An estate sale adventure in the city of Petersburg, Virginia with a quick 15 minute scenic drive from my home through Old Towne that was built in the 1800s.
This was the first frosty grass and toe tingling cold Fall morning we had here. The line quickly grew long with people who were anxiously waiting to enter the house and chit chatting about what items they were hoping to snag.
Welcome to the historic neighborhood of Walnut Hill where this home sits on a sunny corner lot of Brandon Ave.
In years past it overlooked a peaceful body of water, some say it may have been a reservoir. Over time it dried up and the area around it became overgrown with trees. It was considered to be a lake front property in its heyday.
This weathered and neglected house was packed from the basement, the main floor, upstairs bedrooms and to the converted attic space. There were two sun porches and one had a fireplace!
No one was allowed into the basement, they claimed it was toxic and full of junk. Most resellers, the flipper or a collector could argue that point of view easily.
"Someone else's trash is someone one else's treasure!"
The rest of the home was a tight squeeze to fit through a sea of glassware, endless amounts of kitchen cookware, linens and furniture galore. The owner's passion was collecting artwork from various eras.
Her clothing collection was the definition of dopamine dressing. Colorful wool knit cardigans, southwestern tapestry jackets and extensive stacks of base layer shirts. Lots of cocktail purses, shoes and scarfs. Beside the racks of clothing was stacks of wooden jewelry boxes.
I was longing to grab as much as my arms could carry but the overwhelming scent of mothballs held me back. If you know, you know. Removing that scent from wool is a sincere back breaking labor of love. The process can take weeks and may not totally work.
I opted for a wearable art linen shirt and three cardigans and a pair of corduroy pants that had been safely stored in plastic totes.
As I was digging through a mountain of treasures, the story of how this sale came to be started to be told.
A woman and her husband had purchased this mansion together elven years ago. The listing photos were magazine worthy, the home was such a beauty! As the couple started to move things in, sadly the husband became too ill to continue on.
The wife would thrift and buy things at auctions as a way to cope. Using the house as storage while clinging to hope that one day she would be able to move in. She never did move in and the home sat empty all those years.
One of the estate sale employees chimed in stating that it had taken them six weeks to sort, rearrange, stage and price every single item for sale.
I was making my way through the kitchen, I could overhear her say,
"There is a man who wants to go through the trash pile, okay that's fine."
A few minutes later a couple of women were clamoring on how surprised they were that this lady had never owned a store from the sheer amount of items she owned.
Yet in the middle of the chaos, you can always find things that make you giggle. For me it was the Goodwill price tags on the kitchen bowl or still attached to bottom of a photo frame. My home is the same way!
This sale was very crowded but it was so much fun to see what everyone was picking out for themselves. Here a few of my favorite finds from the sale for my own personal space; a vintage metal sun, 70s yellow melamine mixing bowl and bubble lites for the Christmas tree.
Last but not least, was this mid century chartreuse green mohair wide width scarf made in Germany. Which will be coming to the shop soon!
