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Katydid Cottage hearkens back to another age but has been completely renovated for modern living.

Friday Front Porch Feature: Katydid Cottage in Lee

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
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LEE, Mass. — Are you looking for a home with enough space for a big family? Then this is the house for you.

Our Friday Front Porch is a weekly feature spotlighting attractive homes for sale in Berkshire County. This week, we are showcasing a house at 850 Summer St.

The house was built in 1920 and exists as a free-standing condominium on the Fox Hollow campus with access to Laurel Lake. 
 
It features five bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms within its 2,800 square feet, along with a detached two-car garage. The structure has been completely renovated, with wood floors throughout, three bedrooms with en suites, and a bright and sunny kitchen with updated appliances.
 
The home has stacked bay windows and a turret room.
 
The 2013 renovation included new siding, insulation, replacement windows, central air conditioning. The house also received a new house generator in 2022 and a high-efficiency Viessmann natural gas boiler in 2023.
 
The asking price is $979,000. 

We spoke to Katie Williams from Stone House Properties, which has the listing.

What do you think makes this property stand out in the current market? 

From the central air-conditioning to a renovated kitchen, this property is truly move-in ready!

What was your first impression when you walked into the home? 

Bright! There is a ton of natural light coming through the 42 replacement windows throughout the house.

Do you know any unique stories about the home or its history? 

The Fox Hollow campus has a rich history dating back to the Gilded Age, when the property was once home to George Westinghouse of the Westinghouse Electric Co., and later the Vanderbilt family.

What kind of buyer do you see this home being perfect for? 

This home is perfect for someone who wants modern convenience alongside historic charm. 

Are there any standout design features or recent renovations?

The home was renovated top to bottom in 2012, including a new two-car garage and large sunny kitchen.

What would you say to a buyer trying to imagine their life in this space? 

The space is cozy yet spacious. There is plenty of room for guests, while still being comfortable for everyday living.

You can find out more about this house on its listing

*Front Porch Feature brings you an exclusive to some of the houses listed on our real estate page every week. Here we take a bit of a deeper dive into a certain house for sale and ask questions so you don't have to.

 





Tags: front porch,   Real Estate,   

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Pryor & Peacock's Whimsical Furniture Environmentally Friendly

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
 

The company uses digital printing to create the upholstery fabric, saving water and saving vintage furniture from ending up in landfills.

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — A unique furniture store has popped up on Elm Street this month.

Mom-and-daughter store Pryor & Peacock is hosting the pop-up storefront from Aug. 13 to Aug. 25 at 6 Elm. The New Marlborough business is co-founded by Rosalina Wright and Luca Shapiro, who is also the creative director. 

Their online shop was created in 2024 but they wanted people to see the pieces in person, so they're renting the space for a limited time before a long-term tenant moves in.

The store sources prints to create unique fabrics and reimagines vintage and antique furniture acquired at auctions, local shops, and online.

"We source prints from all over the world that date from the late 1600s up through mid-20th century, and Luca turns those prints into fabric by manipulating them, scanning them, oftentimes has to add or subtract things, and then we manufacture the fabric using only digital printing, which is very environmentally friendly, unlike traditional textile printing," Wright said.

Upholstering the furniture can take weeks of work. Shapiro looks for the perfect design for each piece and, if need be, uses Adobe Photoshop to extend the art work to fit or enhance the print.

"One of the most difficult parts comes in marrying the fabric to a piece of furniture because we only use antique and vintage frames also to be earth friendly, and they're also more beautiful and durable than new furniture," Wright said. "So the image has to go with the furniture, so that takes a lot of work."

One of Pryor & Peacock's missions is to be environmentally friendly. Digital printing doesn't use the same amount of water as traditional textile productions do nor does it contaminate water with ink according to their website.

Not only are they saving water, but they are saving furniture from going into the landfill while also using more durable furniture that doesn't break as easily as current pieces. They started their business to create something unique and to help the environment together.

"It's creating something nobody else is doing. People can't continue to buy throwaway furniture. Six percent of American landfills is furniture, and digital printing not only opens up the possibility of being able to put unique images on a piece of furniture, but it also is, as I said, environmentally friendly. So, for us, the excitement is to take an old East Lake settee that somebody's going to store in their barn and forget about, and make it something completely new and surprising," Wright said.

They hope their furniture helps bring a pop of fun to someone's home.

"We think our furniture is very whimsical and surprising, and most furniture today is oatmeal colored couches and gray neutral chairs, and it's boring," she said.

The two named their business after their mothers' maiden names to honor them and believe the name reflects their pieces.

Shapiro works in interior design outside of the business and the two liked working together and thought it would be great to start a business together. Shapiro says they can work well together and that her and her mother, Wright, has flipped houses before and have the same eye for design.

"So it's very easy for us to work together. When we see something, generally we agree on whether it works or doesn't work on a piece. We agree on the color schemes and that sort of thing. So it's very fun and fulfilling to work together," Shapiro said. 

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