LENOX, Mass. - America's Gilded Age (1880 to 1920) was a time in which truly magnificent houses were constructed up and down the Eastern seaboard, particularly in Maine, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. These extraordinarily large residences were summer homes for the rich and famous people of the time, such as the Vanderbilts and the Morgans.
The town of Lenox has been called the "queen of inland resorts" and the "Switzerland of America," and it is in this community that a successful merchant named Robert Paterson decided to build his summer home in 1901. The house, which was called Blantyre, consisted of a main house and seven outbuildings, including an icehouse, stables for 16 horses, a carriage house, and extensive greenhouses.