TOURISTS

The Motor Lodge Goes to the Berkshires

The Berkshires have long attracted summer escapees from Boston and New York, but North Adams has added something rather different to the region’s traditional country-house appeal. The arrival of MASS MoCA helped turn this former industrial town into a serious contemporary arts destination — and TOURISTS feels very much part of that new chapter. Created from a 1960s roadside motel on the road between North Adams and Williamstown, TOURISTS takes the familiar American motor lodge and strips it back to its essentials: a room, a landscape and the freedom to wander. Even the name is reclaimed with affection, inspired by an old “Tourists Welcome” sign. After all, we can’t be locals everywhere.

Modernism Without the Kitsch

The creative team, with design led by partner Ben Svenson of Broder, resisted the obvious temptation to turn the property into a mid-century theme park. Instead, the rooms are simple, warm and quietly modern. High ceilings and built-in king beds are paired with enormous window seats that frame the surrounding woods like landscape paintings. Natural materials and restrained detailing give the interiors a rustic edge without sacrificing their modernist clarity. The result feels contemporary rather than retro — and deliberately more Berkshires than Brooklyn.

The Ranch House

At the centre is a 1962 ranch house that functions as the hotel’s communal living room. Leather sofas and Scandinavian-inspired chairs gather around a large fireplace, creating the kind of space where coffee turns into an afternoon beer without anyone particularly noticing the time. That informality runs throughout TOURISTS. There’s a distinct summer-camp quality to the place, but one designed for adults who appreciate good architecture, contemporary art and a proper cocktail.

Into the Woods

Landscape architects Reed Hilderbrand made the surrounding nature part of the hotel rather than simply its backdrop. A heated saltwater pool sits among native planting, while a deck overlooks the Hoosic River. Most memorably, a suspension footbridge crosses the water and connects the hotel with trails through woods, glens and meadows. You can spend the day exploring the Berkshires, head into North Adams for contemporary art, or do very little at all.

Art, Nature and a Roadside Reinvention

TOURISTS captures something particularly appealing about the new Berkshires: rural without being traditional, design-conscious without feeling precious, and cultural without trying too hard. It also proves just how much potential remains in America’s old roadside architecture. What was once somewhere to stop on the way has become a reason to make the journey.