The House With An Indoor Privy | House For Sale

Of course there are now four bathrooms in this historic 21-room Colonial, and, happily, they’re all indoors. But before we describe our recent visit, we want you to understand that we’re talking about Hancock, Massachusetts—not Hancock, New Hampshire, or Vermont, or New York, or Maine, or any of the many other Hancocks in the United States. This one is in the Berkshires—just a 20-minute drive to, say, Tanglewood and all the other cultural attractions for which the Berkshires are famous. We should mention, too, that the ski resort known as Jiminy Peak, open year-round, is but five minutes away, as is historic Hancock Shaker Village. The actual Shakers are long gone, but there’s a lovely working farm there, in addition to a museum and 20 historic buildings, including the first-in-the-nation round barn. (It’s open daily from 10:00 to 5:00 through October. 413-443-0188; hancockshakervillage.org)

If we’d driven another 50 yards or so beyond the driveway of the 1767 property we’d come to see, we’d have found ourselves in New York State. In fact, to reach downtown Hancock, some Hancock residents have to actually go out of state.

Greeting us that day on the lengthy front porch was the third family to own this property since 1767. Amazing to realize that the first family here, the Caleb Gardners, had to live under the rule of Great Britain’s King George III!

Anyway, we were greeted by Ben Szalewicz (pronounced sal-o-wits); his wife of some 24 years, Kelly; their four children (Emma, 15; Clara, 12; Jacob, 8; Evan, 3); and Lady, their dog. Ben, an architect, worked for Bennington College for a while but recently accepted a position at Salem (Massachusetts) State College, which is why they’ve had to move to the North Shore. This month, the house, garage, barn, and four lovely acres are on the market for $479,000.

Yes, they find it a bit sad to be leaving. During the seven years they’ve been here, they’ve enjoyed painting some of the rooms; restoring the 1837 wallpaper in the second-floor hallway; opening up and/or restoring the seven fireplaces, including the meat smoker built into the side of the chimney in the master bedroom (one of seven bedrooms); and tending the perennial gardens, fruit trees, berry bushes, and asparagus bed. (One of their gardens is over the border in New York State!)

We eventually managed to walk through all 21 rooms, including the 1767 wing, with the kitchen, various rooms added in 1797, and those about 1820. And, of course, we had to see the original indoor privy, as well as another in the bright-yellow attached barn. Why yellow? Well, Ben told us, because that was the color the Shakers always painted their barns. As to the privy—a three-holer—it’s really still there.

Incidentally, until Ben and Kelly came along and made it a one-family home, this place had always been an inn, even way back. In fact, next to the road out front, Ben showed us a large concrete stepping stone—it must weigh a ton—that guests used as they climbed up into their carriages. The inn was a stagecoach stop on the route from Albany, New York, to Williams-town, Massachusetts, and then, we assume, on to Boston—and, of course, back again to Albany. In more-recent years, the second family to own the property ran it as the “Kirkmead Bed & Breakfast.” Their advertising brochure stated: “Each air-conditioned guest room has its own private bath.”

Before taking our leave, we walked around the four acres with Ben and Kelly, admiring the views of Jiminy Peak and the surrounding hills; then we proceeded across the road and along a woodsy path until, suddenly, we came to a fenced-in cemetery with surprisingly large and dramatic-looking gravestones, a couple of which marked the graves of the Caleb Gardners, the original owners. Of course, in those days some country people simply buried their own on their own properties.

On the way home to Dublin, New Hampshire, later that day, we paid a visit to the famous Clark Art Institute in Williamstown and then stopped at MASS MoCA, the spectacular contemporary-art museum in North Adams. From there we proceeded up and over the Mohawk Trail, one of our favorite mountain roads.

Since then, we’ve stayed in touch with Ben, Kelly, Emma, Clara, Jacob, and Evan. Sure, Lady, too. It’s amazing to think that they’re only the third family (the first two being multigenerational) to live in the historic 250-year-old home we visited that day. So we’re very curious to know the answer to the pressing question that they have as well—i.e., who’ll be the fourth? 

For details, contact Kelly Szalewicz, P.O. Box 1148, Hancock, MA01237; oldhouseintheberkshires@gmail.com.