The Porches Inn: Where Mill Workers Slept, Artists Stay Now

In a nutshell

Porches Inn let you choose your vibe: nineteenth-century Victorian charm across from one of America's most ambitious contemporary art museums, or a brand-new minimalist annex built by an award-winning architecture firm — either way, you're staying inside a mill town's most compelling reinvention story.

The surroundings

The descent from the Mohawk Trail leaves no room for distraction — sharp switchbacks through the mountains before North Adams appears, tucked into the Berkshires. Most New England travelers drift toward the coast; we went the other way, toward red-brick mill complexes whose silhouettes recall Brooklyn's industrial neighborhoods before they turned fashionable. Victorian homes climb the hillsides above them — two architectural languages, one for living, one for labor, telling the story of a town once powered entirely by textile mills.

The backstory

In the early 2000s, Williams College alumnus Jack Wadsworth set out to revitalize a block of vacant nineteenth-century workers' houses across from the growing MASS MoCA, working with Burr and McCallum Architects of Williamstown — six Queen Anne and Colonial Revival row houses originally built around 1895 to house mill workers, restored and interconnected into a single 47-room boutique hotel. Once-decrepit, the row houses are now linked together by the long veranda that gives the hotel its name. It's the same reinvention story as the town itself: the property is a visible manifestation of the changes MASS MoCA brought to North Adams — an intentional blend of old and new, and today it's recognized by Travel + Leisure as one of the World's Best Hotels in the area.

The design

A design conceit its own reviewers have called Grandma Moses meets Philippe Starck: the nineteenth-century façades were kept intact, right down to a hotel sign in minimalist Helvetica set against the gingerbread trim. Wallpaper replaces sterile white walls, antique furnishings sit alongside contemporary pieces, and corridors display curiosities gathered over time rather than décor chosen from a catalog.

The rooms

On the Victorian side. Guest rooms and public spaces pay homage to the generations of mill-worker families who once called these houses home, while capturing the creative energy MASS MoCA has brought to North Adams. Expect soaring ceilings, Art Deco touches, calming muted palettes; our own suite paired a whirlpool tub with a separate shower. Reaching a room often means climbing an original staircase rather than an elevator — a small, deliberate refusal to erase the building's history.

The FreshGrass Annex (the other side). If the Victorian houses are the past tense, the newly opened FreshGrass Annex is the present. Designed by MacKay‑Lyons Sweetapple Architects — an internationally recognized firm with more than 170 awards, including the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture — the Annex was built to house visiting artists during FreshGrass Institute residencies, and its rooms read accordingly: natural materials, generous light, and spaces that shift easily from living to creating to resting. The real conversation piece is the furniture: the Annex uses transformable, space-maximizing furniture to make every square foot count — wall beds that lift flush into the wall by day, turning a bedroom into a studio or a sitting room in seconds. It's a genuinely different register from the rest of the property: less "step into 1895," more "step into a very well-edited Scandinavian retreat." Worth booking specifically if your travel style skews modern rather than heritage.

The amenities

A year-round heated outdoor pool, hot tub, sauna make this a property built for lingering, not just sleeping. Add fire pits at dusk and a team visibly, constantly tending the grounds, and you get the rare boutique hotel that rewards guests who never leave the property at all.

The creative life

Beyond the rooms, Studio 9 is a carbon-neutral recording studio and performance venue built from the ground up for live shows and creative getaways, and the FreshGrass Institute was launched to support artists through residencies, workshops, concerts, and community events. Porches guests get a standing discount on Studio 9 tickets — a rare case of a hotel amenity that's actually a cultural program, not a spa menu.

Beyond the hotel

This is where North Adams becomes genuinely essential for us. Downtown, a short walk from the hotel, a whole second-hand and vintage shopping trail winds through eco-conscious secondhand stores, sprawling multi-floor treasure troves, and the odd Goodwill run. A few minutes further, Berkshire Emporium & Antiques spans more than twenty rooms across 20,000+ square feet on historic Main Street — deceptively small-looking from the street, genuinely disorienting once inside. And if you have a car for the day, a scenic drive through North Adams, Williamstown, and into Bennington, Vermont connects several more shops, including Saddleback Antiques, plus Circa and Berkshire Mantiques further along the same corridor. Budget half a day minimum — this is not a quick-stop kind of region.

What to pack

Not just clothes. A tote bag with real capacity (think about Bleu de Chauffe Musette Bag)— you will not leave Berkshire Emporium empty-handed. A notebook, if you're the type who likes to sketch furniture you can't take home. One good book for the porch rocking chairs, ideally something from AVANT Library to inspire yourself with some new styles. And if you're staying in the FreshGrass Annex, skip the heavy suitcase: the whole point of that side of the property is travelling light into a room that already does the organizing for you.

Practical info

231 River Street, North Adams, MA 01247 — directly across from MASS MoCA. 47 rooms and suites, continental breakfast included, heated pool and hot tub open year-round. About 2.5 hours from Boston, roughly 3 from New York City