Chamber of Commerce
Downtown Lenox has a flavor of old New England and contemporary art. Italian families worked Berkshire marble here and blew glass in factories not long ago, and a young black photographer left home to make his name in the Harlem Renaissance. And glimmering New York families came here in early fall.
That Gilded Age influence still shows, and so does a quirky intelligence. Walking around the central square of streets, you’ll find olve oil rioja, and hand-died yarns, and Andrew DeVries’ bronze sculptures. Local shops group around Lilac Park and a new community garden near the Church on the Hill chapel.
I’ve spent winter mornings in sunny corner at the Lenox Coffee Shop, talking about women pioneers in early film and the man who stole the Mona Lisa. I’ve wandered into Patisserie Lenox in the early evening with Edith Wharton’s A Backward Glance and sat over an almond croissant, listening to music over the speakers — a sweet, sad voice I didn’t recognize, singing in French.
And I’ve spent many hours at The Bookstore, where Matt Tannembaum has been ‘serving the community since last Tuesday’ for more than 40 years. It’s a good place to look for Pablo Neruda’s Ode to a Large tuna in the Market, or a history of the Yiddish Book Center (in Amherst). And I’ve shared a glass of prosecco here on a summer night.
Boston University's Tanglewood Institute musicians perform at Tanglewood in Lenox. Press photo courtesy of Boston University.
A historic cannon guards one conrner of Lilac Park in Lenox.
Main Street in Lenox curves toward the Town Hall and the turn for Tanglewood.
The Church on the Hill Chapel and the Historical Society bask in the sun beside Lilac Park in downtown Lenox.
The Lenox Historical Society in the old Lenox Academy Building on the Main Street now owns a set of James Van Der Zee's photographs of Lenox.
Matt Tannenbaum has run the local independent bookstore (The Bookstore) in Lenox for more than 40 years.
Actors perform comedy outdoors at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox.
Suzy Frelinghuysen and George Morris' sunlit studio at the Frelinghuysen Morris House and Studio in Lenox. Photo courtesy of Kinney Frelinghuysen
