Category Archives: Berkshire Vanderbilt Estate

Who Benefits?

More astute questions, as posed in a letter to the Stockbridge Selectboard from another Old Stockbridge Road resident with a long history of service on behalf of the community, Barney Edmonds:

I would like to share some thoughts and raise some questions about the new Elm Court proposal you are now reviewing.

1. As you know, Beals Associates’ peer review called the proposal “excellent” and praised the “professionalism” of the team presenting it. But that’s not why they were hired. They were tasked with deciding whether the old building permit should stand as is or would a new amended permit be required.

After a thorough review of both the original and new proposals, Beals recommended that a new permit was necessary.

The old permit was for a four-story hotel annexed to the mansion. This new proposal calls for twelve separate lodges with four hotel rooms each along with 38 stand-alone condos. The original proposal was for one structure; this new one calls for fifty. Both propose to renovate a number of rooms in the mansion and provide a spa and restaurant. The old proposal took full advantage of the current landscape; this new one wants to change it. Beals reported that the new proposal would alter 40 acres of Olmstead’s landscape; the original one would disrupt only four acres … a ten-fold change.

2. We may live at the northern edge of town but Stockbridge has been our only home for 28 years. My wife was on the Laurel Hill Association board for seven years and served on the Parks and Recreation Commission for a couple of years and I have been on the Housing Authority for fourteen years. We feel part of Stockbridge and care about its future and worry about the loss of open space, a huge increase in transients, and the impact on the environment and the character of our neighborhood with a project of this scope and size.

None of the Select board, nor the Town Administrator, nor the town’s attorney lives near us on Old Stockbridge Road. No one on the developer’s team, as far as can be determined, lives in Stockbridge. Most of them don’t even live in the Berkshires. Yet you all feel qualified to determine the future character of our neighborhood.

3. We went through the same situation more than a dozen years ago with Denver-based Amstar/Travaasa. In Clarence Fanto’s recent article, he mentioned that the original developer “eventually abandoned the project following years of litigation and the Covid pandemic.” That is not the whole truth. Amstar was unable to attract investors and raise the necessary tens of millions of dollars to proceed. They took a loss and sold the property to this new developer who estimates they’ll need 70 to 80 million dollars to proceed.

What evidence is offered in their 730 page proposal that their company, an LLC, has the resources and/or the access to these tens of millions of dollars? When Amstar bought Elm Court they already owned a 3.5 billion dollar real estate portfolio which included over a dozen resorts. This developer, as far as can be known, owns and manages no other resorts or commercial real estate. What if, after razing existing buildings and tearing up the landscape, they fail to raise the necessary money?

4. While the development team has shown enormous respect and admiration for the historic role of Elm Court, they have already dropped its name. It’s now Vanderbilt Berkshires Estates. Although the team presents itself as deeply committed to being good shepherds and conservationists, they have done little in the years they’ve owned the property to repair/replace the front border stone wall which, in places, is falling apart. They have also ignored many of the stumps around the mansion and the old maples which need an arborist’s attention. And, like the previous owners, they have deferred maintenance on most of Elm Court’s outbuildings. I have no idea regarding the condition of the interior and basement.

5. Has the Select Board had an opportunity to ask Linda Law about Blantyre, her previous Berkshire resort? I remember, in 2017, reading about her passion for revitalizing Blantyre which she had just bought for almost $7 million. Then, in 2020, she won a special permit to add many hotel lodges and stand-alone condos to expand Blantyre. In 2021, according to The Berkshire Eagle, she sold the property including the permit for about $15 million. Some people might call that flipping, others might see it as smart dealing. Either way, Blantyre hasn’t been open for the past two years and looks partially boarded up and abandoned.

As the Berkshires continues to promote itself as a tourist attraction, Blantyre and now Wheatleigh — two luxury resort properties built around beautiful “cottages” — are shuttered. At the same time, the number of short-term rentals from companies like Airbnb are proliferating and attracting customers who previously went to these now-empty resorts. What will happen when our economy enters another recession and disposable income drops? Is this proposed project exactly what our town needs? Who will benefit? Prudence is called for, not greed.

A proposal of such magnitude, with potentially negative consequences for both the environment and the neighborhood, requires a thorough review that provides answers to all of the above questions.

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Let Them Eat Cake

As of today, Linda S. Law and her “team” have still not made any effort to reach out to the neighborhood for open, honest dialogue regarding her “killer” plan to build a large number of luxury villas & condos on the grounds of Elm Court.

She is, however, reaching out to those she apparently feels are more consequential than mere neighbors. As relayed from the website of the Harvard Club of Western Massachusetts:

Alas, there appears to be no such thing as a Free High Tea; tickets are for sale, thus designating the event as a commercial activity:

We note that a cease & desist order issued in 2012 by the Stockbridge Building Inspector remains in effect.

Has Ms. Law received all the relevant permits for her commercial fundraising event, including a one-day liquor license for the “champagne punch”?

Has she made the requisite repairs to assure that members of the public (or at least paying customers with tickets!) are safe & sound while enjoying their “sweet & savory delectables”?

We know for sure that at least some direct abutters have not been properly and respectfully notified. We also know that her preference for secrecy and arrogant disregard for the neighborhood is bound to breed suspicion and distrust.

As we have maintained for over a decade, maximum honesty and transparency are always in the public interest. An owner who cranks up the fog machine, obscured ever more darkly through PR campaigns, does not bode well for this “next chapter”.

Sour Ethers Among the Falling Leaves

What is it about Elm Court (now rebranded as Vanderbilt Berkshires Estate) that seems to bring out lack of transparency from its owners? Is it moldy air inside the mansion, or what?

Primary among our concerns: why, given the acrimony, misinformation and outright hostility that marred the previous chapter of ownership, has Linda S. Law not reached out to the neighborhood, despite several open invitations, made in good faith? Would such dialogue not be in her best interests? Might she not actually learn something about the character of Old Stockbridge Road, and its longtime residents, including those who live on former Gilded Age estates?

First, we relay a Letter to the Editor published in the Berkshire Eagle, written by neighborhood resident, Mr. Wayne Lemanski:

To the editor: As a neighbor of Elm Court, I read with interest Linda Law’s plan to bring a “bright light shining over Lenox.” (“Historic Elm Court has been rebranded Vanderbilt Berkshires Estate. What’s next for the Gilded Age mansion?” Eagle, Oct. 3.)

After purchasing a property that will have a significant impact on a neighborhood, you would think a successful real estate entrepreneur would touch base with the neighbors: introduce yourselves, let neighbors know you plans, how it will effect them and most important to the developer, begin to gain support for the project.

Having owned the property for close to 10 months, the owners have failed to reach out. Lack of neighborhood support killed the Travaasa project, and I would predict Vanderbilt in the Berkshires would face the same outcome. So maybe Linda Law is right to have an extremely pessimistic nature.

Then comes Linda S. Law’s response:

To the editor: As the community recognizes, Elm Court is steeped in a magnificent history over the course of the last 130-plus years.

It has both risen and fallen throughout the decades as a product of both care and neglect. Most recently, Travaasa proposed a plan over the course of 10-plus years that became mired in cost and time and created a groundswell of discontent on Old Stockbridge Road. This discontent was so contentious that emotions became the fuel for litigation that served no one productively.

Our efforts to date have been to carefully and calmly complete a substantive due diligence review on Elm Court’s current conditions while keeping a keen eye on it’s future. (“Historic Elm Court has been rebranded Vanderbilt Berkshires Estate. What’s next for the Gilded Age mansion?” Eagle, Oct. 3.) It remains abundantly clear to those of us who have the courage to rescue such an iconic property that it is essential to first fully understand all of the pressures that face any entity that accepts this responsibility. This process is time consuming.

I appreciate Wayne Lemanski’s point of view and agree that the neighborhood support is an integral component to its success. (“Letter: Elm Court’s new owners should do more community outreach,” Eagle, Oct. 5.) Elm Court’s success will also be ensured if the broader communities of Stockbridge and Lenox continue to be supportive and to partner with us at every opportunity to save this exceptional property. This combined commitment will ensure a pathway forward amidst astronomical costs and hurdles. I promise you, Mr. Lemanski, that your name is on our list when the invitations are extended.

We note there is no longer any pie-flying-through-sky talk of “bright lights” and “global beacons”. No, now there is the harsh reality of “astronomical costs and hurdles.”

Far from something “nobody has thought of before” nor something that is “accretive to the community,” to quote Ms. Law from an earlier sales talk, we are now anticipating a typical intensive residential and rental-unit development designed to squeeze every last dollar from those eighty nine acres and from the rotting manse.

As she also said recently, ‘’I think what we’re cooking up is going to be a killer.” Here we go again.

Fresh Vision

As reported recently in the Berkshire Eagle, “Front Yard LLC” (Amstar) has finally managed to attract a buyer for its distressed Elm Court property, for the exact amount of the promissory note (0% APR!) that had been held by Elm Court Realty LLC (Robert and Sonya Berle) since 2012: $8,000,000.

So ends the sad chapter of “cradle to grave” (their term, not ours) real estate speculators, and their ill-fated attempt to steamroll a neighborhood while bamboozling local boards with the tantalizing promise of joining a lucrative “world class wellness resort brand” that sounds like a spin-off from The White Lotus: Travaasa.

Where is Travaasa now? Maui, sold. Austin, sold. Berkshires, finally sold. Their tacky plan to attract investors for what was essentially a generic four-story motel using the disintegrating mansion as a Gilded Age fig leaf finally fades to black. It seems that sometimes you get the cradle, and sometimes the grave.

Now comes Linda Law, a new owner with a fresh & promising vision, an investor with experience in restoration and renovation (Blantyre), one who clearly treasures the historic character and cultural legacy of the Berkshires. She speaks of conducting extensive architectural research, and of a deeply felt duty of care. She also expresses the aspiration to recover “vibrancy,” and suggests a use that is “accretive to the community”. As a primary goal, she wants Elm Court to “shine a bright light globally, and be a beacon for Lenox, Stockbridge and the entire Berkshire region.”

Following the grim saga of Amstar, we welcome such a vivid and positive vision, and hope that she sees our neighborhood (her new neighbors) as potential sources of creativity, collaboration and support. Nobody cares about the distinctive character and rich history of Old Stockbridge Road more than the people who live here.

As for beacons of light during our deepening climate emergency, for further inspiration she may want to research the extraordinary non-profit Shelburne Farms, sited along the shores of Lake Champlain, once owned by a different set of heirs to the same Robber Baron fortune, and now the highly respected global leader in place-based, farm-based and sustainability education .

As relayed from their website:

Shelburne Farms is an education nonprofit on a mission to inspire and cultivate learning for a sustainable future. We believe that transformative learning experiences sow the seeds for a thriving and more just world. Our work seeks to create the space, spark the conversations, and share the stories to inspire educators, students, and learners of all ages to build a better future for everyone.

Sounds eminently “Berkshires” to us!

THE INN AT SHELBURNE FARMS