Fall Vacation Estate Sales

I have not had nearly as much time as I have wanted this summer to frequent estate sales.  You know how much I love starting my weekend with a leisurely Saturday morning drive to a few where I can scope out the houses.

Well, last week I decided to take an impromptu vacation from my paying job to try to finish up that never ending Summer Project 2012 (you can see my progress here and here and here).  So while my week was primarily spent painting, painting and painting some more I did decide that Friday I would take a little break to enjoy an estate sale or two…

Friday’s first sale was maybe 20 min or so from my house in Melrose but I just knew it was going to be a good one.  It was run by some of my favorite sale hosts Essex Street Antiques.  

Melrose House

This fireplace fit perfectly the style of this house...it's not for every
house but I love the "earthiness" of it.

This is definitely not everyone's look but I find something endearing
about it...not sure I would be able to live with such a busy room for
a long period of time but I love them when I see them in other homes.

They always have great sales and their prices are extremely reasonable.  Not everything is always shall we say “bargain priced” but I find everything to be priced fair and there is always something at every price point.

Beautiful dishes I wanted these so badly...but my pragmatic self took
over and reminded me I didn't need them...unfortunate!

I did however totally score at this sale!

I couldn't pass this Towle tray up...it's kind of a unique size 21"W x 9"L
now I just have to decide whether to hang it or not

Darn it, these were sold by the time I got there...don't they just invite you
to sit & spend a bit of time relaxing?

The next sale was 30+ min away from the Melrose sale but had really good potential…100 years of accumulation can’t be bad right?  Well, it turned out to be not really my kind of sale.  There were a lot of cool things but most of it was terribly dirty.  I’m not afraid of a little dirt but this was more than I really wanted to deal with.  So no finds here.

So of course if I was going to hit the Friday sales I might as well put one on my list for Saturday morning…I mean it was just down the street in Marblehead and looked so promising.

This lovely little lane lead to a charming little oceanfront neighbothood
and the Marblehead sale

Site of the Marblehead sale...distinctly a cottage

Saturday however took me to a little summer “camp” in Marblehead.  It was tucked away in a part of Marblehead I didn’t even know existed and was so reminiscent of the summer cottages of Bayside or Temple Heights Maine (near my childhood home) that I felt right at home.

This was a livingroom that spanned the whole front of the cottage

There were 4 bedrooms upstairs but none of the rooms had ceilings...
interesting but charming in a camp kind of way

This was a really cool camp – definitely needs some TLC but I so loved that you could feel the history of everyone who had spent many joyful summers here over the years.

1 of 2 "Jenny Lind" or spool beds that were for sale

and the other one...can you guess which one came home with me???
Yup this one...couldn't believe they even had the side rails.  It needs a little
buffing but for $20 (yes twenty - I didn't forget a 0) it was the bargain'
of the day!

The lady who was running the sale told me that the owner had passed away and her children no longer wanted to keep it as a summer home so it was on the market (see the listing here).  So sad but I’m sure another family will enjoy this camp for many years to come…if I were in the market for a camp it would surely be my family enjoying it!

Ocean view from this lovely little camp...I'm ready to move in :)

Estate Sale - The Nightingale Inn

I have to admit it….occasionally (ok, maybe frequently) I go to an estate sale just to see the house….sometimes I can tell by the listing that the “estate” is just spectacular and perhaps the items for sale are not in my price range or not really my taste but the stories some houses tell 

are worth going to the sale for.

"The Estate"
photo courtesy of Google Images

This was definitely the case last weekend when I swung by the former Nightingale Inn in Wenham for the sale they were holding.  The property has sold and is being converted to a private residence so they were clearing out all of the “inn décor”.

The Front - this is what you find behind the gate...a circular
driveway with this gorgeous fountain in the middle

The Back - kidney shaped pool with fabulous portico for
relaxing

 The email I received from estatesales.net described this property as:

The Nightingale Inn, nestled in scenic Cape Ann in Wenham was built in 1910 by Arthur D. Little, the famous entrepreneur who discovered acetate, and went on to build a multi-national corporation. Later, John and Augusta Nightingale owned this historic 8,000 sq foot + residence complete with horse barns, fountains, pools and gazebos abutting Audubon land and expanded it to its current state. Augusta is a direct descendant of Thomas Jefferson. President and Nancy Reagan once stayed at this residence, as well as astronauts and other celebrities. The home features grand reception halls, staircases, hand-painted Zuber wall covering depicting the complete 1849 El Dorado scene. Magnificent, well-appointed rooms and grounds make this an exceptional event.  The Inn has 5 rooms, each with private bath, 32 inch LCD Direct TV, and AC. The inn has over 8,000 sq ft of common space. There is also a guest house on the property with 3 full suites

How exciting is that, President & Mrs Reagan once stayed at this property?

One of my fav pics that I took on my visit to the Reagan Library a couple of years ago...highly recommend a
visit!

The furnishings were absolutely beautiful but not necessarily my style, a little too baroque maybe but holy cow the property was magnificent!  

The dining room has such beautiful wall murals

I do have to say I loved this dresser so
much...and believe it or not this is
how this photo came out with no cropping..

I showed up in the middle of the second (and last) day of the sale so many of the prime items were long gone but that was fine by me since I was far more interested in seeing the inn/house.

upstairs hallway - just love the wainscoting & interior
window

These gorgeous windows were interior windows that
were strategically placed to allow light to filter
through halls & stairwells that didn't have any
natural light sources.  So architecturally interesting too!

 One of the ladies that was working the sale told me that they had over 300 people in line waiting for over 3 hours the first day of the sale…I’m so glad I waited until the second day (which by the way was still crazy busy).  As much as I love a good sale I don’t know of much that I would wait in a line of 300 people for 3 hours for….I’m just not that kind of patient.

I probably spent an hour at this sale just meandering around the property…I don’t think I looked conspicuous at all…lol.  It was such a lovely day and really there were so many other folks around I’m fairly confident no one even noticed that I was busy looking at the light fixtures & millwork and not paying at all attention to the goods that were left for sale.

Perfect place for a party...
image courtesy of Yelp

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

A bright Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago I headed out on what has become my routine weekend treasure hunt.  I love it when it’s nice warm fall day with a coffee in hand…

On this particular Saturday there were so many good sales – at least it appeared so by the ads on Craig’s List.  It was tough to narrow them down but in the end I decided to head toward Arlington.  I have not really spent any time in Arlington so definitely don’t know the area well but do know it’s full of beautiful older homes that have just the kind of goodies I love.

This house in Arlington was a cool old Georgian style home and filled with mid-century things.  Loved, loved, loved the house (as usual) and all its nooks & crannies but it was definitely like walking back into 1962.  There were two treasures I found…as soon as I came in the front door this mirror & shelf were hanging dead ahead.  I’m not sure I would have normally been so excited except they were marked $10 for both!!!  They were originally $20 for both but since it was later in the sale they were half off.  Can you believe it??? 

You have to look beyond the dated gold paint..
this mirror has beautiful lines

And it has a "matching"shelf

It does take some vision to see beyond the gold paint but I immediately loved the shape and started to consider what color would make them pop.

Pop of color...

Starting the painting - am now glad I kept those moving boxes
they make a great surface to paint on.

 I ended up with this green color because it’s an accent color I am bringing into my bathroom (in small doses - just enough to add interest) but believe it or not after I painted the mirror, reassembled and moved the mirror that is currently in my bathroom I am left not at all convinced that it is the right mirror for this space.  I love the mirror and really love the new color but somehow the size just seems a little off...

My current Bathroom mirror - I really do
like it but thought the green one might
add a new pizzaz



Freshly painted and reassembled.  Love the
finished product.

 I do love it though so will definitely find another place for it (perhaps in someone else’s home…).  The green really makes it pop and is so fun.  I still have to paint the shelf but am thinking of maybe painting it Navy so it’s not too matchy matchy but will coordinate nicely.  So many options….

You Win Some....You Lose Some

I have never really understood the “get there early or don’t bother” mentality that many folks approach estate sales with.  My feeling has always been if it’s meant for me it will still be there when I arrive at a  reasonable hour (i.e. after 9 am) and if that happens to be on the second day of a sale so be it.  I can’t tell you how many dealers I have spoken with who won’t even consider “wasting their time” on a sale if it’s the second day.

Yesterday morning I had a lot to do and really only a few hours to do it in so it was fortuitous there were 2 estate sales within just a few miles of my home.  The first one was in a lovely little neighborhood in Marblehead and by first glance this had all of the potential to be a great sale.  In a nice neighborhood, charming house, and the Craig’s List ad described it as “3 floors - packed - antiques - collectibles - dining set, bedroom sets - tons of clothes - full garage”.  It was a second day sale but good possibilities, right?

Well, this is just a sample of what I found at this sale:

And more and more of the same…along with perhaps some of the rudest people I have ever encountered at an estate sale picking through the “treasures”.  I really should have paid closer attention to that “tons of clothes” part of the ad.  It was a very quick stop and not a particularly pleasant one.

The next sale on my short list was maybe 2 miles away in Swampscott and was also a second day sale.  It was on one of the streets in Swampscott that has some truly magnificent houses but also has some very average homes.  It really could have gone either way.  Well luckily the gods were shining down and feeling bad for sending me to the earlier clothes sale and this was my prize.

This was such an incredible house – I really had a hard time focusing on the items for sale because I was too busy drooling over all of the phenomenal architecture.  It was 3 floors (plus huge semi-finished basement) of pure spectacularism, this house went on forever.

Formal Dining Room - love the paneled walls!

Library - wall-to-wall book cases behind me.  Gorgeous
woods

Master Bedroom - I personally love that
the drapes match the wallpaper.  Not sure you
can tell that here - but trust me fab!

That was the upside, the downside was the sale really was pretty picked over but clearly I really did not mind at all.  It’s about the journey, right?

Such a beautiful built in cabinet in the
upstairs hall.  Incredible workmanship!

I did find one treasure in one of the very last rooms in the back on the third floor.  I love the Mad Men feeling of this cabinet and am hoping it will finish out my dining room. 

It is cedar lined and has shelves inside so I’m thinking it will be perfect to put my grandmother’s table linens in.

The second day sale was a mixed bag for finding treasures this weekend but it was worth it just to have the opportunity to meander through the Swampscott house.

Estate Sale - Marblehead

When I moved from Atlanta to Boston a few years back I didn’t know much about Massachusetts and I had absolutely no idea where I wanted to live.  I knew where I was working and that I did not want to live near my office but really outside of that I only had 4 requirements:  I wanted to be near the ocean, on the north side of the city (closer to Maine), I required private on-site parking and in-unit washer/dryer connections. These may sound obvious and like standard amenities but I knew I was moving to an area that was filled with homes that were several hundred years old and parking/laundry connections were not a given.  So with these thoughts I closed my eyes, pointed to a map and then called a realtor.  I looked at 15 apartments in one day and only while most had 3 of the things I was looking for only 1 had the laundry connections so I took it and ended up in the sweet oceanside community of Marblehead.  I loved, loved, loved living in Marblehead and am still plotting ways to sell my house for big profits and move back…

For those who have never visited Marblehead I have always described it as “picture Paul Revere riding through town on his horse warning of the British coming….” what you envision is Marblehead.  It’s picturesque, low key and exactly what New England ocean communities often are…a special kind of understated elegant.

Last weekend there were 2 big estate sales in Marblehead so I just had to set the alarm and head over bright and early on Saturday.

The first sale was at a colonial home in old town and it was filled with beautiful artifacts – this was serious antique ground!  

The paintings on the walls were all originals and priced as such (I think the lowest price I saw was around $1600).  The furniture was incredible and the china was FINE in every sense of the word.  There was a fair amount of vintage linens and a whole room filled with vintage board games of all sorts.  The folks running this sale were well aware of what they were selling and had it priced accordingly.  It was so much fun to see stuff of such beauty even if it was mostly out of my price range.

There was a china closet off the dining room that had some of the more affordable glassware.  Much of it was “odd lot” type but beautiful none-the-less and the man running the sale was happy to give me a bargain….one box, one price.  Here are some of the pieces I couldn’t leave behind…

Gorgeous Yellow Glass

I bought 2 of these - cut glass probably 6" plates

So cute - milk glass egg cup

Shot glasses...can't you just see these on Mad Men?

Demitasse Tea Cups - these will be perfect for a tea
party with my niece 

Silver Teapot - this is about a 4 cup pot

The second sale was on the other side of town in a lovely newer neighborhood.  This was a home that was probably built in the 1970’s or 80’s – definitely newer construction with the feel of a home that was built with all of the cutting edge bells & whistles of its time.   

Cool pass through between the kitchen &
dining room.  Very unobtrusive yet functional

This sale was interesting in that more than any other sale I have been to recently there was an incredibly strong sense of the former owner still in the home.  He was a doctor and there were so many personal artifacts it was actually a little unnerving.  I have never ever seen so many family photos, diplomas, family documents at an estate sale…there was even a photo collage/poem that his family had presented him on his 60^th birthday included. 

Some of these photo's/documents:



I didn’t end up purchasing anything at this sale but did leave with a clear impression of a life well lived.