Last week I took a wee road trip to Stockbridge, Mass. — the next town over, here in the Berkshires — to see the new guest house at the Red Lion Inn. My goal: to be first in world to showcase the fabulous foyer that features not one, not two, but 14 vintage TV lamps lighting up the two-story entrance way. Above: That’s Stephanie Gravalese, the marketing manager who gave me a tour — she was as delightful as the TV lamps. Except, there were 14 TV lamps as sconces, so that was some competition.
This is such a fantastic idea. Vintage TV lamps as sconces. The folks at the Red Lion Inn have them on bracketed shelves, with plugs and dimmers hidden behind each TV lamp. But I could also envision finding a matching pair of vintage TV lamps… rewiring them for hard-wiring right into the wall… then putting them on floating (invisible) acrylic shelves. Place and wire them into the wall just like you’d wire in a matching pair of mid mod sconce lights. I must find a pair of matching TV lamps and try this, I must! 23 more photos of the lights, and Maple Glen –>
For ease of discussion, I say “Red Lion Inn” — but this wall of lights is actually at the Red Lion’s Inn new guest house, the new/old “Maple Glen” development right behind the Red Lion. The Red Lion Inn is a super famous New England Inn. It’s the anchor of the Berkshires streetscape that Norman Rockwell made famous — Stockbridge, Massachusetts, America idealized. Rockwell lived and worked right around the corner. And the Norman Rockwell Museum is just a hop and a skip away.
The Maple Glen — shown above — started with the 2,700 s.f., 1850 Greek Revivial house (at rear of photo). The Red Lion Inn — which consistently sells out all its room space — bought the house when it came up for sale last year. They then expanded the property by another 3,500 s.f. to house, in all, 17 guest rooms.
Red Lion Inn owner Nancy Fitzpatrick loves the retro, vintage, eclectic aesthetic, so the rooms mix it all up with contemporary elements and for sure, contemporary comfort. In essence:
This is not your granny’s Red Lion Inn.
The rooms at the Maple Glen are elegant, colorful, quirky, comfortable, luxurious, cozy, fun. The idea for the wall of TV lamps was Nancy’s. Stephanie told me the lamps were purchased from ebay and the like.
Artsy fartsy follows. What I lack in terms of wide-angle lens, I make up for in… volume:
TV lamps! Now we all need a pair of matching TV lamps! I think this could be tough, but it is a noble quest. Reco: Search ebay and etsy at the same time. Here are some good looking candidates spotted for sale right now on ebay:
, it nets me a teensy commission, which helps keep the blog boat afloat.
Thank you, Stephanie, for being such a gracious house. Good luck, Nancy and team, with the new digs. 🙂
I love this!
Didn’t people watch movies in the dark?
Great way to sell Americans more stuff! Marketing at its best.
Back in the day, it was thought that watching TV in the dark could damage the eyes. But the old screens didn’t put out much light, so the best viewing was, in fact, in the dark. So TV lamps were invented to give a little light (and save your eyes…) but not ruin the viewing.
Neil, I remember the constant lecturing and arguing about appropriate lighting when I went to relatives’ houses who owned TVs. At an early-technology-adopter uncle’s house, the argument between him and his teenage children went on all through the “Ted Mack Amateur Hour.” After some time, he finally succumbed to his wife’s opinion and allowed her to put one of those china fawn TV lamps on top of the TV, with a little hand-crocheted doily.
That wall of TV lamps IS a wonder of electrical wiring… and a work of art in itself.
I loved reading this: “Red Lion Inn owner Nancy Fitzpatrick loves the retro, vintage, eclectic aesthetic, so the rooms mix it all up with contemporary elements…” You know, I’m gravitating toward the mix-it-up look myself, so I was glad to see this in “print.”
My grandparents had one that was two or three deer standing together on a rocky outcropping, or something like that. Glazed and a sort of a butterscotch color, it sat on top of their TV and was turned on nightly until the last of them passed away in the late 1980’s. It had to have dated from when they first got a TV in the 1950’s. Like many things they had that I now see on this website, I’m wondering what happened to it…sigh.
Pam, what a treat! Who would have thought the Red Lion would go MCM, they will certainly appeal to the baby boomers who might be turned off by the Red Lion’s fussiness. Surprised you had several commenters who did not know what TV lamps were. We never had them because my parents always had the table and floor lamps lit at night, no sitting in the dark watching TV. I’ll have to check out all the mentioned sites. Love your part of the country, have taken several trips through there. Is the Wharton estate still surviving?
I honestly had no idea. A whole new thing to investigate. Thanks for the inspiration.
Pam, as soon as I saw the intro I was thinking the same thing — hard wire and clear shelves! The idea is pretty cool either way.
Yes, isn’t this a fabulous idea! And cheaper than hard-to-find mcm sconces these days!
I was hoping you’d spot the cat black velvet paint-by-number. Truthfully, it took a fair amount of guts to hang that on a Red Lion Inn-related wall! I appreciate the affirmation! Thanks.
🙂