By Clarence Fanto
The Berkshire Eagle Sep 10, 2026
LENOX — With a zoning board decision several weeks away, Elm Court’s developers are warning that part of the 1886 Cottage Era estate needs urgent restoration as they seek approval to turn the property into a luxury resort.
At a Lenox Zoning Board of Appeals hearing last month, project architect Pam Sandler warned of deterioration at the long-neglected Gilded Age estate on Old Stockbridge Road. Property owner and Vanderbilt Berkshires Estate lead investor Linda Law and her team acquired it in December 2022 for $8 million.
Elm Court project architect Pam Sandler, addressing the Lenox Zoning Board of Appeals and town residents last month, said the butlers’ wing of the 1886 Gilded Age mansion is “in dire need of immediate restoration, safeguards and repair.”
CLARENCE FANTO – THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE
Sandler, a Stockbridge-based historic building specialist who recently restored the town’s Old Town Hall as the new home for Berkshire Waldorf High School, called the Elm Court mansion “exceptional and irreplaceable.”
Although the main floor’s historic public rooms are well-preserved, she said, the butlers’ wing is “in dire need of immediate restoration, safeguards and repair.” Recent stabilization work has propped up the wing, and the building is not in immediate danger of collapsing, she acknowledged.
“I’m begging you to help us to make sure we don’t lose this treasure of a building,” Sandler told the board.
The developers propose a 112-unit resort, with 26 guest rooms in the manor house, 48 in four detached lodges and up to 38 single-family residences in a condominium association. Plans also include a 60-seat fine-dining restaurant open to the public and a 15,000-square-foot spa.
The project would cost an estimated $110 million to $120 million, including $70 million to $80 million for mansion restoration, Law told The Eagle at a previous meeting. If approved, she predicted, the resort would open by 2030.
All but three acres of the 89-acre site are in Stockbridge, where the Select Board approved the project in April. But the main entrance and road frontage are in Lenox, giving its zoning board authority over whether the development proceeds, Chairman Robert Fuster has said.
At the Aug. 19 hearing, Law also argued that the Berkshires is losing luxury travelers to New York’s Hudson Valley.
She asserted that the neighboring region has 11 high-end luxury resorts, compared with none in the Berkshires, and put the resulting loss in revenue at $30 million over the past decade.
“We need a five-star hotel really strongly and not be so naive as to rest on our laurels,” she said. “Hudson Valley is capturing the luxury travelers — and the millions they spend — that once belonged to the Berkshires.”
Access, traffic and the project’s effect on neighbors remain part of the board’s review.
The northern entrance would serve the manor house hotel and lodges, while the southern entrance would accommodate homeowners and deliveries, said Steven Mack, president and principal engineer of Foresight Land Services in Pittsfield. A loop road would connect the property, primarily for emergency services.
The project would also include new water and sewer lines serving the resort and the Old Stockbridge Road neighborhood from Hawthorne Street to Elm Court, Mack said. The developer would pay for the upgrades.
Elm Court estate owner and lead investor Linda Law told the Lenox ZBA and residents last month that without a five-star resort like the one she hopes to develop on Old Stockbridge Road, the Berkshires’ hospitality industry is losing out to the Hudson Valley’s high-end resorts.
CLARENCE FANTO – THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE
A traffic study projected a maximum of 44 additional vehicle trips during the weekday morning peak hour, 55 during the afternoon peak hour and 52 during the Saturday peak hour, said Katherine O’Shea, senior transportation engineer with Fuss & O’Neill in Springfield.
The study indicated minimal traffic delays or accident risks, she said. The Lenox Land Use Department has commissioned a peer review by Tighe & Bond in Westfield, to be presented at the next hearing.
If approved, the resort’s grounds would be open to the public, said the developers’ attorney, Jonathan Silverstein.
During public comment, neighbor Nair Revilla called the project too large, with too many negative effects on Lenox and too few benefits.
Abutter Michael Lucia contended that the developers are neglecting basic maintenance at the mansion.
He also said “it changes the nature of the neighborhood to have a private housing development that’s in Stockbridge, but in the Lenox neighborhood.”
Of the letters and emails received at Town Hall and posted on the ZBA website, 21 oppose the project and nine support it, including several from area business owners.
The board will resume its in-person-only public hearing Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall auditorium. A final decision meeting is expected Oct. 7 at the same time and location.
