The sofa you love looks to be 1930's...I like the other one a lot better!
I'd like to see more fo that Windsor chair behind the rocker with the pink oval back!
Is that a Currier and Ives over the white sofa?
Those Valentine, card, calandar things are likely worth more than some of the furniture!
How about Christmas decorations? I am about to decorate my tree with the antique ornaments.....
You do know don't you to throw nothing out.....not the spice tins in the cupboard, not shaving soap in the bathroom.....keep reciepts, notes, old books etc etc.....
Thew piano is lovely.....but will likely cost more to restore that it will be worth....What's that blue patterened vase on the marble topped piece?
Linda C

Gina, have you done an complete inventory of the house & outbuilding? If not, I'd sure be starting one. I'd also start inquiring about a good appraiser. IMO, you need to get somebody in there that can walk you through what's now yours and familiarize you with each piece. Also, be aware that your homeowner's insurance policy will NOT cover antiques. And, in order to schedule them you'll have to have the appraisal done anyway.

Linda is correct about those cards...in my area, they can sell in the $40-85 range/each. And who knows what all else you have in that house in paper collectibles. It's like walking into a time-warp.

Things like the Jenny Lind beds don't have a lot of monetary value, at least not in the NE, but if in excellent condition are still worth around $350/each. Beds just don't have much value 'cause people can only use so many of them. By the time you start adding up all these small amounts...it's real money!

You'll probably also find things marked "Occupied Japan"...don't toss them even if they're not the most attractive things in the world. In your part of the country, I'd also be looking in the kitchen for Ransbottom pottery bowls.

I know an inventory is going to be a lot of work but I sure don't see how to avoid it...take pixs too. Once you know what you have...you can start dividing into categories and break things down from there even further.

My household ins covers a certain value of non scheduled items, antique or not. The contents of my house are covered for $XXX which is a portion of the value of my house and grounds.
So before you assume and start paying fancy premiums.....find out just what your homeowners covers.....and not by listening to the clerk in the office....but by reading the fine print yourself!
I forsure would be taking pictures....lots of pictures...open drawers and closets and shot away.....and sheds and outbuildings...
But you do not need to inventory and list every saucer and teaspoon.....every doily and photograph....but you should have a good idea about some of the more valuabl;e stuff....
And you know how I feel about appraisers....!!!
Oh how I would love to come out and help you dig and discover!
Linda C

Time warp. That's a great description. The house has been collecting these items throughout its life, and most of them never left. The paper goods are particularly fascinating to me...textbooks from the late 1800s, four full years of The Etude music magazine, you name it, we've probably got it!

I have a really difficult time with the appraiser search. Most of them around here, frankly, don't seem to have a wide enough knowledge base to help with the variety of stuff we've got. Ephemera, for example...I know that some of the pieces we've got are lithographs, and I can see that they're in spectacular condition (and now that we've got them separated into archival sleeves/boxes, they'll hopefully stay that way). But folks around here seem to key in on bigger pieces--furniture and the like--which I know are sometimes more common, even in great condition.

So.......now we've got literally a houseful of stuff and no clue as to whom we might call for help. The sellers gave us an appraisal that was done in 1982, but it covered only some of the larger items, and I know that some of the paper goods, etc. may now be worth way more than the furniture.

One fun thing that I found when going through the kitchen cabinets was some positively ancient-looking flatware. Bone- or wooden-handled knives, forks, spoons with real silver utensils. Worth anything? I have no idea whatsoever.

It's actually more than a little scary, because we do intend to keep as much of this as possible, so we can stay to the seller's intentions. But at the same time I'd like to find out what we've got here, not just for insurance purposes but for curiosity's sake!

Do either of you have any hints as to what questions to ask appraisers in order to find out if they know their stuff? Honestly, an appraiser could come in here and tell me just about anything, and I probably wouldn't know truth from fiction.

Don't worry about us throwing anything out. Case in point: the turquoise chairs visible in the white-couch picture. I thought they were fairly ugly and was ready to send them to Goodwill. Then I realized that the turquoise fabric is a slipcover and that the chairs underneath have carved wooden legs/feet and seem to be quite lovely. Haven't taken the slipcovers off completely because right now they're protecting whatever's underneath. But there was a lesson learned right there. In terms of all the other items, we've been working on doing a semblance of an inventory, room by room. It's exhausting! Some rooms we thought were finished....until we looked into the closets (a later addition to the house). Antique prints with beautifully carved wooden frames, the heaviest and most elaborate brass closet hanging rod you've ever seen, a box of what appears to be a little girl's "treasures"--celluloid dolls, linen hankies, and some other things.

Whew!

Standard homeowner's around here will not cover antiques...in fact, it specifically excludes them. You can get a blanket policy up to "X" amount of dollars but the problem comes in trying to establish value after-the-fact. We have already reached an agreement with our insurance company as to the value of each significant piece we own with a built-in inflation factor. Another thing to discuss with your agent is the "collection" premium. Often times, when you have a collection of something the whole is worth more than the sum of the parts. That is the case with some of our antiques. We had to establish that, in writing, with our carrier. You will also need to determine what your tolerance for risk is. In our case, we live on the water and are at risk for wind and/or water damage. We also have a large number of highly breakable antiques and wanted breakage insurance. Yes, we pay for this type coverage but we sleep at night...even nights like this when we have a Nor'easter howling and the waters in the sound are lapping at the dock.

We have a blanket replacement value policy (separate from H.O.'s). Even with that, our insurance company insists we have a line-item appraisal done every five years. Regular household stuff like my Cuisinart is covered by my H.O.'s.

We have a substantial collection of antiques and have been buying/selling for well over 20 years. In that length of time, we've learned who to trust. You're right, it is difficult to find a qualified appraiser. And, value is subjective to begin with. Most antique brokers who are qualified do not do appraisals because they are a PITA. Another problem is that one may well be an expert on Stickley and know nothing about New Hampshire Queen Anne or Newport inlay work. Some are quite knowledgeable about Heisey and know nothing of 18th c. baluster glasses.

Personally, I don't think you'll find one person to handle all of it. Or, at least to do a good job at all of it. Much is going to depend on the depth of understanding you're looking for from an appraiser. You also are going to have to become aware of what you own and that will take time. Attend local quality antique shows & visit with the dealers, visit your local museums, attend both low-end & quality auctions, invest in reference books (they are not inexpensive but worth every penny, IMO), learn the history of your new community since you've moved from out-of-state.

Bottom line is that you're not going to fully understand what's in that house for some time. As for finding an appraiser to give you an overall picture...call some of the local auction houses. They often have staff appraisers and/or could help steer you in the right direction.

I'd hate to have you get blind-sided by all the 1880-1930 stuff and miss the 1810 soft-paste creamer. Oh...another thing that I've found that helps...do some basic genealogy research on the family that owned the home prior to your purchase. For example, did the family move from Vermont to the mid-west in the 1870's? That's just a hypothetical but if they did...you'll be looking for entirely different types of things in that home. In that move, they would only have brought with them practical items and possibly the hand-made chest great-grandpa made them for their wedding...see my point?

My goodness, if I were you...I'd be laying awake at night thinking about finding out what all the stuff is! You are going to have such an adventure and learn so much in the process. What fun...

You need a knowlegable friend to walk you through and put a name to most things....
It is very unlikely that you will find an appraiser that can fairly appraise all.
You need to find if you have a substantial collection of, say for exampleAs an example, when my father died my mother insisted on having all appraised ( no idea why....she was nutz!)....she had ( and I now have) a 15 by 15 sarouk in fabulous condition....he appraised it at $20,000 in 1978. He appraised a bunch of sliverplated very ordinary spoons, as Sterling and gave them a like value. He called a lovely old coin silver serving spoon with a vermeil bowl as "not sterling".
Several years later when my mother died, my brother insisted on having all appraised again.....and that rug now appraised at $2,000 because the appraiser said it would be difficult to find a buyer.....and she totally missed an Imari barber bowl, and called a lovely mahogany Sheraton nightstand as negligable.....thought it was a sewing machine!
You need to put a name to what you have.....then if you really want to pay to have it appraised, you can find someone who knows the value on that stuff.
But while the value of what you have is considerable....so far I haven't seen any single item worth more than a few hundred dollars....outside of that fabulous cupboard and the 2 chests. Do you want to pay someone upwards of $75 an hour to search through books for an appraised value of this stuff? Or would you rather concentrate on the more expensive stuff and just enjoy the doo dads and thingmajigs?
The old "silverware" with the tan bone or wood handles are worth $5 to $10 each if in great condition. Real silver??? Sterling? Coin? What??
My "things" are silver and glass....quite knowlegable....not very LOL! but quite!
Start by taking pictures and making notes like "box of old photographs" or"12 old prints in ornate frames about 18 by 24 inches in size"....or "box of linens, table cloths and doilys some with crocheted edges, about 25 piueces".
Then go back and sort more thoroughly.
The thing you need to do is know sort of what you have in case it all blows away tomorrow.
Linda C

Gina, can I come live with you? :-) What a treasure trove! If I were you, I would probably get *nothing* accomplished -- I would be too busy prowling and looking. Thanks so much for the pictures. Keep 'em coming, please. Oh, and pictures can be your best friend right now. Lots and lots of pictures will also help you to become familiar with what you have. I don't have great things like some of the folks on this forum, but have found pictures, including the front and back of items, has really helped me identify my inherited items. It is certainly easier to pull up a picture on my computer, or print it out, that have to get things out of the china cabinet or where ever. I have the items in albums, categorized by type. That system has been a real help to me. Good luck with your wonderful purchase.