Hi Dave,

 

I created a farm-related tour for Naumkeag, in Stockbridge, MA last summer. Naumkeag was a Gilded-Age summe home belonging to a man named Joseph Choate (a cousin to the Choate school Choates and ambassador to England), and later, to his daughter Mabel. The house was designed by McKim, Mead and White, and it has spectacular gardens (probably the main draw there). But they also had a "gentleman's farm". The 1927 barn still stands on the property, but they had never made a serious attempt to interpret it. I researched the buildings and land use (they also once had a greenhouse and large vegetable gardens, also housing for the farm workers) and the lives of the people who worked on the farm, primarily using oral histories.

 

I used to be able to cite the mission of both Naumkeag and its parent organization, The Trustees of Reservations, but I can't remember much of it now beyond the word "enjoy". That word really struck me. The Choate family faced a fair amount of family tragedy, yet they sounded truly happy in all their memoirs and letters. I think their summer home had much to do with it. Similarly, visitors generally go there to have fun -- they stop there on their weekends away from work before their Tanglewood concerts, or they come with their garden club, or they bring their friends. The farm aspect was also there for the enjoyment of the Choates -- they loved to visit the baby animals in the early spring, they enjoyed the fresh butter and vegetables from the garden, and they had the milk shipped to them in New York City when they weren't at Naumkeag. I really tried to bring that out in the tour I created, while balancing with the fact that it was serious business to the people employed there.

 

The guided tour was the main focus of my internship. I also came up with two self-guided tour sheets -- one for adults that was just factual, and one from the perspective of a little kid who lived in the town that used to come up and play and help with small tasks. I don't know if these got taken up, but I know they continued the guided tour and are offering it once a week this summer.

 

I should add, too, that for several years they've been having a family event at the barn each summer. They have the barn open, they offer hayrides and face-painting, live (kid-friendly) music, and ice cream and other snacks. They have some farm-related activity sheets (word searches and things like that) but mostly, it's just a fun day.

 

I hope this helps. It's kind of a different perspective on farming, at any rate.

 

 

Kate Mockler
Curator of Collections and Interpretation
Oneida Community Mansion House
Oneida, NY 13421
www.oneidacommunity.com
(315) 363-0745