Edith Wharton's Estate: the Mount, Lenox, MA
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JULY 1, 2019 EDITH WHARTON'S ADIRONDACK GIRL @ HEART THE MOUNT, LENOX, MA VISIT: The Mount 2 Plunkett Street Lenox, MA 01267 413-551-5111 [email protected] SPOTLIGHT ON: Edith Wharton The first woman to win a Pulitzer (for her novel The Age of Innocence), Wharton wrote more than 40 books in 40 years, both fiction and non. Books that Became Movies: Edith Wharton, a celebrated, early 20th century The House of Mirth (2000) author, grew up in a wealthy NYC family and spent The Reef (1999, made for TV) her youth traveling Europe. She would be strongly The Buccaneers (1995, made for TV) influenced by its art, landscape design, and The Age of Innocence (1993) architecture--subjects that remained important to Ethan Frome (1993) her throughout her lifetime. The Children (1990)+ Fifteen years into her marriage, she designed a The Real Edith Wharton home (and gardens) in Lenox, calling it The Mount She reportedly delighted in referring (1902). She "lived and gardened and wrote to herself as a "self-made man"(!). contentedly there" for ten years (edithwharton.org). In her book, The Decoration of Houses, she put forth the notion that the interior decoration of a home, its architecture, and its grounds have something of a symbiotic relationship. In fact, she went so far as to suggest that "house decoration" should be considered a branch of architecture. Read the full blog post and see interior & garden photos HERE. She co-authored the well-regarded I am amazed at the success of my efforts. book, The Decoration of Houses Decidedly, I’m a better landscape gardener than (1897), with Ogden Codman, Jr. novelist, and this place [The Mount], every line of an accomplished architect. It inspired the direction of American which is my own work, far surpasses The House design for many years. of Mirth (Edith Wharton)..