Auction PR Publicity Announcements News and Information
Auction PR Publicity Announcements News and Information

THREE HISTORIC PROPERTIES, PLUS THEIR MASSIVE CONTENTS, WILL BE SOLD ON SATURDAY, NOV. 1st, IN GOSHEN, CONN., ON-SITE, AT AN 1812 FARMHOUSE

Two firms will conduct the sale: Tim’s, Inc. Auctions and Litchfield Real Estate Auctions, LLC.

GOSHEN, Conn. – Residents of Connecticut or even beyond who have never experienced the wonder of an old-fashioned country auction might want to mark their calendars for Saturday, November 1st, starting at 11 a.m. That’s when three historic properties and the many treasures they hold will be sold. It will be an on-site auction, held at one of the historic Goshen properties.

This 1957 Buick, in remarkable condition, will be sold, as will a like-new 1949 Buick Special and a 1951 Buick sedan.
This 1957 Buick, in remarkable condition, will be sold, as will a like-new 1949 Buick Special and a 1951 Buick sedan.
The properties will include an historic 1812 eight-acre farm with farmhouse and outbuildings, located at 227 Old Middle Street (Route 63) in Goshen, where the auction will happen; an historic 1831 country store located at 10 Old Middle Street (at Route 63 and Route 4) also in Goshen; and a circa-1900 historic home in Southbury known as “The Little Red Schoolhouse.”

All four historic properties will be offered, starting at 11 a.m. Eastern time, by Litchfield Real Estate Auctions, LLC, brokers. The contents and treasures, as impressive as the buildings that house them, will be sold immediately afterward, at 12 o’clock noon, by Tim’s, Inc. Auctions, based in Litchfield and Bristol. Offered will be Westmoreland glass, a huge coin collection, advertising signs, antique clocks, stunning estate jewelry items, period furniture and much more.

“I’m not exaggerating when I say this could very well be the biggest and best auction the state of Connecticut has seen in years,” said Tim Chapulis of Tim’s, Inc. Auctions. “We’re still opening boxes and discovering new treasures as we inventory and catalog these massive collections. Most are from a man who recently passed away and left behind a staggering amount of merchandise.”

Chapulis described the man as “a serious collector” and told the story of how he drove to pick up his daughter at college in the 1980s and combined that trip with a visit to Westmoreland Glass Company in West Virginia. “They were in the process of closing the operation down and were selling everything at auction,” Chapulis said. “This man bought most all of it, even their sign.”

There are so many boxes of Westmoreland glass – easily 1,000 boxes or more, by Mr. Chapulis’s estimation – that some will be sold in multiple lots, perhaps as many as 50-60 boxes in a single offering. Virtually every piece of glass in this huge collection has sat, undisturbed, since the ’80s.

Chapulis said the rambling historic farmhouse is packed with items, as are the outbuildings. The historic general store, too, is crammed from floor to ceiling with more items. “The country store is set up for retail and would be an ideal opportunity to start a new business and preserve a part of Goshen’s proud history,” said Mary Helen Levine of Litchfield Real Estate Auctions, LLC.

The farmhouse is an historic, rambling structure, also crammed with antiques and collectibles and built while the fledgling United States was fighting a war with Great Britain, right on our soil. “You get a real feel for Connecticut history just standing outside the house, among eight rolling and fielded acres,” Chapulis said, “then you go inside and there are all these treasures.”

Furniture items will feature a set of four John H. Belter rococo laminated rosewood matching ladies’ side chairs, plus a gentleman’s armchair; a gorgeous heavily carved marble-top parlor table, attributed to either Belter or Meeks; jelly cupboards in early paint; and kitchen and country cupboards. The estate jewelry (much of it vintage and antique) will include diamond pins, necklaces and rings, as well as pocket watches and ladies’ watches.

Certain to spark keen bidder interest are a 1949 Buick Special automobile, black, in absolute like-new condition, with just 15,000 miles on the odometer; a 1957 Buick Special, turquoise in color inside and out, also in showroom condition, with lots of chrome; and a 1951 Buick sedan.

Also sold will be five grandfather clocks, to include one in walnut that Chapulis refers to as “the angel clock” (for its many carved and bronze angel faces) that was presented on Christmas Day 1888 by the employees of the Lion Brewery (N.Y., 1857-1944) to the company owner, as a gift; salt glaze jugs; Erector sets; lighting; doorstops; musical instruments; early toys and mechanical banks; brass and iron beds (some Victorian); a substantial oil lamp collection; and other items.

“The Little Red Schoolhouse” building features high ceilings, two bedrooms and a large kitchen, and is “cute as a button,” according to Mary Helen Levine. A preview will be held on Sunday, Oct. 12, from 1-3 p.m., or by appointment. Anyone interested in making an appointment, or is interested in any of the three historic properties, may call Mary Helen Levine at 203-525-4753.

Goshen is a pretty town, located 10 minutes north of Litchfield, in northwestern Connecticut. The town is celebrating its 275th anniversary, so bells will be ringing for that occasion as well as the upcoming auction. People unable to attend the auction in person may register to bid online, at Tim’s, Inc. Auctions’ website (timsauctions.com) or through LiveAuctioneers.com. Phone and absentee bids will also be accepted. A buyer’s premium will be applied to all purchases made.

One percent of the buyer’s premium (for contents items only) will go to each of the following: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (in memory of Peter Chapulis, Tim’s late father and himself a onetime successful auctioneer); The Possum Foundation of Litchfield; and the Jimmy of Don Giovanni’s Restaurant Fund. Chapulis’s mother will also be collecting donations for St. Jude’s. So far this year Tim’s, Inc. Auctions has raised nearly $70,000 in donations for the St. Jude’s charity.

Jimmy is named for the late owner of Don Giovanni’s, who passed away recently in his sleep at age 57. In his memory, Mr. Chapulis and others who knew him are attempting to raise money to purchase an electric gurney (or power stretcher) for the Morris Volunteer Firemen and Volunteer Ambulance Corps. So far $4,000 has been successfully raised toward the target goal of $16,000.

Tim’s, Inc. Auctions is celebrating 35 years in the auction business (1979-2014). The firm is always accepting quality consignments for future sales, especially lifetime personal collectors built over the years by baby boomers and seniors. To consign an item, an estate or collection, you may call Tim Chapulis at (860) 459-0964, or you can e-mail him at [email protected].

For more information about Tim’s, Inc. Auctions and the upcoming November 1st on-site auction in Goshen, Conn., please visit www.timsauctions.com. Updates are posted often.