the movie before reading the book - and this was during the "early days" of having epilepsy. I read the book after watching the movie several times - I think I was about 15 years old - and felt as though I had made a new friend. The Age of Innocence is the kind of book you can read during multiple stages of your life, and reading it as a teenager, I most identified with the themes of being an outsider and an object of gossip.
As I thought about all of this, all while riding in a large bus through the beautiful mountains in Massachusetts on my way to visit Edith Wharton's home, I almost cried. It was overwhelming. Most of the time, I try not to live in the past, but today the past came back with a vengeance. Terrible, terrible memories flooded me to the point where it was difficult to enjoy the ride.
However, it all made me ponder the role of literature. What effects does it have on people? What is its purpose? What effects has it had on me, personally and professionally? I think in my case it has certainly been a protection, in some ways a succor, from so many events over which I have had no control and that have left indelible impacts on my life and life choices.
As the ride continued, I felt an odd mix of apprehension, sadness, excitement, and thankfulness. The mountains are so beautiful that I did take a picture while riding in the bus:
As we neared Lenox, my excitement mounted, especially after I saw a sign for The Mount. Although I could not see the estate from the window, I was thrilled just knowing I was in such close proximity to Wharton's dream house.
Lenox itself is a nice town, but it lacks the charm and beauty and practicality of Northampton. Lenox is very spread out, and the public transportation is not nearly as good. That being said, there are a number of buildings that still retain their original, nineteenth century architecture, which I find glorious.
The bus stop was on Main Street, which was right next to the public library. When I got off the bus, I had no idea where I was, nor where my hotel was, so I went to the place that made the most sense to obtain information: the library.
Lenox Public Library is absolutely beautiful. Next to Edinburgh Central Library in Scotland, it is the prettiest and most welcoming library I have ever been in. And the librarians were just as wonderful as the library itself.
I walked in with my bags and suitcase and went to the circulation desk, explaining that I am from South Carolina and have no idea where I am or where anything else is. They quickly got me a map, some information about The Mount, taxi phone numbers, and bus schedules. I was so appreciative of their kindness.
Jenney was the librarian who helped the most, and we had a great time talking. She gave me the history of the library: it is 201 years old and was built in 1815 as a courthouse, but was later converted into a library. I told Jenney that I am in library school, and she said she is, too. We talked about graduate school and becoming librarians, and she gave me some really great information about Edith Wharton and The Mount.
First, the Special Collections at the Lenox Public Library have a great deal of Edith Wharton material. Jenney told me to talk to their Special Collections librarian, and that she would probably let me look at some items. Also, Jenney used to work at The Mount and said that there is a woman there who, along with LPL's Special Collections librarian, cataloged all of Edith's personal books in her library! She told me to talk to the librarian when I'm at The Mount; she's sure we'll have lots to talk about. Lastly, she told me that there is a hill near the library that is rumored to be the inspiration for the tragic ending of Ethan Frome; evidently, such a sledding accident really did occur, and Edith used it for inspiration. Obviously, I look forward to asking about this at The Mount.
After talking with Jenney for a while, I decided to look around the library before calling the taxi.
This library is glorious! I can't stress it enough! I told Jenney that just walking in to this environment makes me want to sit in a comfy chair and read a book. Oh, and they have comfy chairs just for such an activity.
There are books everywhere, but there are also reading rooms. Here is the one for adults:
The children's section has its own reading room as well, only the children's one also has child chess tables. Pretty cute!
The entire library has this open, classic style. I felt at home here, especially when I went upstairs and found the adult fiction section. The shelves are labeled clearly, and they are easy to reach - to say nothing of the lovely atmosphere!
One thing I thought was subtle but so brilliant was that the bottom shelves have the books turned with their spines facing up. This way, you can simply look down to see what is on the bottom shelf. This is great both for practical purposes (no more squatting!) and for accessibility; this way, someone in a wheelchair does not have to ask for assistance in seeing what is on the bottom shelf.
The shelves also have their own lights! And none of that florescent stuff; this light is soft and perfect for reading.
Upstairs is also the audio visual part of the library and local history. I love how they kept some original furniture - and clocks! - in the library. And look at that stairwell!
Overall, I adored this library and really look forward to going back!
Tomorrow, I go to the Holy Grail of literary destinations, the one I've been dying to see for years: The Mount. All I can say in advance is brace yourselves for a few thousand pictures tomorrow night!
'Tis all! Good night!
Laura
