The house and property will be sold first, at 12:30 p.m., with a preview from 11 a.m. 'til the start of sale. That session will be conducted by Litchfield Real Estate Auctions, LLC, of Litchfield. Then, at 2 p.m., the contents of the home will cross the block, with a preview slated for 1-2 p.m. That session will be conducted by Tim's, Inc., based in Bristol. The firm is located at 1185 Farmington Avenue.
It is not a foreclosure sale. The auction is only happening because the home's owner, Nancy L. House, recently passed away after a long and fruitful life. “Nancy had three careers,” said her sister, Joanie Lincoln. “She had a B.A. in advertising design, was an MBA and was also an advanced master gardener. All of her specialties are interwoven in the way she developed and created her surroundings.”
The house is a two-story, six-room, 1,760-square-
The back deck has sliding glass doors, through which one can view indigenous ferns and wildflowers growing on the mountain behind the house. Chipmunks play on the deck and in and around the ferns. There is a dogwood tree in front, two Rose of Sharons and rhododendrons that hug the porch running the full width of the house. There is also a natural wildlife area where lady slippers grow.
A garden runs alongside the driveway, while a thick area of ornamental grass secludes the house from the yard. In front of the grass, hundreds of daffodils and day lilies spring up throughout the year, and there are several rose bushes and other flowering bushes in the yard. An old-fashioned swing is tied to the branch of one of the trees, and on the edge of a property sits a shed that looks like a small house.
Inside the home, there is a large master bedroom with master bath, and two smaller bedrooms (one of which was used as an office). Downstairs is a full kitchen with appliances from microwave to disposal, a stove and refrigerator, and an island with three stools. There's lots of cupboard space and a pantry. The living room spans the width of the house and there's a dining room with lighting fixtures.
The décor of the home reflects what Mrs. House loved most: hearts, flowers and leaves, birds, candles and more. “She was a student of everything and an avid reader,” her sister said. “She was also an artist, a researcher and writer, and a lover of animals and nature. All of these elements have been incorporated into this beautiful home, and nearly everything she owned was brand new and top shelf.”
Most of the furniture is either Hitchcock of Yield House or antique. On the first floor is a corner hutch and corner desk, bookshelves, a Tiffany-inspired overhead lamp, a small cut glass lamp, several antique lamps with beautifully designed lampshades from Metzger's designed with actual leaves and flowers, an antique fold-out table, a lovely couch and chairs, and a round table with Hitchcock chairs.
There is a full rug in the dining room and braided rugs in the kitchen and on the hardwood floor in the living room. The loft above the garage contains boxes of hand-cut kindling and homemade fire starters Mrs. House made from pine cones and kindling wrapped in newspaper. In the basement there are two dryers and a washer, two of which are brand new, wooden clothes racks and laundry products.
The master bedroom boasts a queen-size bed, several bureaus and Yield House shelves, and four closets, maybe more. One smaller bedroom has a single bed, an antique bureau, two built-in cupboards with drawers, a lovely bureau and a closet. The third bedroom (the office) has two desks, a bureau and two closets. All of the bedrooms contain Hitchcock bureau files and all the upstairs rooms are carpeted.
A huge amount of office supplies will be offered, to include a Hewlett Packard copier, Dell printers, paper cutters, an electric hole punch, a paper shredder, pens, tape, scissors, rulers, staplers, notebooks, sheet protectors, artsy folders, presentation folders, quality paper, stationery, note cards, photo albums, Scotch tape dispensers and even Post-It Notes – enough to open an office supply store.
Mrs. House always drove trucks (even though she was blond and totally feminine). Offered to the highest bidder will be her 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 4x4, metallic green, 8-cylinder, with mud flaps, a plow hook-up and fewer than 10,000 miles. Sports items will include cross-country skis and apparel, L.L. Bean boots, golf items, small circular trampolines, exercise steps, a treadmill and hand weights.
Gardening items will include an outdoor sink, grass netting, beautiful clay pots in many sizes, colorful and unusual vases, garden gloves and aprons. Kitchen items will feature artsy black octagonal dishes, glass-leaf imprinted dishes, Farberware pans, punch bowls, platters, colorful bowls, trays and top-brand cooking utensils. There is also holiday décor for every season, much of it in original packing.
Mrs. House's clothing items range in size from 8 to 16, and she owned two varieties of clothing: professional and gardening/outdoor wear. Featured are lovely silk blouses, Victoria Secret nightgowns and bathrobes, L.L. Bean jackets, shorts, short- and long-sleeved tops in earth tones (possibly Mussimino), sweaters, skirts, jackets and other clothing items, plus Etienne Aigner shoes for business.
Also sold will be radios, headsets, calculators by various makers, energy-saving light bulbs, cleaning products, paper products, batteries, extension cords, storage containers in fun colors such as neon pink, lime green, royal blue, orange and purple, hair products and body oils, food products, bird feeders, Havahart deer repellent, a new name-brand humidifier and a recently purchased generator.
Bidders looking to purchase the home and property must bring $30,000 in the form of cash, a certified check or a bank check. No personal checks will be accepted. The winning bid will be hammer (the highest accepted bid), plus a 10 percent buyer's premium, to be paid by the buyer. Closing will take place within 30 days. The property is being sold as is, where is. There is no mortgage contingency.
Terms for the contents portion of the sale (Tim's, Inc.) are 15 percent for cash and known checks. Admission will come in the form of a suggested $5 donation to the St. Jude Children's Hospital, in memory of Peter W. Chapulis. To date, Tim's, Inc. has raised over $22,000 for the charity. There will be no online bidding, but phone and absentee bids will be accepted. No credit card payments accepted.
For more information about the real estate portion of the auction, you may call Mary Helen Levine of Litchfield Real Estate Auctions, LLC, at (203) 574-2111, or (203) 525-4753. Or, log on to www.litchfieldrealestateauctionsllc.com. For more information about the contents of the house, you may call Tim Chapulis of Tim's, Inc., at (860) 459-0964. Or, you may log on to www.timsauction.com.
