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They call it a cottage.

Why? The tour guide will tell you because it doesn't boast a ballroom. But here's my question. If that's a cottage, than what's my apartment...an outhouse?

The Mount sits on 50 elegant acres of formal gardens. It's evidence of America's "Gilded Age." Quick history lesson. That's the post-Civil War and post-Reconstruction era, when America's upper-class spent millions on anything and everything...because they could. Between 1865 and 1901, the country's wealthiest families built multimillion dollar summer "cottages" in Newport, Rhode Island; Bar Harbor, Maine and The Berkshires in Massachusetts. The Mount is one of only a few remaining estates in the Berkshires that hasn't burnt to the ground or slowly fallen into deep disrepair. As a matter of fact, of 75 cottages built in the Lenox area during that time, only a few over 20 stand today.

Here's my advice...

Go now! Why? The estate has covered its operating expenses by borrowing money from the Berkshire Bank in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Problem...the museum now owes the bank big bucks -- $4.3 million to be specific. And after missing a scheduled monthly payment of $30,000, the bank sent a notice threatening to start foreclosing on the century old estate! Lesson...see the Mount before the Mount sees its final day!

Also, don't waste your money and time in nearby Elizabethan-style mansion Ventford Hall. Its beauty has seen better days. In other words, it's falling part. Literally. They won't allow you to walk upstairs. So, the lame 30-minute tour only covers the first floor. But they won't warn you of that before you pay the $12 entrance fee. I'm all for supporting its restoration, but I felt robbed.

The Mount Estate & Gardens

Entrance Fee - $12

Website

(413) 551-5104

2 Plunkett Street

Lenox, MA 01240

By Alex Miranda