The Weathervane Inn, built circa 1786 (the living room with original
beehive oven is the oldest section of the house), was the home of Col.
Joseph Curtis, a yeoman who migrated from Newington, CT to South Egremont
in 1780 at the age of 24 with his wife Rebecca and infant son Jasper
in search of farmland and fortune. Over the next 30 years, Col Curtis
became a wealthy man and self-styled Gentleman and Esquire as a result
of land transactions made along what became, primarily through his efforts
as a petitioner, the County Road extension from South Egremont to Great
Barrington (today Route 23), and the Alford & Egremont Turnpike
(today Route 71). At the time of his death in 1810, this house was part
of a 150-acre working farm. Upon Rebecca’s death in 1823, the
family’s homestead was transferred to their son, Wilber. Both
Col. Curtis and his consort Rebecca are buried in Mt. Everett Cemetery,
next to the inn.
At the time he inherited his father’s home, Wilber was a married
man with five children and a wealthy and prominent citizen in his own
right. Over the course of his lifetime, Wilber Curtis was actively involved
in state politics (as a member of both branches of the Massachusetts
Legislature and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1853),
business (as founder and the first president of the Mahaiwe Bank in
Gt. Barrington), local government (as Magistrate and Justice of the
Peace in Gt. Barrington) and philanthropy (as founder and trustee of
the Egremont Academy and the First Congregational Church).
In keeping with an architectural movement sweeping New England in the
first half of the 19th century, Wilber added the Greek Revival addition
to the house circa 1836 (the front section of the house). Wilber Curtis
is also credited with building the barn, which was located much close
to the house than its current location. Wilber and his wife Maria (also
buried in Mt. Everett Cemetery) lived in this house until 1852, when
it was sold to Joseph Augustus Benjamin, a wealthy businessman and descendent
of a family with a long settlement history in Egremont. In 1876, Joseph
Benjamin named the house Twin Pines for the huge pine trees located
on the front lawn. The house remained in the Benjamin family until 1892.
The house remained a private residence until the 1940s, when then owners
William & Doris Mullaney built one-room guest cottages on the property
and become "Innkeepers & Common Victuallers." Since then,
although under different names (The Red Saber, The McMeekin House, and
finally the Weathervane Inn in 1980), this house has been a home away
from home for thousands of visitors to the Berkshires. Today, the Weathervane
Inn is owned and run by Maxine & Jeffrey Lome.
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