Shadowbrook Novitiate (Stockbridge, Mass)

Scope Note: The original building that housed the Jesuit novitiate at Shadowbrook, Lenox, Massachusetts, was a 100 roomed mansion built in 1893 for the entrepreneur and banker Anson Phelps Stokes. Designed by the architect H. Neill Wilson, Shadowbrook was an imposing mock Tudor house that sat amidst the beautiful Stockbridge Bowl. From 1898 to 1922, the property served as a luxury hotel and as the summer home of such luminaries as Gloria Vanderbilt and Andrew Carnegie. It was then sold to the New England Province of the Society of Jesus in 1922 to serve as their House of Formation. During the next few years the opulence was scaled down to better serve the needs of the novices. Walls were taken down for classrooms and living spaces. The ballroom became the community’s chapel, and the wood from the rich paneling was repurposed as bookshelves. However, the heraldic carvings on the fireplace were allowed to remain as they seemed to harken to St. Ignatius’s military background. While the space was considered cramped and inflexible for their needs, the Jesuits made due for 30 years until 1956, when their original home burnt to the ground. It was rebuilt on a different site on the property and opened its doors in 1957. This new building served as the New England Provinces' House of Formation until 1970 when it closed its doors. The building remained vacant until 1983 when the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health opened on December of that year.

Found in 1 Collection or Record: