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Naumkeag House

4.4 (38 reviews)

Naumkeag House Photos

Recommended Reviews - Naumkeag House

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Reviews With Photos

Entrance to the grounds - 9/1/2025
Cam E.

Beautiful Gilded Age home of the Choate family built 1885 and well preserved. Gorgeous maintained gardens on 48 acres of land. Tour guides are well versed and very informative. Enjoy the glory of the estate, and many acquisitions of the Choate family home as they expanded their magnificent abode from the Gilded Age to modern times, when they decided to preserve the home and grounds in their entirety to the Trustees landmark organization. **$20 admission - tours are included ** Thank you!

Amanda A.

Not even an hour from albany. I had no idea this place existed. So fun. We went during the day but at night all the pumpkins are lit up. Ill definitely check it out next time at night. The house it not open for touring during the month of Oct is what I gather from the website. I'd probably come back smother time of the year to see the rest of the place.

Brittany C.

Came here for the Pumpkin Town trail! Parking was fairly easy as shuttle busses pick you up from a designated location in town. Our tickets were scanned once we were in line and before getting on the bus. The drive was about 4 minutes from the town hall parking lot to the Naumkeag House. BEAUTIFUL carved pumpkins through the home, both inside and out. The trail took about an hour to walk though, minus the star gazing we did. Concessions available also! Warm cider and a donut along with a cider mimosa was a nice treat

View of the cottage while walking up the hill
Carrie V.

This Gilded Age summer cottage in the Berkshires is absolutely beautiful. You can only tour part of the interior, but it gives you a great idea of what it was like over 100 years ago. The grounds are the big star here. There are multiple gardens throughout the property. Make sure to bring your walking shoes--the walk from the parking lot below up to the house can be steep. It is not handicapped accessible--if you have a dynamic disability and sometimes use mobility aids, you might need them. I wore my AFO on the day I visited and much appreciated having it. The Chinese Garden is, in particular, a serene hidden spot on the property. Take some time to just absorb it all. I do have a membership to The Trustees, so the self-guided tour was free. I highly recommend the membership, as it will gain you access to other Trustees properties, as well as companion historic homes and museums.

Monica B.

What a great experience visiting the Winter Lights display for Christmas 2024! The house was beautifully decorated and the piano player was truly magical. The gift shop, the staff , this whole experience was truly inspiring and I will drive again for 2 hours just to experience it again! Great job to the organizers!

Me in front of the waterfall.

Unusual and beautiful. The grounds are absolutely lovely! The waterfall must have been stunning, cascading down the hill as it does, although I have no idea when it was actually functioning.

Kathleen S.

Came here for the pumpkin show! It was a great time. Beautiful pumpkins all around. Also offer a concessions stand offering a lot of different beverages and snacks.

Naumkeag Winterlights
Karen P.

Awesome holiday lights 2022. Easy access via shuttle from Main Street and a beautiful light display. Lights refreshments and beverages enroute as well as a small firepit area to warmup!

Paula W.

Absolutely beautiful. We went to the winter lights and it was breathtaking. You walk through and it is amazing. You can also go through the house which is all decorated for Christmas. Very easy to get to, there is a shuttle bus from Main Street by the Red Lion Inn. This is something you MUST experience!

Lauren C.

Visiting this historic house was an amazing experience. I recommend it highly to anyone visiting the area. I took a guided tour of the house and did a self guided tour of the grounds and gardens. Our tour guide was a lot of fun. Her personality combined with fun details about the history of the house made for a great tour. It's really worth taking the inside tour at least once. The house is beautiful and has been maintained quite nicely. Some tours include the servants quarters upstairs. We learned not only some fun facts about the family that lived here but historic facts about the time period that were reflected in the different rooms of the house. The view here is absolutely breathtaking. Be sure to set aside some time to view the gardens and sit out on the back porch.

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16 days ago

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6 months ago

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9 months ago

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10 months ago

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8 months ago

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1 year ago

We had an amazing tour of the garden. The guide was so knowledgeable and engaging. I highly recommend spending time here.

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2 years ago

It's a beautiful house and their gardens are breathtaking. Take the tour of the house

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4 years ago

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11 years ago

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9 years ago

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7 years ago

I loved the house tour as it was more about the family with some history of the lifestyle of the time.

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8 years ago

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11 years ago

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11 years ago

Fun little stop along the way...the gardens are pretty and the house tour was nice. Julie was a great tour guide

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Ask the Community - Naumkeag House

Review Highlights - Naumkeag House

The Naumkeag is the summer cottage of Choate family in the late 19th and early 20th century in the Berkshires.

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The Mount

The Mount

4.6
(57 reviews)
3.3 mi

Took the tour. It feels like you are rushing through - so much information is given. The tour lasts…read moreand hour and it hardly seems enough to cover three floors of house. After the tour we were free to wander at our leisure. The gardens are well manicured. A video in the house shows the history of the property and photos of restoration inside and out. Gives a real appreciation of the restoration work done here. Amazing. The woodland path is lovely, shaded and serene. There were childrens programs going on along the path during our wander. There is also a sculpture event happening with pieces scattered along the paths. Park in the dirt lot by the stables where you can purchase tickets and watch an orientation video. It's about a five minute walk to the house from here. A book walk begins here too-a series of signs, each one page of a childrens book. If you need handicap parking, buy tickets online, drive past the stable and park near the house. Very informative tour. An abunfance of information throughout the house. Cafe with prepared food on the terrace overlooking the grounds. Plan to spend two to three hours.

Checked out the grounds while staying in the area. This is a beautiful and relaxing spot to walk…read morearound. There's also a trail system behind the main house, which is well worth exploring. Plenty of benches to stop and enjoy the gardens. Look forward to returning here to tour the interior.

Photos
Dining room
Dining room
The Mount
Trails

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Trails
Chesterwood

Chesterwood

4.6
(14 reviews)
1.9 mi

Really lovely and understated estate/museum to visit in an area rich in those, Chesterwood is…read moredefinitely worth a visit. Daniel Chester French was the sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial, and there's a smaller version of the famous sculpture here in his studio. The house he resided in is well-maintained and is quite lovely. The tour guide was informative and friendly. The house tour is worth the admission but the views of the valley puts it over. The garden where the studio is has a nice fountain. I had to leave just before the end of the tour. With the tour, try to have at least a couple of hours so you can get the full feel of the estate.

I was up in the Berkshires the other week and found out about Chesterwood whilst searching online…read morefor music and poetry events. Turns out they had an hour long poetry reading event curated by Voices of Poetry, an amazing poetry group run by Neil Silberblatt. I drive in, parked in the free lot, bought a ticket in the main building and explored for a bit before the event began. The poetry reading featured Chard di Niord (poet laureate of Vermont), Patrick Donnelly (director of the Poetry Center at the Frost Place), Shanta Lee (recipient of the Arthur Williams Award for Meritorious Service to the Arts), Hilde Weisert, winner, 2017 Gretchen Warren Award (New England Poetry Club) & 2016 Tiferet Journal Poetry Award. Every single poet was super talented and covered a large range of topics. Now I've been to my fair share of poetry readings however the talent and environment here really set this one apart. The backdrop and setting of the grounds is absolutely gorgeous. There is a short trail that you can hike and also plenty of beautiful walking paths, with plenty of sculptures, artwork, fountains and incredible trees/flowers for your viewing pleasure.

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Chesterwood
Chesterwood
Chesterwood

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Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum

Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum

3.0
(7 reviews)
5.7 mi

Cute if you're in the area - no long train rides but they do little minute long rides and blow the…read morehorn which is fun. Very pretty overlooking the pond out back. The little museum inside the old train station is cute, not a ton to see but it is interesting to learn about the trains in the yard. $5 for adults

Apparently a review for the BSRM could mean the museum itself, the old train ride (pre-2016), or…read morenew train ride out of North Adams, MA (2016+). Having heard that it was scheduled to open, I tried to go in 2015 but they apparently only had one weekend of trips. So, when they announced a scheduled run in 2016 the same weekend as my birthday (Memorial Day) I jumped on it. I am a train nut, so even a bad train yet will still garner a couple of stars here. However, based on our trip in May I can only give it three. Here is why: 1.) It was HOT. VERY HOT. Riding in the train/RDC with no air conditioning, or the ability to open windows, led to most people on our train ride being very uncomfortable. People were visibly sweating. No water was sold on the train, which would have helped. Waiting for the train, there wasn't a "station" of sorts so people gathered in line on the ballast in whatever shade could be found. The only breeze came when the train was moving through the front and rear door, but it just isn't enough. An open riding car would help a lot. And that was just May. 2.) A conductor read from a script about the things we were passing by as the train rolled along. It was nice, but it was hard to hear, even though the entire train is one car long! The speakers need to be turned up. BUT... he also read for nearly the entire trip. Without stopping. It was just a wall of noise that we tried to tune out as we wanted to talk on the train, not listen to someone read something for 80 minutes or so. On the return trip, it seemed like (from the bits and pieces we could make out) that he was just reading the paper in reverse. Some interesting commentary is nice, but it needs to be cut back and louder. I hope they do well. I have heard that the AC was repaired, which would be great. Also, the scenery was less than spectacular (some old factories, some old roads, some trees, etc.) but perhaps in the fall when the leaves change colors it would be really nice I bet. I probably would come back and ride it, but as train rides go it wasn't one of the better ones.

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Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum
Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum
Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum

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Animagic Museum of Animation Special Effects & Art

Animagic Museum of Animation Special Effects & Art

4.1
(26 reviews)
3.6 mi

I'll second that this is totally the place for a beginner and kids will thoroughly enjoy…read morethemselves. Eugene Mamut has an interesting collection of special effects, and asked some good questions of my 6 year old to let him explain what was going on with each. He showed us some differences between different styles of animation. The video that W made was uploaded on his website for sharing and Will had a great time!

I was researching things to do in the Berkshires while my classmates and I were vacationing. This…read morepeaked our interest as we're all tech-fascinated people, and my husband was an animation major. It's a free museum visit, but because it's privately run, you have to call them and make special arrangements for them to come and open the museum. The pros: you get a private tour, and hours aren't limited to your usual 9-5. The cons: since it's only run by 2 people, you're really at their mercy when you show up and they may or may not be on there way there still. Admittedly it's nothing fancy, but if you're legitimately into animation, it's a really fun casual tour. They go very old school on some animation techniques. They have a gift shop with some animation trinkets you can buy. For extra money if you have time, you can also create your own animation with them. We opted out of that one. If you're in the area anyway, it's a great place to stop by. Otherwise, I wouldn't go out of your way to travel to the area just for this.

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Animagic Museum of Animation Special Effects & Art
Located across the street from Lee Library and a Church
Located across the street from Lee Library and a Church
Mass Illusion was a special effects studio in the Berkshires

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Mass Illusion was a special effects studio in the Berkshires

Naumkeag House - museums - Updated June 2026

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