The Porches Inn at MASS MoCA

The Porches Inn has been an attraction of the Berkshires region of northwestern Massachusetts for the past 25 years. Located in the former industrial town of North Adams, the 47-room boutique hotel was developed contemporaneously with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA). The Porches was created in 1998 through the careful restoration of a row of beautifully detailed Victorian row houses that originally housed workers from the nearby mills. The historic buildings were linked together by a long front porch and a combination of indoor and outdoor common areas, creating a single structure out of multiple buildings.    

In the first period of expansion since its opening, The Porches in 2021 opened a state-of-the-art, carbon-neutral performance space and recording studio on an adjacent parcel. And in 2025, it plans to open an additional new structure housing 20 hotel rooms and four artist studios available for long- and short-term rental. The extent of the planned new construction triggered a mandatory review of the existing hotel for compliance with the Massachusetts state accessibility requirements. To ensure the new hotel’s structure was also in compliance, the architects subsequently asked to work with KMA’s team. Design and construction of an on-site, farm-to-table restaurant will follow the completion of the hotel, and KMA will contribute to that as well.