America's Gilded Age, the post-Civil War and post-Reconstruction era, from 1865 to 1901 saw unprecedented economic and industrial prosperity. As a result of this prosperity, the nation's wealthiest families were able to construct monumental country estates in the BerkshiresinMassachusetts.
Although most uses of 'cottage' imply a small house, the use of the word in this context refers to an alternative definition, "a summer residence (often on a large and sumptuous scale)".[1]
Approximately seventy-six estates were built in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, including:[2][3]
