This archive report was first published on 8 August 2019.
Published on August 8, 2019, a New York Times article highlighted the importance of preserving hotel history. David Pupo, director of membership and concierge services at Blantyre, a luxury hotel in Lenox, Mass., has made it his mission to uncover the past of the estate.
Blantyre, built in 1902, holds a special place in Mr. Pupo's heart. As a teenager, he spent his summers swimming in the grand pool behind the main house, back when it was a swim club for locals. His desire to learn more about the 110-acre estate led him to read everything written about the place.
Today, Mr. Pupo leads daily history tours in the mansion, which was once briefly owned by filmmaker D.W. Griffith. 'We show how the house was used in the Gilded Age period, and compare and contrast it to how it is being used today as a five-star hotel,' he said.
Others are also utilizing the property's history to inform the present. When Anthony Champalimaud took over Troutbeck, a country estate-turned-guesthouse in Amenia, N.Y., in 2016, he and his wife, Charlie, spent two years researching the history of the property.
Troutbeck was built in 1765 by Myron Benton, a farmer, poet, and writer whose friends included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mark Twain, and Henry David Thoreau. The property has hosted many notable guests, including Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, and Theodore Roosevelt.
