Western Massachusetts: Pioneer Valley

Garden of John Mclennan, Ashintully Farm, in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.

The article offers travel tips for those visiting the Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts, and offers information on various galleries and other arts establishments including the Springfield Museums in Springfield, Massachusetts, the Joseph Allen Skinner Museum and the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

The article offers travel information on Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts, including insights on colleges and universities, art museums and cultural destinations.

A rural design manual, developed by the Center for Rural Massachusetts, has proven to be an innovative tool for planning future land use and development.

This paper asks: do planned residential enclaves of like-minded people undermine metropolitan diversity and regional planning, or do they provide a supportive basis of services and assistance for specific populations? Three planned enclaves representing pioneering examples of what became important types of environments in the U.S. - a large-scale retirement community, and alternative residential college and an ecologically oriented neighborhood - are compared to naturally occurring enclaves.

Vibrant colors are replacing more muted tones in historic house interiors, the result of new techniques for analyzing old paints. Features Mount Vernon, Colonial Williamsburg, Homewood (Baltimore, MD), the George Read II House (New Castle, DE), and Historic Deerfield, MA.

In particular, the Jacob's Ladder Trail Heritage Education Project, which helps educator's along the 35-mile trail in Western Massachusetts teach about its development. Article available through http://www.cr.nps.gov/crm.

The Evergreens, Emily Dickinson's brother Austin's house has been refurbished and, together with Dickinson's Homestead, constitutes the Emily Dickinson Museum, administered by Amherst College.

Preservation of architecture, interiors, and artifacts in Deerfield, Massachusetts.

The Dickinson Homestead, owned by Amherst College, is open from May through Oct.

1750 Ebenezer Hinsdale Williams house in Mass.

Deerfield, Mass. and Waterford, Va. are subject to development pressures despite their status as National Historic Landmarks.

The Museums of the Five Colleges in Massachusetts boast an enviable art cache. The Smith College Museum of Art in Northampton contains almost 25,000 objects and is especially strong in 19th-century European painting and sculpture. The Mount Holyoke College Art Museum in South Hadley is the best resource in the area for classical and medieval art. The Hampshire College Art Gallery is a wonderful venue for contemporary art shows. The Mead Art Museum at Amherst College includes a fine American collection. The University Gallery at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst is a fine arts center that focuses on contemporary art.

Case studies: Eden Hall Campus of Chatham University, North of Pittsburgh, designed by David Goldberg and Mithun; R.W. Kern Center, Hampshire College, Amherst, Mass., designed by Bruner/Cott, built to meet the Living Building Challenge; and The House, student, faculty and staff high-rise residence (world's tallest Passive House), Cornell Tech campus of Cornell University, Roosevelt Island, New York, designed by Handel Architects.

Five schools in Massachusetts vie for attention by hawking their wares in vastly different garbs.

Designed in 1964 by Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo. A new entrance was designed by Perry Dean Rogers in 1997.

Case studies: Eden Hall Campus of Chatham University, North of Pittsburgh, designed by David Goldberg and Mithun; R.W. Kern Center, Hampshire College, Amherst, Mass., designed by Bruner/Cott, built to meet the Living Building Challenge; and The House, student, faculty and staff high-rise residence (world's tallest Passive House), Cornell Tech campus of Cornell University, Roosevelt Island, New York, designed by Handel Architects.

Robert Crown Center, Hampshire College, Amherst, Mass.; Davis, Brody & Assocs., achitects