Berkshire County: The Red Lion Inn --- 1773

Three years before our great country was founded, The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Massachusetts opened its doors. It's been a hub for local Berkshirians and visitors passing through the county ever since.

You can’t miss the grand, white colonial style home standing proudly at the entrance into town. In the afternoon, hotel guests and visitors dressed in country club attire create a lively scene on the front porch as they snack on hor d'oeuvres and sip cocktails.

The interior feels like the intimate yet ritzy residence of an upper middle class family from the 1800s. Teapots, handmade clocks, emerald green pharmaceutical bottles, porcelain plates, salt cellars, ornate tin containers, rusty glass jars and other unexpected trinkets fill every nook and cranny of the house; it’s a museum for antique-lovers and a playground for the imagination.

As you walk down the haunting halls, up narrow stairwells lined with fading floral wallpaper and unexpectedly find yourself in a room with no purpose, you can’t help but wonder what stories live within these walls.

On the first floor there’s a dark, musky tavern lined floor to ceiling with old cherry wood. It’s oddly quiet next to the garrulous dining room warmed by chatter and the clinking of silverware. 

The dusty light fixtures over the round tables shine through the open door into the bar creating a golden glow that contrasts with the shadowy surroundings.

The lion’s den lives in the basement of the property. It’s set up like a prohibition era speakeasy. There’s live music every night of the week from 9:00 p.m. to midnight. The entertainment ranges from mediocre local talent to the occasional swingin Jazz band. The menu isn’t phenomenal, but the experience as a whole is surreal.

When driving through the Berkshires, it often feels as though you’ve gone back in time. The illusion dissipates upon entrance into cafes and restaurants with a modern look, but in The Red Lion you can fully immerse in a fantasy as you enter into a world that’s hardly changed since 1773.