"Stonover", was developed by John Edward Parsons, counselor of the American Sugar Refining Company. The house was built, divided, moved, and rebuilt as death made changes in the family.
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| The house of the first minister for The Church of Lenox Hill-Top, the Rev. Samuel Munson, stood on the site of "Stonover". |
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| In 1885, the Valley Gleaner reported, "Mr. John E. Parsons' additions to his already sizable mansion are approaching completion with its adjuncts of stable, lodge house, forest, field, and beautiful outlooks over lake and mountain." |
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| "Stonover" Residence of Mr. John E. Parsons, LENOX, Mass |
By 1921 Architects Delano & Aldrich had transformed the grand Victorian landmark into a sophisticated French country house.
Architecture critic Augusta Owen Patterson described the new "Stonover" as one of "those smart smaller houses which are becoming, in our almost servant-less country, more popular every day." Describing the interior, Patterson wrote, "The core of the present house was a very old homestead, of which the architects took what they wanted and then proceeded to build rooms around it to produce the engaging results.
The clients were two conservation-minded sisters, Mary and Gertrude Parsons, who had inherited the stately old family house in Lenox from their father. They had long lived under stern paternal control. Now in their early 50's, the sisters began to enjoy their money. While still in mourning, they took off for China, motoring to distant exotic places in their chauffeur-driven car shipped from home. Back in Lenox, they began to plan a new country house with Delano & Aldrich.
Six years after the house was finished, her younger sister, Gertrude, died of pneumonia in Florence on a winter trip. Not long afterward, Mary's brother, Herbert Parsons, died in a freak accident while demonstrating a motorbike to his son at "Stonover Farm".
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| "STONOVER" RESIDENCE OF THE MISSES PARSONS, LENOX, MASSACHUSETTS DELANO & ALDRICH, ARCHITECTS |
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| Moving the old "Stonover" deeper into the property, the architects set it amid a grove of majestic elms. |
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| The new "Stonover" would be one of the last of the graciously appointed places built in the Berkshires before the Depression. |
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| Another view of the residence of Miss Mary and Miss Gertrude Parsons at Lenox shows how pleasantly it is set and how well it is embraced with trees. |
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| CONNECTING WALL TO ICE-HOUSE, GARAGES, ETC. |
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| The yellowish gray stucco of the house was trimmed a vivid blue around casement windows, French doors, dormers, and eaves. Flanked by a pair of box planters, the arched front door was trimmed with rough faced stone. |
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| Summertime parties spilled out onto the wide grass terrace, which wrapped around three sides of the house. A low stucco wall surrounded the terrace, forming a natural seat for extra guests. Two splendid stone urns graced the corners. Rambling roses tumbled over the wall and around the terrace doorways. |
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| GARDEN TERRACE |
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| DETAIL OF SOUTH FRONT. |
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| THE WHOLE SOUTH SIDE ON THE GROUND FLOOR IS OCCUPIED BY THE LIBRARY, FINISHED IN PANELLED BUTTERNUT. |
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| VIEW FROM TERRACE. |
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| TERRACE ON THE SOUTH SIDE. |
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| VIEW OF HOUSE FROM SOUTH. |
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| "STONOVER FARM" |
"Stonover Farm" was built in 1890 by John Parsons as the farm house for the Parsons' estate. At the turn of the century the farmhouse became the home of his son Herbert Parsons, a New York Congressman and his wife Elsie Crews (who was one of the first female anthropologists).
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| FARMHOUSE |
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| "STONOVER FARM" BED & BREAKFAST |
Although it was one of the most recently constructed, best-appointed, and well-maintained Lenox country houses, "Stonover" was not destined to long outlive its mistress. After Mary Parsons died in 1940, the next-door neighbors purchased the property to protect their own view and demolished the house.
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