Mind-Boggling Gilded Age Estate Built by Vanderbilt Family May Become Luxury Resort

In the latter decades of the 19th century, i.e., the period now known as America’s “Gilded Age,” many of the nation’s wealthiest families began the nowadays common practice of erecting lavish estates in which to spend their summers, with the scenic Berkshires region of Massachusetts being a particularly popular summering locale for East Coast high society.

An estimated 76 of these summer residences, collectively known as the Berkshire Cottages, were constructed in the area around Lenox and Stockbridge by Vanderbilts, Morgans, and other one-percenters of the era such as Edith Wharton. Of these, only about a dozen have survived, one of which is the 89-acre estate formerly known as Elm Court.

The largest shingle-style residence in the country, the — ahem — “cottage” was designed by the illustrious Boston-based firm of Peabody and Stearns in 1885 for Emily T. Vanderbilt, granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and her husband William Douglas Sloane, whose family owned a prosperous furniture company. Measuring a whopping 55,000 square feet, it has 46 bedrooms, 27 bathrooms, multiple marble fireplaces, elaborate carved plaster moldings, herringbone hardwood floors, and a host of other extravagant details.

Its expansive grounds and gardens were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the pioneering landscape architect of New York City’s Central Park and the U.S. Capital.

In 1948, to preserve the estate, Vanderbilt descendants converted the house into an inn called the Elm Court Club, but within a decade, operational costs proved too overwhelming, and the “white elephant” property was abandoned for 42 years.

Eventually, the sprawling mansion landed in the hands of Robert Berle, great-great-grandson of the Sloanes, and his wife, Sonya, who undertook a $5 million restoration. In 2012, the couple sold the estate for $9.8 million to resort corporation Amstar/Travaasa, who intended to turn it into a luxury wellness resort. Instead, however, the corporation became embroiled in a decade-long litigation that resulted in the company closing down and selling off its assets. Originally listed for $12.5 million, Elm Court languished on the market for two years, finally trading hands a couple of months ago for $8 million.

Its new owner is real estate developer Linda Law. Founder of the Silicon Valley investment firm Law and Associates, Law is the former owner of another one of the celebrated Berkshire Cottages, Lenox’s Blantyre estate, which she sold in 2021 to Texas-based developer Clark Lyda and San Francisco-based designer Ken Fulk for a reported $15 million.

In an issued statement, Law explained that she and her partners are exploring various options for the future of the property — now renamed Vanderbilt Berkshires Estate — saying, “While this grand Berkshire estate is suitable for a country retreat, we are not yet certain what the next incarnation of this legacy property will be. But what we do know is that our team is going to be very deliberate in its thoughtful renovation to restore the vibrancy of this treasured landmark.”