Nathaniel Hawthorne originated the name "Shadow Brook" in reference to a small stream that lies to the west and south of the mansion site.
Samuel Gray Ward  in 1844 purchased land on the slopes of Baldhead and built a mansion near the site of what was to become Shadowbrook.
Ward named his mansion Oakwood.

Stokes bought the property in 1892 along with additional land to the south and north, assembling an estate of 1,500 acres (610 ha).
The Oakwood building was demolished except for its east wing, and Stokes built his mansion on a ledge 100 yards (90 m)  west and 30 feet (9 m) lower.
The new structure, completed in 1893 at a cost of $500,000, was shaped like the letter 'L' with its point aimed south and comprised two dominant styles involving English Tudor timbering and stone.
The vista from the main house included an impressive view to the south of Stockbridge Bowl, West Stockbridge Mountain, Rattlesnake Hill, Monument Mountain and Mount Everett.
Various timbered farm buildings were completed as part of the estate in the valley below, where members of the Stokes family continued to live at least until the 1950s.
Anson Stokes crushed his leg in a riding accident on the property and, following its amputation, left the mansion for Darien, Connecticut, in 1898.
 The estate was mostly vacant until 1906, when it was sold to Spencer P. Shotter of New Orleans, who departed in 1912.
The wife of a Vanderbilt family member leased the property briefly in 1916 following her husband's death, and the mansion was sold in 1917 by Potter's debtors to Andrew Carnegie for $300,000.

Carnegie had purchased what was regarded at the time to be the second largest private residence in the United States.
The estate was among the most prominent examples of the gilded age in the Berkshires.
 Carnegie died at Shadowbrook in 1919, and the Society of Jesus acquired the property three years later to serve as a novitiate for training Jesuit priests.
Nathaniel Hawthorne originated the name "Shadow Brook" in reference to a small stream that lies to the west and south of the mansion site. Samuel Gray Ward  in 1844 purchased land on the slopes of Baldhead and built a mansion near the site of what was to become Shadowbrook. Ward named his mansion Oakwood.
Stokes bought the property in 1892 along with additional land to the south and north, assembling an estate of 1,500 acres (610 ha). The Oakwood building was demolished except for its east wing, and Stokes built his mansion on a ledge 100 yards (90 m)  west and 30 feet (9 m) lower. The new structure, completed in 1893 at a cost of $500,000, was shaped like the letter 'L' with its point aimed south and comprised two dominant styles involving English Tudor timbering and stone. The vista from the main house included an impressive view to the south of Stockbridge Bowl, West Stockbridge Mountain, Rattlesnake Hill, Monument Mountain and Mount Everett. Various timbered farm buildings were completed as part of the estate in the valley below, where members of the Stokes family continued to live at least until the 1950s. Anson Stokes crushed his leg in a riding accident on the property and, following its amputation, left the mansion for Darien, Connecticut, in 1898.  The estate was mostly vacant until 1906, when it was sold to Spencer P. Shotter of New Orleans, who departed in 1912. The wife of a Vanderbilt family member leased the property briefly in 1916 following her husband's death, and the mansion was sold in 1917 by Potter's debtors to Andrew Carnegie for $300,000.
Carnegie had purchased what was regarded at the time to be the second largest private residence in the United States. The estate was among the most prominent examples of the gilded age in the Berkshires.  Carnegie died at Shadowbrook in 1919, and the Society of Jesus acquired the property three years later to serve as a novitiate for training Jesuit priests.
Shadow Brook Farm Historic District