Creative Energy, Openness & A Sense of Community

Artist and entrepreneur, Scott Edward Cole (he/him), the co-owner of The Inn at Kenmore Hall in Richmond, shares what inspires his life and work in the Berkshires.

What brought you to the Berkshires?

I had been living in New York as a painter and musician and was really craving solitude and nature in a way that became more compelling every week. I ended up renting a little cottage in the woods just over the border in Austerlitz and just kind of used it as an escape. I quickly realized I wanted to stay here. After a year or so, I opened a little café in West Stockbridge (Caffe Pomo d’Oro) in the train station where Six Depot is now. I had that for 19 years and then moved for five years to Monterey, where I bought and refashioned the General Store.

Why is the Berkshires, and Kenmore, the ideal setting for the luxury B&B you and your partner opened in Richmond?

When my partner, Frank (Muytjens), left his job in New York, we were ready to do something full-time up here together. I had been a business owner in the Berkshires for a quarter of a century, so I was pretty well ingrained and knew I wanted to stay in the area. 

When we hatched the idea of opening an inn together, we wanted a place that feels like you are walking in as houseguests in someone’s country house, filled with our personal belongings and artwork that is meaningful to us, which is exactly what Kenmore is. And having lived for a long time in West Stockbridge and knowing a lot of people there and in Richmond, it just felt great being back there.

The house has an interesting place in the area’s cultural history. Tell us more about that.

There’s documentation that, over the centuries, the house was filled with creative people living and working here for periods of time. They painted the landscape around the house, held critiques in the center hall, put on plays, performed music together, shared big meals. It was very Bohemian. Daniel Chester French studied here when it was an art school. Leonard Bernstein and musicians and composers from the Tanglewood Music Festival stayed here in the 1940s. It’s so inspiring to me to know that that is part of the house’s history. You can still feel that creative energy lingering in the house. 

What do you love most about the Berkshire way of life?

Not only the diversity of people that are here, but also a general openness and sense of community in a way that isn’t true in a lot of other places that are considered bedroom communities or seasonal second-home communities. That has been my experience, anyway. 

What is a perfect Berkshire weekend for you?

In summertime, hopping on my friend’s boat on Lake Garfield and floating around for most of the afternoon and taking a few swims, and then going for an early dinner at Cantina 229, and then popping to either Jacob’s Pillow or Tanglewood. 

Then in wintertime, not leaving the house. Lighting a big fire and just kind of hunkering down. I really love taking time to enjoy the quiet introspection of winter in the Berkshires.

Describe the Berkshires in five words or less

Cultural plenitude and gorgeous landscapes.

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