In the Berkshires, Rustic Simplicity Meets Relaxed Lakeside Luxury

Summer is winding down. Was it everything you’d hoped for? If not, how might you make next year’s better? Is it maybe time to go ahead and invest in that vacation home you’ve dreamed of, the place that will host family gatherings for decades?

If so, and your bank account is fat, here is an amazingly great compound in the Berkshires. One of the many plus points of the Berkshires is that it’s fairly easily accessible from both Boston and New York, and this compound, known as Atwater, is just over two hours from both cities, as well as just 45 minutes from Bradley International Airport. Pampered tycoons take note: Atwater can also be accessed by helicopter.

The low-key compound offers accommodation for large groups, but this is no enormous mega-mansion with a dozen bedrooms and bathrooms. Instead, there is a manageably sized midcentury lake house and several unique outbuildings set on 321 acres of pristine forested property crisscrossed with miles of private trails. There’s also a private, 33-acre pond, where local lore has it President Grover Cleveland used to fish. He was friends with the home’s original owners, who built the pond in 1895.

More recently, the property has been owned for decades by one family who have kept it in sparkling condition. They are, however, ready to let it go to someone else looking to give their family and friends the best summers ever. Now listed with Eric Rollo of The Agency, the asking price is much less than the $18 million price tag it was previously and unrealistically saddled with.

The compound’s sun flooded 3,800-square-foot house, built in 1970, has been sensitively updated over the years to reflect both our time and the 1970s. Among its sunny living spaces, awash in a neutral palette of whites accented with pale woods, are seven bedrooms and five and a half baths that sport whitewashed walls, hanging natural chairs, and other simple rustic touches. Walls of windows frame sublime views of the water and wooded surroundings.

Need to feed a gaggle of hungry relatives? The spacious kitchen features a Wolf range and Vermont marble countertops. Need more bedrooms? No problem! A guesthouse, a cool Airstream trailer and a bunkhouse offer accommodation for up to 20 guests.

A self-contained idyll of leisure and recreation, the secluded compound includes a boathouse, three docks, a beach, a deep-water swim area, an outdoor soaking tub, and a horse paddock. The estate’s carefully preserved acreage consists of old-growth forests, meadows and marshes, all connected by a private 4.5-mile trail system.

Sound good? Make an offer now and get in for Thanksgiving. Why wait for summer? Fire up the helicopter!