Historic home and contents in Conn. to be auctioned June 5 A beautiful circa 1830 Greek Revival-style home in Litchfield, Conn., plus an adjacent barn that has served as an antiques shop for over 45 years, will be sold at auction Saturday, June 5th, at noon.
News-Antique.com - May 18,2010 - (LITCHFIELD, Conn.) – The beautiful circa 1830 Greek Revival-style home known locally as the Historic Trowbridge-Thoms House belonging to longtime antiques dealer Thomas McBride, plus the adjacent barn that has served as an antiques shop for over 45 years, will be sold in an on-site auction slated for Saturday, June 5. The property will cross the block at noon.
Real estate broker for the home property is Mary Helen Levine of Litchfield Real Estate Auctions, LLC, of Litchfield. The contents of the barn/antique shop and home will be auctioned by Tim Chapulis of Tim’s, Inc., based in nearby Bristol. The house is located at 62-64 West Street (Rte. 202) in the center of Litchfield, directly across from the historic Litchfield Green.
“At age 81, Mr. McBride has made the decision to retire, creating a rare opportunity for collectors looking to add quality merchandise to their collections and anyone looking to buy a beautiful and historic home,” said Mary Helen Levine. “This is undoubtedly one of the largest on-site auctions of its type in the last 35 years. Bidders should plan to stay for the duration.”
The 1,000 or so antique items will be sold starting at 12:30 p.m. Mr. McBride has devoted his life to acquiring and selling the finest antique items for his personal use and shop, called Thomas McBride Antiques.“Some pieces will have dust and cobwebs on them, attesting to the fact that they’ve been waiting for a new owner to enjoy and display them,” Mr. Chapulis said.
He added, “Anyone attending this auction will be stepping back in time. This is what you would have come upon if you had been on the antique trail in the 1950s or ‘60s.” Mr. McBride primarily collected period furniture (mostly American, but with some French and English pieces), artwork by Ronald Lee Anderson, vintage lamps, antique clocks, glass, china and more.
The house and barn, situated on about 1/3 of an acre, were built around 1830 by Henry Trowbridge, a tanner. He used to take his hides down the street to Tannery Brook, to wash them. His son inherited the property and later sold it to a Mr. & Mrs. Thoms in 1927. They operated the barn as an antiques shop. Mr. McBride continued to do same when he bought the home in 1960.
In the early 1930s, the barn was used by the Thoms family as a small bar and restaurant called The Canteen that served the patrons of a nearby community playhouse that has since been torn down and replaced with a town hall building. In its heyday, the playhouse was performed in by some of the biggest stage acts of the day like John and Ethel Barrymore and Lunt & Fontaine.
The main house – which over time came to be known as the Historic Trowbridge-Thoms House – features four bedrooms, two full baths, a double living room, library, pantry and two-car garage with a summer bedroom above the garage. The two-story barn totals around 2,300 square
