Elm Court is a former Vanderbilt mansion located on Old Stockbridge Road, straddling the town line between Lenox and Stockbridge , Massachusetts . It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and until July 2012 was owned and operated as a hotel by descendants of the original owners.
21-669: Elm Court may refer to: Elm Court (Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts) , straddles Lenox/Stockbridge line, is listed on the NRHP in Massachusetts Elm Court (Butler, Pennsylvania) , listed on the NRHP in Butler County, Pennsylvania Elm Court (Newport, Rhode Island) , a Gilded Age mansion in Newport. Elm Street Court , Urbana, Illinois Topics referred to by
42-578: A Cuban-American , is a native of Miami , Florida . When Vila was a child, his father built the family home by hand. Vila graduated from Miami Jackson High School and studied journalism at the University of Florida . After graduating, he served as a volunteer in the Peace Corps , working in Panama in the late 1960s. He then went to Europe for two years to study and travel, before returning to
63-418: A major restoration effort, repairing original details and adding new wiring, plumbing, heating, and opened the property as a luxury Inn while portions of the home remained a work in progress with restoration. In August 2005, the estate - with the manor house, greenhouse, carriage house and cottage - was placed on the market for sale for an asking price of $ 21,500,000 on 90 acres (360,000 m ). By comparison
84-461: A weekly syndicated home-improvement program. His series ran for 16 seasons in syndication before it was canceled by distributor CBS Television Distribution due to declining ratings; the series remains in reruns and on the PlutoTV streaming service. His relationship with Rickel was also short lived, as he was signed to an endorsement deal with Sears in 1990 to pitch their line of Craftsman tools ;
105-514: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Elm Court (Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts) Elm Court was built as the Berkshire summer home of William Douglas Sloane and Emily Thorn Vanderbilt , a member of the wealthy American Vanderbilt family . Designed by premier architectural firm Peabody and Stearns , with gardens and landscape design by Frederick Law Olmsted , Elm Court
126-533: Is the largest Shingle style house in the United States, with 106 rooms. Upon the passing of Emily in 1946, then owners Colonel Helm George Wilde and his wife Marjorie Field Wilde (great-granddaughter of William H. Vanderbilt ) opened Elm Court in 1948 as an Inn (Elm Court Club, Inc.) with an accommodation for up to 60 people. Dancing and dinner open to the public Saturday nights made for a popular spot for many years. Knott Hotels Corporation were retained as
147-545: The Home Shopping Network selling a range of tools under his own name brand that he founded in 2016. Bob Vila's less widely known productions include: Guide to Historic Homes of America (1996), In Search of Palladio (1996) for A&E , and Restore America for HGTV . The Guide to Historic Homes of America (1996) included two-hour segments on each of four major regions of the United States:
168-683: The Northeast (including New England and the Mid-Atlantic States ), the South , the Midwest , and the West . In Search of Palladio (1996) was a three-part, six-hour study of the work and lasting influence of the 16th-century architect Andrea Palladio . Palladio designed various types of buildings, but the series concentrates on his domestic architecture. (see also: Palladian Villas of
189-730: The Elm Court passed to his daughter Lila Wilde Berle of Stockbridge. Lila's husband, Peter A. A. Berle (1937–2007), was a highly respected environmentalist, New York State assemblyman , commissioner of the State Department of Environmental Conservation and president of the National Audubon Society She in turn sold the estate in 1999 to her son, Robert Berle, great-great-grandson of the Sloanes, and his wife, Sonya, for just under $ 1 million. They undertook
210-590: The US and enrolling at the Boston Architectural Center. Vila was hired as the host of This Old House in 1979, after receiving the “Heritage House of 1978” award by Better Homes and Gardens , for his restoration of a Victorian Italianate house in Newton , Massachusetts . On This Old House , Vila appeared with carpenter Norm Abram as they, and others, renovated houses. In 1989, he left
231-430: The family of its original owners. Robert Berle is a descendant of William Douglas Sloane and Emily Vanderbilt. A $ 50 million renovation of the property was due to take place in 2020. These plans were not realized and the property was again for sale as of November 2020. The estate was purchased from the existing Colorado-based company in 2022 with new ownership, Vanderbilt Berkshires Estate, LLC, committed to restoring
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#1732787298031252-462: The highest price for any Berkshire County property sold was recorded January, 2007 for Southmayd Farm for $ 6.9 million The property's asking price was reduced to $ 17.5 million in July 2006 and a contract was signed for sale to a Florida-based hotel business ('The Kessler Collection'). However that deal fell through and was mutually terminated by both parties. Last listed at $ 14 million, it was taken off
273-477: The house was largely left merely locked up but intact as it had been in 1959. Unoccupied, secluded, and only lightly patrolled, it fell prey over the years to massive vandalism, outright looting, some arson, and a general derelict state by the end of the 20th century. The massive elm tree on the grounds, for which the property was named died in March of 1953 of Dutch Elm disease. Upon the death of George Wilde in 1998,
294-527: The market at the end of 2006. In the Spring of 2010, the Town of Stockbridge approved a permit for an 18-room hotel in the mansion. The Town of Lenox approved a sign permit for the property in the summer of 2010. These permits are in addition to the restaurant permit for the original horse stable, already in place. (Town of Stockbridge, MA; Board of Selectmen Special Permit Hearing January 6, 2003). In July 2012 it
315-469: The operators of the Inn. The Wildes - who also owned the neighboring 1,300-acre (5.3 km ) High Lawn manor (designed by Delano and Aldrich ) and farm - pursued the Inn concept in order to preserve the estate and provide summer employment for the area's many teachers. The Inn eventually faltered and due to overwhelming operational costs, the house shuttered in 1959. While some fine furnishings were removed,
336-426: The relationship ended acrimoniously in 2006 following a lawsuit settlement. Vila also appeared on three episodes of the situation comedy Home Improvement during 1992 and 1993 as himself on Tool Time , the fictional show within the sitcom, where main character and cable TV host Tim Taylor (played by Tim Allen ) saw him as a rival, and made futile attempts to outdo Vila. Contrary to Home Improvement , when Allen
357-415: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Elm Court . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elm_Court&oldid=1145732011 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
378-428: The show following a disagreement arising from his involvement with outside commercial endorsements for New Jersey –based Rickel Home Centers , and the subsequent retaliatory pulling of underwriting by Rickel's competitor, Home Depot , and lumber supplier Weyerhaeuser . He was replaced by Steve Thomas . After leaving This Old House , Vila began hosting Bob Vila's Home Again (renamed to simply Bob Vila in 2005),
399-551: The vibrancy of this treasured landmark with the next incarnation of this legacy property. In 2004 Bob Vila 's television show 'Home Again' did a multi-segment visit to Elm Court with the Berle family. BVTV - Home Again 'Introducing Elm Court' 3 min 46 sec Bob Vila Robert Joseph Vila (born June 20, 1946) is an American home improvement television show host known for This Old House (1979–1989), Bob Vila's Home Again (1990–2005), and Bob Vila (2005–2007). Vila,
420-535: Was announced that the property in its entirety (55,000-square foot mansion on 89 acres) was sold to a Colorado-based group for $ 9.8 million for a proposed 112-room hotel, which included a spa and restaurant component. That is believed to be the highest price paid for a residential property in Berkshire County history. Prior to this, Elm Court had been the last of the Berkshire cottages to have remained in
441-414: Was interviewed by Nintendo Power and asked if he could make a video game, Allen proposed one about aspects of carpentry, and the end scene would be the player being featured on Bob Vila's Home Again . Vila made a cameo in the 1993 comedy spoof Hot Shots! Part Deux . Vila has written 10 books, including a five-book series titled Bob Vila's Guide to Historic Homes of America . Vila has appeared on
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