Massachusetts - Berkshires and Pioneer Valley

Amherst History Museum
The Strong House, 67 Amity Street
Amherst, MA  01002  
Phone: 413-256-0678

Open: May 17– October 28, Wednesday through Saturday noon-4 p.m. Call ahead for seasonal changes in hours.

Exhibits of 18th- and 19th-century art and furniture. Admission charge.

Arrowhead
780 Holmes Road
Pittsfield, MA
Phone: 413-442-1793

Truly a literary historic site, Herman Melville wrote Moby-Dick and several other works in this house. Tours are available. Open seasonally.

Berkshire Athenaeum
1 Wendell Avenue
Pittsfield, MA
Phone: 413-499-9480

The featured exhibit of this library is the Herman Melville Memorial Room.

Bidwell House
Art School Road
Monterey, MA  01245  
Phone: 413-528-6888

This home, built in 1750, has been restored and features 18th century gardens, as well as indoor exhibits.
Hours: Memorial Day-October 1, Thursday-Monday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Fee charged.

Chesterwood
Williamsville Road, one mile south of Routes 183 and 102
Stockbridge, MA  01262  
Phone: 413-298-3579

This mansion was the summer home of sculptor Daniel Chester French. Exhibits feature French’s work and life, as well as 19th century furnishings and a garden.
Hours: May-October, daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Fee charged.

Colonel John Ashley House
Cooper Hill Road
Ashley Falls, MA  01222  
Phone: 413-298-3239
Fax: 413-298-5239

Built In 1735 by Colonel John Ashley, the Ashley House – now the oldest in Berkshire County - was the center of social, economic, and political life in south Berkshire County in the eighteenth century. The famous Sheffield Declaration, a petition against British tyranny and a manifesto for individual rights, was drafted in the upstairs study of the house in 1773. The cause for abolishing slavery in America was strengthened in the celebrated 1781 Massachusetts court battle that freed the Ashleys' slave, Elizabeth Freeman (nicknamed "Mumbet") under the new state constitution. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Ashley House exemplifies early 18th century architecture.

Crane Museum of Papermaking
Housatonic Street
Dalton, MA  01226  
Phone: 413-684-6481

Open: June to mid-October, Monday-Friday, 1-5 p.m.

Situated in Crane's historic 1845 old stone mill. Exhibits and displays of nearly 200 years of papermaking in Dalton.

Shrine of Divine Mercy
Eden Hill
Stockbridge, MA
Phone: 413-298-3931

Site of the first Christian mission to the Native Americans in the area. The structure is set on 350 acres, featuring stained class, murals, and wood carvings.

Springfield Armory National Historic Site
1 Armory Square
Springfield, MA
Phone: 413-734-8551

This National Historic Landmark houses the world’s largest collection of American military firearms dating from colonial times and offers year-round public programs, exhibits, and special events.

Stone House Museum
20 Maple Street
Belchertown, MA  01007  
Phone: 413-323-6573

Open: Guided tours mid-May-October, on Wednesday and Saturday, 2-5 p.m.

Rogers Group sculpture; Early American furnishings; carriage shed, mid-1800s carriages and sleighs. Textiles, 20th century print shop, living history programs. Admission charge.

Storrowton Village Museum
1305 Memorial Avenue
West Springfield, MA  01089  
Phone: 413-205-5051

Open: June 19-August 24, Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; group tours by appointment year-round.

Historic Storrowton Village Museum offers an authentic 19th- century American experience. Traditional village green, gift shop, and meetinghouse and gazebo. Storrowton Tavern, a full-service restaurant Educational programs for children, special events, and guided tours. Located on the grounds of the Eastern States Exposition. Admission charge.

The Mount - Edith Wharton Restoration
Plunkett Street
Lenox, MA
Phone: 413-637-1899

This house was designed by and home to author Edith Wharton. Tours are available. Open seasonally. There is a fee for admission.

William Cullen Bryant Homestead
207 Bryant Road
Cummington, MA  01027  
Phone: 413-634-2244
Fax: 413-634-2244

Boyhood home of one of America's foremost 19th-century poets, the William Cullen Bryant Homestead is a National Historic Landmark. Purchased in 1789 by Ebenezer Snell, Bryant's grandfather, the Homestead and surrounding countryside inspired much of Bryant's poetry such as "The Rivulet" and "To A Waterfowl." Though Bryant moved to New York City to become editor and publisher of The New York Evening Post, the Homestead became Bryant’s summer retreat in his later years, and he converted it from a center-stair colonial to a Victorian cottage. The house collection includes extensive colonial and Victorian pieces from his travels to Europe and Asia.

Wistariahurst Museum
238 Cabot Street
Holyoke, MA  01040  
Phone: 413-322-5660
Fax: 413-534-2344

Open: Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, noon- 4 p.m.

Twenty-six-room Beaux Arts mansion of silk manufacturer William Skinner featuring many outstanding architectural details and a house tour that weaves the tale of the people who lived and worked there. Dinosaur footprints and gardens. Admission charge.

Emily Dickinson House
280 Main Street
Amherst, MA
Phone: 413-542-8161

The birthplace and home of Emily Dickinson. Tours are offered. Open seasonally. There is an admission charge.

Folly at Field Farm
554 Sloan Road
Williamstown, MA  01267  
Phone: 413-458-3135
Fax: 413-458-3135

Once the guest house for the main residence of modern art aficionados Lawrence and Eleanor Bloedel, the Folly exemplifies an era of form and function. A three-bedroom, pinwheel-shaped shingled structure, designed in 1965 by noted modernist architect Ulrich Franzen, the Folly overlooks the pond and still contains unique furnishings designed by Franzen.

Forbes Library
20 West Street
Northampton, MA
Phone: 413-587-1011

Visitors to the library will enjoy the Calvin Coolidge room, featuring Coolidge memorabilia.

Hadley Farm Museum
208 Middle Street
Hadley, MA  01035  
Phone: 413-586-1160

Open: May-October, Wednesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday, 1-4 p.m.

Early New England farm equipment in restored 1782 barn: blacksmith tools, ox cart, stage coach, plows, early domestic appliances.

Historic Deerfield
88 Old Main Street
Deerfield, MA  01342  
Phone: 413-775-7214
Email: info@historic-deerfield.org

Open: Daily, 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; call for seasonal changes.

Historic Deerfield is “New England as you hope to find it!” Located in western Massachusetts off Routs 5 and 10 in the 330-year old village of Deerfield, the Museum has been called “the gem of rural New England,” by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. This Museum of New England’s history and art welcomes visitors of all ages from around the world to Deerfield’s mile-long thoroughfare, simply called, “The Street.” The Museum features twelve houses dating to the 18th and 19th centuries and three exhibition galleries within the Flynt Center of Early New England Life. Historic Deerfield’s decorative arts treasures can be viewed on both the guided and self-guided tours. A full calendar of programs, special events, group tours and village walking tours are offered throughout the year. The Museum Store and Bookshop feature gifts for all occasions, museum reproductions and a wide selection of books about early America and the decorative arts. Open Daily, year round, 9:30-4:30 except Thanksgiving, Dec. 24 & 25.

Historic Northampton
46 Bridge Street
Northampton, MA
Phone: 413-584-6011

This group of historic structures includes the Damon House, the Shephard House and barn, and the Parsons House. Open seasonally.

Jones Library
43 Amity Street
Amherst, MA
Phone: 413-256-4090

Exhibits focus on Emily Dickenson and Robert Frost, two of Amherst's most distinguished residents.

Joseph Skinner Museum
35 Woodbridge Street
South Hadley, MA  01075  
Phone: 413-538-2245

Open: May through October, Wednesdays and Sundays, 2 p.m.-5 p.m.

Set in a church built in 1846, this museum features 19th-century glassware, furniture and musical instruments. An exhibit of locally unearthed minerals is also of interest. Admission is free.

Kingman Tavern Historical Museum
41 Main Street
Cummington, MA  01026  
Phone: 413-634-5527

Open: July and August, Saturday, 2-5 p.m.

Museum features an exhibit of miniature rooms and antique furniture. Open seasonally. Admission fee.

Memorial Hall Museum
8 Memorial Street
Deerfield, MA  01342  
Phone: 413-774-3768

Open: May 1-October 30

Occupying a building originally constructed in 1798 for Deerfield Academy, Memorial Hall Museum holds over 31,000 items and includes the Old Deerfield Children's Museum, offering family activities in a reproduction of a 1690s house. Exhibits focus on the life and world of an agricultural economy from the earliest Native Americans to the arrival of Europeans.

Merwin House
14 Main Street
Stockbridge, MA
Phone: 413-298-4703

Built in the early 19th century, this home features exhibits of historic furniture and household items. Open seasonally. There is an admission charge.

Mission House
19 Main St.
Stockbridge, MA  01262  
Phone: 413-298-3239

Built in 1739 and originally located atop Prospect Hill, this National Historic Landmark was disassembled, moved, and restored between 1926 and 1927. Landscape architect Fletcher Steele designed the Colonial Revival garden, which features a colonial-style dooryard garden of circular brick paths enclosed by a tidewater cypress fence. A replica of an old cobbler shop serves as the entrance to the property; a grape arbor in the Well Courtyard behind the house leads to a small Native American museum.
Hours: Memorial Day weekend to Columbus Day, daily, 10 a.m.- to 5 p.m. Fee charged.

Naumkeag
Prospect Hill Road
Stockbridge, MA  01262  
Phone: 413-298-3239
Fax: 413-298-5239

This 44-room house was the summer cottage of the Choate family, and features original furniture, ceramics, and artwork collected from America, Europe, and the Far East. Famous for its eight acres of terraced gardens and landscaped grounds, transformed from 1926 to 1956 into separate garden rooms such as the afternoon garden, rose garden, evergreen garden, Chinese garden, arborvitae walk, and linden walk. The most famous feature of the landscape is Steele’s Blue Steps, a series of deep blue fountain pools flanked by four flights of stairs overhung by birch trees.
Hours: Memorial Day to Columbus Day, daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission fee for non-members.

Old Greenfield Village
Route 2, along the Mohawk Trail
Greenfield, MA
Phone: 413-774-7138

The museum offers visitors a variety of shops, offices, and exhibits recreating a New England town as it appeared in 1895. Open seasonally. There is an admission fee.

Porter-Phelps-Huntington House Museum
130 River Drive
Hadley, MA  01035  
Phone: 413-584-4699

Open: May 15-October 15, Saturday through Wednesday, 1-4:30 p.m.; closed Thursdays and Fridays. Open mornings by appointment.

Historic house museum preserving the material possessions and papers of six generations of one of Hadley's founding families. Tours and interpretations of the house and its contents. Concert series and afternoon teas. There is an admission fee.