A Museum You Can Spend the Night In(n)
As we entered the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Massachusetts on our last night in New England, we were greeted by a peculiar scene. A long expanse of red carpeting stretched out in front of us. To our right was an old card table, set to play, on our left an antique, painted carousel horse stood caddy corner and an odd portrait of a cat in a suit labeled “Simon Treadway Gato, Lobby Ambassador,” hung on the wall. As we continued forward, each room and every hallway, was packed with antique rockers, pianos, high chests, dishes, portraits, and plain-old-tchotchkes. A few of us turned to each other almost immediately, “We have to explore this place!”
Image: Exterior of the Red Lion Inn; image courtesy of Red Lion Inn
Image: The game table that greets guests upon arrival; image courtesy of Red Lion Inn.
Image: Portrait of Simon Treadway Gato, Feline Lobby Ambassador; it hangs on the wall of the Red Lion Inn in the lobby amongst the many other collection objects.
The Red Lion Inn was opened as a tavern by Silas Pepoon in 1773. Originally called The Stockbridge House — despite the red lion on its sign — the space continued to operate as an inn, tavern and community meeting place for nearly a century. In 1862, the inn was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Plumb, passionate antiques collectors. They expanded the inn significantly to accommodate more guests, changed the name to Ye Red Lion Inn and filled the spaces with the furniture, ceramics, metals and even some of the fabrics we still see today. It was therefore, the Plumb family who gave the Inn its unique colonial revival mixed with Victorian aesthetic. As for Simon Treadway Gato, his name references Mr. Plumb’s nephew Allen T. Treadway, whose family owned and operated the hotel for nearly a century.
Armed with our history, we set out to explore Mrs. Plumb’s collection. We wandered down every hallway, on every floor and into every corner. We came across chests of drawers, Belter sofas, needlepoint upholstered chairs, portraits and tapestries, curios filled with ceramics, metals, hats, dolls, books and even a Theodore Roosevelt banner. Most importantly, we took the opportunity to touch, open and sit on everything!
Image: Becca, taking the opportunity to sit in a Belter chair — “it’s actually pretty comfy for my height!”
Image: Becca posing beside a Theodore Roosevelt banner, one of the many objects hanging in the Red Lion hallways.
Although we have handling privileges at Winterthur and are often allowed to touch at the museums we visit, we’re never allowed to sit in, to sleep in, or use the furniture. But without being able to interact with the materials we study in this way, we miss a crucial aspect of how these objects functioned in the past – it’s great to have a chair, but what did it feel like to use it? Was it comfortable? Did you have to sit in it straight up, or could you lean? How did it feel if you’re a just a 5-foot shorty like me?
Though we have found on our travels that a number of museums and historic sites are starting to recognize the importance of engaging with the past through touch (the Dennis Seavers House in London, Billings Farm & Museum in Vermont and the Thomas Cole House in New York, all allow visitors to sit in, touch, or move around certain exhibit spaces), rarely are you turned loose in a collection as large as Mrs. Plumb’s, with permission to play with anything. The Red Lion Inn, therefore, not only offers a comfortable night’s sleep and some delicious restaurants, but more importantly, a relaxing environment for the general public to engage with the past. They are welcome and encouraged to interact with objects and history organically. They can rock in the chairs with a good book, ride in the “birdcage” style Otis elevator, play the piano, take selfies with the portraits, or simply just unpack their bags, filling the drawers of the antique chests with their own clothes.
On most of our trips, lodging does not play a major role in our learning – other than whether we spend our evenings preparing for the next day by the pool or on the couch. However, the opportunity to stay in the Red Lion Inn and quite literally sleep in a museum-worthy collection, shaped my understanding of material culture just as greatly as any of our daytime stops.
Image: And if Stockbridge, MA, is too far for you, you can also touch and test out antique furniture at the Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC. Grove Park Inn was outfitted by the Roycrofters in a full suite of Arts and Crafts style furniture in the early 20th century. We got to visit and sit in real Roycroft chairs earlier this summer on the Southern Trip, as Becca is here.
By Becca Duffy, WPAMC Class of 2018
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