On the Market: A Real-Life Gingerbread House in Western Mass.
Photo provided by The Kinderhook Group
75 Main Road, Tyringham, Mass.
Price: $1,995,000
Size: 7,750 square feet
Bedrooms: 7
Baths: 8
Four fantastical dwellings on a single property in Western Massachusetts have been torn from the pages of a storybook and put on the market. Known as the Santarella, the estate is a Berkshires getaway destination that hosts weddings and events. The whimsical spot is commercially zoned, but is being sold as both a residential and commercial property.
The Santarella is most famous for its Gingerbread House, an 1880s barn that was renovated by sculptor Sir Henry Hudson Kitson in the 1920s. Remembered for works like Lexington’s Minuteman statue and the Plymouth Rock Maiden, Kitson used the Gingerbread House as his studio. A native of Britain, he attempted to model the studio after the thatched-roof cottages of his home country. After an unsuccessful shot at growing rye for thatching, he used 80 tons of asphalt to shape the roof.
Over the years, the eccentric sculptor continuously morphed his property. Beside the 1750s colonial house on the almost 4-acre plot, he added stained glass windows and stonework into his other buildings. He used an old grain silo as another studio space and created a beautifully landscaped yard with exotic plants and a small lily pond. Today, the four structures on the property: the Gingerbread House, the colonial house, the cottage, and the “Honeymoon Silo,” are for sale as a bundle. It’s hoped the Santarella’s history—and magic—will be preserved.
For more information, contact Lisa Bouchard Hoe, The Kinderhook Group, tkgre.com.
Photo provided by The Kinderhook Group
Photo provided by The Kinderhook Group
Photo provided by The Kinderhook Group
Photo provided by The Kinderhook Group
Photo provided by The Kinderhook Group
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