Cherry Cottage: The Story of an American House

We saw the world premiere at the Berkshire International Film Festival. This concerns a restored house built in 1782 that is on the grounds of a larger estate.

Those attending the showing mostly lived in the environs. Why should people far from Stockbridge, MA, be interested in a film of this house? think because it is a microcosm of the history of the US.

Before the house was built, the site was home to Native Americans, and we're told Stockbridge was the only town jointly governed by Indians and colonists. Another high point was the election of Abe Lincoln, and apparently he owes his nomination (over Seward) to the efforts of a resident of the Cottage. More recently, author Alan Wheelis, painter Norman Rockwell's son, and singer Arlo Guthrie lived there; we hear from them or their kin.

The film doesn't get a higher score because the first half is sort of slow with stills and narration from history professors, but it picks up when contemporaries discuss it, and we see the before and after.