Antiques Auction House Opens On Church Hill Road

By Kaaren Valenta

Jack and Rosie DeStores had worked in her family’s antiques auction business in northern California for years, but once they saw New England, they knew they wanted to move here.

They settled on Newtown, bought a house on Mountain Manor Road in Sandy Hook last winter, then began looking for a site to establish a new auction house. Their business, Fairfield Auction, LLC, will open on Memorial Day with an auction in their 7,000-square foot facility at 53 Church Hill Road, in the Sonics & Materials building..

“We lived in a town called Felton near Santa Cruz,” Rosie DeStores said. “It was a lot like Newtown – except for the redwood trees and the ocean, of course. We knew everyone when we went to the library or the grocery store. That’s one of the things we like about Newtown, too.”

“I love the East Coast – all the history here,” she said. “We wanted our kids to be exposed to it.”

After settling in their new home, the couple searched the area for just the right spot for their new business.

“We wanted something that was affordable, with a permanent feel because we are in it for the long haul. We wanted to have the right place and to set it up right,” Mr DeStores said. “This spot is as close as we could come. It’s a nice building, close to affluent areas, right off I-84.”

Mr DeStores said that in the years they have been in the antiques auction business, the couple has been close observers of other facilities.

“We have seen about 100 places over the years,” he said. “We tried to take the best of each and put it together.”

T.J. & Son of Danbury was the general contractor for the new facility. In it, a closed storage room separates a spacious area where the sales will be conducted from the area where the items are stored and displayed. There is a large office, bathrooms, a loading dock, and a handicapped ramp that can also be used to bring furniture into the building.

An elaborate $10,000 photographic setup with medium-form, state-of-the art equipment enables the couple to take high-quality photos of the items to be sold.

“A quality picture can mean the difference between getting a sale and not getting a sale,” Jack DeStores explained.

Auctions will consist primarily of consignments from dealers and estate attorneys, but may also include quality items from persons who are downsizing from large houses to apartments or condominiums.

“We won’t do sales every weekend,” Mr DeStores said. “We will try to put together a major sale, a really substantial group of items, every six weeks.”

Mr DeStores’ background is in computers, a skill he has put to use since he joined his wife in the auction industry.

“Computers are a big part of the auction business today,” he said. “They tie together registration, bidding and the cashier. The auctioneer can go directly into the terminal. People can leave absentee bids instantly, and winning bids go to the cashier immediately.”

The company guarantees each item as described in its catalogue.

“If it is a diamond ring, we have taken it to a jewel to evaluate the clarity, cut, color, condition, size. We stand behind signatures on paintings. If it turns out we are wrong, we will take the item back,” he said.

Rosie DeStores said her company does appraisal clinics, and is planning one for July 15 for St Rose Church. “We are donating our time and services,” she said.

The company maintains a Web site at www.fairfieldauction.com. Previews are open to the public Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 6 pm prior to each sale and on the day of the auction from 9 to 11 am. The gallery can be reached at 364-1555.