The House of Mirthlessness

Edith Wharton's masterpieces include The House of Mirth, but the story of her own house is much less joyous. Her estate in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, currently a museum called the Mount that chronicles her life and career, is drowning under some $9 million in debt. Now, writes the Berkshire Eagle, a bank has warned it will foreclose on the property and sell it to the highest bidder.

The prognosis is grim: The Edith Wharton Restoration operates at a $1 million loss, and—not unlike some of the novelist's own heroines—had kept its financial woes quiet until recently. One philanthropist has promised a $3 million matching gift, but unless they can drum up more support, says the estate's president, "We're not going to make it." (More Edith Wharton stories.)