The Architecture of the Stockbridge House

The 274-year-old salt box house on Pleasant Street is a history museum to many. (It is currently used as the UMass faculty club.) It is very interesting architecturally. Its exterior looks simple from far away but if you look up close you can see that it is not. The house is white with green Indian shutters. These shutters slid into the walls of the house. When closed they protected from Indian attacks. In the front of the house there is an old sign with the builder's name and date of construction. You would also see two antique carriage lamps. Compared to the size of the house the chimney is huge.

The interior is even more flattering than the exterior. The house has all original wall paneling of clear grain pine and pretty mantle places. Someone had covered these beautiful features of the house with lathing and plaster. Luckily these "modern" touches were removed during the house’s renovation in 1974. Most of the brown glass windowpanes are original too. The walls are adorned with old photographs, maps, and letters which people enjoy seeing.

If you ever go to the Stockbridge House be sure to check out the hidden closets. The house was a stop on the Underground Railroad, and these closets were where they hid the slaves for a time.

The house is made up of more than twelve rooms. Some of these rooms are the big lounge, dining room, Boltwood room, restroom, men’s Ping-Pong room, the women’s Ping-Pong room, and the French room. Such names for rooms as French and Boltwood are of men involved with the house one way or another.

When the Stockbridge house became the Faculty Club in 1934 it was updated with an oven and more. But if you visit you will find that many of the original features can still be seen.