The Whitney's carriage house sale in Detroit: Antique dishes, furniture, more
Detroit's most iconic mansion, The Whitney, is emptying out its Carriage House and Canfield building, and all the treasure inside will be available for sale Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Curious as to what you might find? The listing shows dishes made exclusively for The Whitney when it reopened as an upscale restaurant in 1986, unique furniture and paintings, elegant decor, kitchenware, trays, vases and other distinctive items.
"Just about everything (being sold) was inside The Whitney at one point or another," said Karl Pepignon, owner of Emerald Estate Sales. "There's a broad spectrum of pricing depending on what the item is, but there's a lot of really cool stuff there."
From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. this weekend
The sale will be held in The Whitney's Carriage House ground floor and the Canfield building, directly behind The Whitney, at 4421 Woodward Ave., Detroit. Both buildings will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday-Sunday.
Some items start at $1 while others go up to a couple hundred dollars. Prices do change each day of the sale, Pepignon said. On Friday, all items are full sticker price, on Saturday all items are 25% off on and on Sunday, everything left is 50% off.
View more items being sold, learn about parking details and read the sale's terms and conditions on the EstateSales.NET listing before heading over.
Carriage houses repurposed
The carriage house sale is a variation of an estate sale held in a building originally intended to store horse-drawn carriages, coaches and related equipment. Carriage houses were commonly found on the estates of wealthy individuals, particularly during the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as in urban areas where horse-drawn transportation was prevalent. As automobiles became prevalent and horse-drawn transportation declined, many carriage houses were repurposed for various uses — such as garages, guesthouses, workshops or even residential properties.
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The Whitney's Carriage House, at the back of the home, "originally contained a lift that took carriages up to the second floor," according to their website. "It was the largest coach house in the state when it was built." From 1929-79, the Visiting Nurse Association acquired the building and remodeled the horse stalls into office spaces.
Pepignon encourages people to attend the sale this weekend regardless of whether or not they plan on buying anything, as it gives them the opportunity to visit The Whitney's Carriage House — a part of the estate that isn't usually shown to the public, except around Halloween for the paranormal tour.
The Whitney has not yet announced what the two buildings will be used for once the items are cleared out, however, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to The Tiny Home Project at Cass Community Social Services, The Whitney posted on Facebook.
Contact Nour Rahal: nrahal@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: The Whitney holds carriage house sale in Detroit: What to know
