Ruth De Jong’s Weekend of Art Installations and Outdoor Adventures in the Berkshires

Welcome to Design Detours, a series where creative people whose tastes we trust share their well-curated, design-minded travel itineraries. 

After a decade of working in art departments in the film and TV industry, Ruth De Jong hasn’t had much time for vacations. The seasoned production designer has devoted much of those years crafting intricate settings for movies and TV series like There Will be Blood, Manchester by the Sea, Twin Peaks, and most recently, Jordan Peele’s "neo-Western science fiction horror" film, Nope. (Earlier this year, she also wrapped on the upcoming Christopher Nolan production, Oppenheimer.)  

So when De Jong—who lives with her husband and daughter in Livingston, Montana, and has a loft in downtown Los Angeles—was invited by her friend Currie Person, owner of Spartan Shop in Portland, Oregon, on a multi-destination trip along the East Coast with their respective children, she jumped at the opportunity. "Currie is always putting together amazing trips," says De Jong. The getaway, which included stops in Virginia, Maine, New York, and Massachusetts, offered the production designer a chance to take a break from work, spend a few days with her child, and visit the Berkshires—an area she’d been to for professional reasons but hadn’t really explored. "The only time I’ve spent in Massachusetts was on Cape Ann while designing Manchester By The Sea," says De Jong. "I’ve heard so many wonderful stories about the Berkshires, but have never gotten close—it always felt like a dreamland until now." De Jong and Person had also long promised to visit their mutual friend Julie Pearson, who designed the interiors of the local boutique hotel, Tourists.

Here, De Jong shares some of her favorite spots from her trip, including a museum ice cream shop with a slew of unique gourmet flavors and a woodland hike with outdoor sculptures scattered throughout the landscape. 

Day 1: Visit farm stands and dine at a farmhouse-turned-restaurant 

"We departed Maine and took the scenic route along the Mohawk Trail. It was breathtaking, with the lush forests hugging the Deerfield River. Along the way we hit up some farm stands. There was a spirit and soul that was alive through these parts; I wanted to soak it all up.

We arrived at Tourists early in the evening, and I was mesmerized. It’s an incredibly special property that sits serenely along Route 2, kissing the Hoosic River, a 76-mile long tributary of the Hudson fed by streams from Vermont’s Green Mountains, New York’s Taconics, and nearby Mount Greylock. (If only my husband, an avid fly fisherman, had been with us; the mile-long stretch through the Tourists property is one of the best wild brown trout habitats in Massachusetts). The sun was streaming through the windows, lighting the warm wood tones and vintage furniture throughout the most inviting lobby/bar I’ve ever seen. I loved the mix of vintage Mario Bellini tan leather sofas with the cinder block fireplace and exposed plywood walls. There was a general warmth and rawness that drew me in instantly. (Had we not had little ones with us, I’d have climbed on one of comfy bench seats next to the fireplace with a cocktail and book.) 

Upon checking in, we grabbed frozen strawberry basil lemonades for the kiddos (not too sweet, and tasted of fresh summer ingredients) and margaritas for us mamas to take to the pool before dinner. The convenience of having the check-in counter as a bar is genius! Why doesn’t every hotel have this?  

We dropped our bags in our rooms, which were perfect and impeccably considered, full of unfinished materials and vintage rugs in warm tans, browns, and beiges with pops of deep blue and army green. The space had a grounding feel to it—a calm, peaceful vibe. Our back porch overlooked the Hoosic River at treetop level.

We met our friend Julie for dinner at The Airport Rooms, the hotel’s vibrant cocktail lounge and restaurant situated in an old farmhouse on-site. I loved hearing Julie’s stories of transforming the space. You have the option to dine inside, outside, or by the fire—we opted for a picnic table outside on the upper lawn, though the kids eventually found themselves fireside with other families running back and forth to our table. We took one of everything on the menu (the grilled cucumber salad and za’atar chicken wings were my personal favorites) and enjoyed some gorgeous bottles of wine.

After we strolled back to our rooms, taking in the summer fireflies and stars and listening to the cacophony of insects from the woods, my little one discovered the drawings pads, pens, and pencils on our desk and I picked up the gorgeous Field Guide by Tourists covering the Blackinton area of North Adams—it has a beautifully curated collection of things to do while staying at the hotel with foldout maps."

Day 2: Lounge poolside and explore the grounds at Tourists

"The next morning my daughter and I ordered room service and enjoyed breakfast on our balcony overlooking the river. We met Currie and her son up on the main deck where they had finished up their breakfast and we all headed down to the pool. We parked there for the remainder of the day with ambitions to meet Julie for a locals’ hike and swimming hole session, but never made it. Instead, we ordered lunch and dinner by the pool and took a night swim post-dinner. The kids were in heaven and we were too."

Day 3: Soak up art at local institutions and on wooded hiking trails

"To make up for our long, lazy pool day, the following morning we hit the ground running after breakfast at Tourists. Our first stop was the Clark Art Institute; I could have spent all day here sans kids. What blew me away were the gorgeous, minimal concrete buildings that seamlessly emerged from the pastures and flowed into the surrounding forest. The pond and reflecting pools running right up to the Clark Center (designed by Tadao Ando) blended right into the grassy landscape. It blew my mind to realize all this art lived here in the Berkshires.

Our next stop was MASS MoCA, the country’s largest contemporary visual arts center set on a sprawling 19th-century factory campus with 26 industrial brick buildings. To keep the kids engaged, we stopped at Lickety Split, the on-site café with an ice cream shop that serves premium flavors such as Peanut Butter Ripple. (A must when visiting the area!)

After we won the kids’ attention back, we navigated our way through the Ceramics in the Expanded Field exhibit. The kids were mesmerized, though ‘Do not touch!’ was on constant rotation out of my and Currie’s mouths. From there, we found ourselves at Glenn Kaino’s In the Light of a Shadow, an incredible exhibit spanning the size of a football field with moving shadows and sound design. We strolled through Spencer Finch’s Cosmic Latte, where the kids tried to jump and catch the string lights dangling from the ceiling. Forever In Your Debt by Kelli Rae Adams sparked a great conversation about money with the kids, and on our way out, we had to pry them from James Turrell’s largest freestanding circular Skyspace, C.A.V.U. (The 40-foot-high repurposed water tank is part of a long-term retrospective of Turrell’s work at MASS MoCA.)

We went back to Tourists for a pool hang followed by an afternoon hike through the woods. We crossed the Hoosic River on a 220-foot suspension bridge and explored the Blackinton Historic District, which is anchored by a woolen mill from the Industrial Revolution. We wound through the woods and came upon several sculptures and installations, including Chime Chapel by Delaney Martin, Corrugarou by Klaas Hübner and Andrew Schrock, and Grausman Heads by Phillip Grausman. It’s truly magnificent to stumble across one sculpture after another surrounded by nature.

Dinner on Sunday night was part of a summer series at The Airport Rooms called Sunday Suppers. The hotel’s events planner, Irit Oren, brought Middle Eastern flavors from her home to the menu alongside chef Ty Hatfield. We ate everything—it was a delicious feast."

Top Illustration: Photos by Ruth De Jong and Christina Gandolfo

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