ButtonBall Inn

ButtonBall Inn is a seven-room historic in the village of South Egremont, Massachusetts — the small Berkshires hamlet at the southwestern corner of the state, a few miles from the Connecticut and New York lines. Cozy in the literal sense, curious in the decor sense, and small enough that you'll learn the innkeepers' first names by breakfast on day two.

South Egremont is the right kind of Berkshires village — a single main street, a few good restaurants, the Appalachian Trail close by, and none of the Tanglewood-weekend pressure of the towns north of here. ButtonBall fits the setting: a kept-up historic, properly furnished, run small.

The setting

South Egremont sits in the south end of the Berkshires, in the bowl below Mount Everett — the second-highest peak in the state. The village is a half-mile of historic buildings on Route 23, with a tavern, a couple of restaurants, an antiques cluster, and an old country store. ButtonBall is in or near the village proper, walkable to the local food and a short drive from the regional draws.

Great Barrington is ten minutes north (the bigger Berkshires town, with the Mahaiwe Theater and a strong restaurant scene). The Appalachian Trail crosses Route 23 a few minutes east. Bash Bish Falls is fifteen minutes south. Hudson and Hillsdale are forty minutes west across the New York line.

The building

A nineteenth-century clapboard Berkshires inn, kept up rather than gut-renovated. Front porch, painted siding, period proportions, a small front lawn. Public rooms are small and warm — a parlor, a dining room, a sitting porch in season. Materials lean clapboard and velvet-and-vintage; the decor is properly idiosyncratic, with a careful collection of period and post-period objects rather than a styled palette.

The rooms

Seven guest rooms across the main building, each one different in shape and decoration. Beds are good, bathrooms are private and renovated to a current standard, and the room mix runs from smaller cozy doubles up to larger rooms with sitting areas. Linens are real and the housekeeping is tight.

Food & drink

A real breakfast is included — hot, made-to-order, served in the dining room or on the porch in season. There's no full dinner program; the village has the Egremont Inn's tavern next door, and Great Barrington is ten minutes north for a wider choice. The inn runs a small evening wine offering on most days.

On the property

A small village-scaled inn — the Berkshires landscape and the village do the rest.

• Hot breakfast included
• Front porch and garden
• Walking-distance to South Egremont restaurants
• Hiking on the Appalachian Trail (a few minutes east)
• Open year-round

Who it's for

• Couples doing a Berkshires weekend who want a small, real inn
• Tanglewood-adjacent travelers who'd rather stay south of Lenox's bigger hotels
• Hikers using South Egremont as a base for the AT and Bash Bish
• Anyone who finds eccentric decor charming rather than wearing

Who it's not for

• Families with small kids in a seven-room antique-furnished inn
• Travelers who want a hotel-grade restaurant or spa on premises
• Anyone who needs to be in a busier downtown

Nearby

Bash Bish Falls is fifteen minutes south — the highest waterfall in Massachusetts. The Appalachian Trail crosses Route 23 a few minutes east, with day-hikes in either direction. Great Barrington is ten north for the Mahaiwe Theater, the Saturday market, and a serious restaurant night. Hudson, New York, is forty minutes west. For food in town: the Egremont Inn tavern, Old Mill, and a couple of seasonal options that come and go.