Mid-century modern defies tradition in Berkshire holiday town
58 GLENDALE ROAD, STOCKBRIDGE
Norman Rockwell’s 1967 illustration “Home for Christmas” showed the world the delights of spending the holidays in Stockbridge, a Berkshire County town that has a Main Street lined with beautiful Federal-style and Georgian Revival homes and beloved businesses like the historic Red Lion Inn.
Our Home of the Week is some 4 miles from the inn and decades removed in architectural style. The 2015 mid-century modern sits atop the crown of a wooded 1.77-acre lot near the Housatonic River. It was a dream respite for a couple from Dallas and the work of local architect Stephen Gerard Dietemann, who fulfilled their wish for an environmentally friendly home for them and their many guests from Texas.
“They also wanted a contemporary, playful look and feel, with low-maintenance materials to limit the amount of work needed,” Dietemann wrote in a description of the home. “Finally, they wanted an energy-conscious house that would be cool in the summer and warm in the winter with the least use of fossil fuels possible given site conditions. It was decided to go for an Energy Star Tier 2 rating.”
The driveway ascends the hill to a two-vehicle carport with storage. A stone slab porch directs one to a pair of glass doors, allowing natural light to flood into the home and all eyes inside to gaze out at the natural surroundings without obstacle.
The doors open into a small foyer. A closet, a storage room, and a third bedroom with a Murphy bed are on the right. All three bedrooms extend off the main living spaces, which form a long and rectangular open layout with white walls, recessed lighting, and a concrete floor with radiant heat. One can see from the foyer all the way to the other side of the house.
First up in this 2,119-square-foot, onestory home is the living room, which has a picture window without muntins to break up the view. The home’s second bedroom, and the full bath it shares with the third through connecting doors, are off this space. The bath comes with tile flooring, a floating vanity, and a shower/tub combination. A closet outside the secondary bedrooms houses the stacked washer and dryer. The living room flows into the kitchen and dining area. The kitchen area is shaped like a C and offers a square island with a propane stove, cabinetry, open shelving, and seating. The stainless steel exhaust fan is a tube that descends periscope-like from the ceiling. The kitchen offers a variety of storage, from the doubledoor pantry to the banks of smooth-front white cabinetry to the open upper shelving. The sink sits under a trio of windows overlooking the rear of the property. The appliances are stainless.
The dining space is lined with double rows of windows and a slider overlooking a patio. A long dining table is currently positioned under a ceiling fan.
A short hallway connects the kitchen/dining space and the family room. Sliders in the dining area and family room open to a screen porch, a great, wood-clad spot that would be ideal for entertaining and enjoying the surroundings of the expansive lot.
The family room features a wood-burning fireplace. Windows that run nearly floor to ceiling flank it.
The family room shares this end of the home with the primary suite. The bedroom has a slider to a deck. All of the bedrooms have maple flooring.
The en-suite bath includes a walk-in closet and, behind a pocket door, a water closet with a floating vanity. The bath also comes with a soaking tub, a standalone shower with subway tile set in a modern vertical stack, ceramic tile flooring, and a second floating vanity.
Rose Baumann of Wheeler & Taylor Real Estate in Great Barrington has the listing.
Follow John R. Ellement on Twitter @JREbosglobe. Send listings to homeoftheweek@globe.com. Please note: We do not feature unfurnished homes unless they are new-builds nor respond to submissions we won’t pursue.