Formerly: Stockbridge House · Ye Red Lion Inn
Stockbridge, Massachusetts · Founded 1773 · Building: 1896–1897
Stockbridge's 1773 tavern lineage survives in a 1897 rebuilt inn, still owned by the Fitzpatrick family.
The Red Lion Inn traces its origins, by local tradition, to a tavern established by Silas Pepoon under a Red Lion sign in 1773. The wooden hotel that later stood on the site burned on August 31, 1896; the present inn opened the following May. Jack and Jane Fitzpatrick bought the property in 1968, and the inn remains owned by the Fitzpatrick family while Main Street Hospitality manages its operations.
According to tradition recorded by the inn, Silas Pepoon establishes a small Stockbridge tavern under the sign of the Red Lion.
Source: The Red Lion Inn, "History of Red Lion Inn"
The inn's history says residents from several towns gather at Pepoon's tavern to protest the Intolerable Acts and pledge a boycott of British goods.
Source: The Red Lion Inn, "History of Red Lion Inn"
Charles H. Plumb and his wife, Mert Plumb, purchase the inn after a succession of earlier owners.
Source: The Red Lion Inn, "History of Red Lion Inn"
The enlarged hotel is known as the Stockbridge House and accommodates about 100 guests.
Source: The Red Lion Inn, "History of Red Lion Inn"
The property is renamed Ye Red Lion Inn.
Source: Lost New England, "Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge, Mass"
Fire destroys the entire wooden hotel building. The inn's history reports that Mert Plumb's collection of colonial objects was saved.
Source: The Red Lion Inn, "History of Red Lion Inn"
The rebuilt hotel opens the May after the 1896 fire.
Source: The Red Lion Inn, "History of Red Lion Inn"
Jack and Jane Fitzpatrick purchase the Red Lion Inn. They place Country Curtains' permanent location on the ground floor while continuing hotel operations upstairs.
Source: The Red Lion Inn, "History of Red Lion Inn"
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The inn's historical account says residents from several Berkshire towns gathered at Silas Pepoon's tavern in July 1774, protested the Intolerable Acts, and pledged a boycott. This audit did not independently review the original meeting records or covenant text, so the precise meeting and document language remains plausible rather than fully documented.
Rockwell's 1967 Stockbridge streetscape depicts the Red Lion Inn among the recognizable Main Street buildings. The painting is strongly associated with Stockbridge's annual Christmas recreation of the scene.
The inn's business lineage is traditionally dated to 1773, but the wooden hotel building was destroyed by fire on August 31, 1896. The present structure opened in 1897.
Main Street Hospitality states that the inn remains separately owned by the Fitzpatrick family, while Main Street Hospitality manages it. Its 2023 ownership history identifies Sarah Eustis as the current owner and the company's president and CEO.
The Red Lion Inn has operated in the same physical building since 1773.
The inn traces its lineage to a 1773 tavern, but the wooden hotel building was destroyed by fire on August 31, 1896. The current inn building opened in May 1897.
Source: The Red Lion Inn, "History of Red Lion Inn"
Main Street Hospitality Group owns the Red Lion Inn.
Main Street Hospitality says it manages and operates the inn, while the property remains separately owned by the Fitzpatrick family.
Source: Main Street Hospitality, "A Long Legacy of Female Ownership!"
The Red Lion Inn has endured by repeatedly changing with Stockbridge rather than remaining frozen as a colonial relic. Its lineage includes a nineteenth-century resort-hotel expansion, reconstruction after the 1896 fire, and a late-twentieth-century rescue by the Fitzpatrick family. Its current operation combines lodging, dining, antiques, events, and the cultural pull of the Berkshires, with ownership still held by the family that acquired it in 1968.
No. The Red Lion Inn's business lineage is traditionally dated to a 1773 tavern, but the wooden hotel that later occupied the site burned on August 31, 1896. The present inn building opened in May 1897.
The Red Lion Inn is owned by the Fitzpatrick family, which purchased it in 1968. Main Street Hospitality manages and operates the inn; the company says the property itself remains separately owned by the Fitzpatrick family.
The Red Lion Inn appears in Norman Rockwell's 1967 painting Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas, also known as Home for Christmas. The work depicts Stockbridge's Main Street streetscape rather than being a standalone portrait of the inn.
30 Main Street, Stockbridge, MA 01262
(413) 298-5545
Check the inn's official site for current lodging, dining, public-space, and event access information.