Ferme moderne dans les Berkshires du Sud

My husband and I loved our 5-week stay at Irina's house. It's clean, comfortable, roomy and well-equipped. It's in a beautiful part of the Berkshires with gorgeous views in every direction. There are neighbors nearby, but the house is sited so that you don't see them. The beds are comfortable, and the bathrooms have been updated. The decor is tasteful with a soothing palette of colors. For music lovers, there's a grand piano in the living room. There's also AC, so the warmest days were fine in the house.

Some things we especially loved:

--sitting on the back porch or in the sun room looking out at the valley, and the many species of birds

--sitting on the front porch, which is covered, when it was raining

--the pool on a hot day (the views from the pool are fantastic)

--fresh eggs and produce from the Mill River Farm, less than a mile away

--Umpachene Falls, about 1.5 miles away

The house is very ample for a large group, especially if you use the barn (we didn't). Two of the bedrooms in the house are more suitable for children (especially the bunk beds), but we had adult friends stay in the room with a single bed and trundle, and they were comfortable and fine.

Irina and Arjaan are great hosts and were very responsive to all questions and cared about making our stay a good one.

We have rented for 15 years in the Berkshires, and this was our favorite house. Our only regret is that we had to leave!

We loved the house - very warm and welcoming. The gardens were gorgeous and we loved the pool, outdoor furniture, and back porch. With weather in the upper 70s/low 80s, we were able to keep windows/doors open and just enjoy the breezes. We used the air conditioners (one unit per room) at night upstairs, as it was considerably warmer up there. But the first floor master was cool.

This was a great place to stay with kids (ages 8, 11 & 12) - they loved the pool, foos-ball table, wifi, etc. Plenty of outdoor space to run around and play games. All of the wood floors mean it's a bit noisy and guests should note that the upstairs bath is shared among 3 bedrooms and does not have a full shower - it has a large tub with a shower attachment. For a standing shower, there are the two first floor bathrooms.

We walked up the road 1.5 miles to Umpachene Falls, which was so fun. Our kids loved scrambling around on the rocks and there's a nice picnic area. There was a small farm stand up the road just a very short walk where we bought peaches, beans, corn, etc. (seems to be open Thurs-Sat). We also visited Lake Garfield for swimming (about a 20-min drive) and Prospect Lake (about a 30-min drive), which has a swimming area, a slide into the water, and canoes/rowboats/paddle boats for rent. Sheffield Pottery, on the way to Great Barrington, has wonderful gift items. (Oh - one other practical note - while the owners recommended grocery stores in Great Barrington, especially Guidos Market, which is indeed a terrific place, we thought that perhaps the grocery store in Canaan, CT, might in fact be a bit closer than Great Barrington, when you need to run out for something.)

All in all - this is a terrific spot for a family vacation. We had our family of four, plus my 80-yr-old mother, my brother, and my niece and we fit quite comfortably. Thank you!

We had such a wonderful time staying at this beautiful home. The pool and grounds, complete with flower gardens and a newly-built sauna house, are so stunning we had a hard time peeling ourselves away to go anywhere else. The house is very clean, well organized, and beautifully designed and furnished. The owner was very responsive and the house manual was very informative with lots of great tips on restaurants and places to explore in the area. We took advantage of the bikes at the house to go on a family excursion about 1 mile down the road to the gorgeous Umpachene Falls. We'd love to go back again next year.

A wonderful place to just RELAX and enjoy the surroundings and family, without all the noise and distractions of urban living. Our family was very pleased with our accommodations and location. The house, barn, Sauna, swimming pool and grounds are outstanding. The location excellent. We could not have asked for anything more. Thank you from the 10 of us....Jane.

This house is so comfortable and pretty! We all loved it, and recommend it to any family who appreciates a quiet and fun place to spend a vacation. We swam, and cooked delicious local foods, and enjoyed every moment we were there. One week was too short.