Would people suggest we move out all of the antiques & replace with rented newer stuff?

I'd suggest you remove your good stuff period. One of the reasons we sold an empty home has to do with the quality of our furnishings and the realization that many people are just not careful with other people's property. The last thing I wanted was a theft, a targeted theft later or someone putting down a drink on a table leaving a ring, sitting on a sofa and leaving spots behind, etc.

I'm not sure how to answer your dated question. To me, antiques are never "dated" (ironic when you think about that). But then again I'm not a fan of the current Pottery Barn styles and I can look past furnishings. One thing to consider is just as an orange shag rug can be distracting, so can beautiful furnishing. The positive to the beautiful-furnishing-distraction however, could be a potential buyer buying into your lifestyle much the way staging does.

I personally didn't think the other poster's home was dated, I think it's generational and even perhaps regional. I love a home with fine antiques, but I'm not sure I'm in the majority here. I have some antiques in my home, I've never moved them out to sell a home and none of my homes has ever been on the market longer than 10 days. I think most savvy buyers can look past furnishings.

I would say the waterfront location and deep water dock control above all else. A building lot like that is worth at least $600,000+ around me, in southern Maine. I saw one last weekend that was over $2m. For a lot.

I didn't comment on the furnishings in the other "dated" thread because I don't consider them relevent. I look past the furniture (I actually loved antiques). My SIL had a house decorated in the "primitive" style and it told in 3 days.

I'd think that most buyers would love to see your antiques. They "match" their surroundings. The poster in Georgia had a contemporary style home without matching furnishings. It's always nice when the "inside" doesn't clash with the "outside".

Local people most likely will see the quality. Buyers from outside New England may not.

I'd store my best things before showing and/or step up my insurance -- not that you can replace the antiques. anything with sentimental value should be stored.

I agree with the responses above. I simply can't wrap my mind around the idea that someone can't see past a home's furnishings. When I first saw my present home (a 1940 Tudor-style cottage), it was filled with highly ornamental Asian furnishings, but of course I knew I wasn't buying the guy's stuff -- just the house!

The notion that a home must be so "neutralized" and "Pottery Barned" as to appeal to the masses just doesn't make any sense to me. (Actually, it only makes me kinda resent Pottery Barn for somehow being able to dictate that "this is what's current; this is how you should look.")

I also agree that the only reason to remove your antiques is because others may not respect them, and you'll inevitably wind up with something that's precious to you being broken.

I can't be sure, but I suspect that your home will be a teardown.

In my community, the people interested in buying a waterfront property like yours wouldn't even bother going inside the house given your description of it. Rather, they will be evaluating the property to determine just how much house they can build and how they can maximize the views from every room.

I don't think you need to give a thought to your furnishings, other than to protect them from damage. N one will pay them any notice at all.

Just make sure they don't feel like they are in a museum and forget they are there to look at the house....People can be easily distacted.

Nope, not a "teardown". New England's funny about that stuff. You can't tear this home down & rebuild something with a larger footprint...violates local building codes for shoreline properties post-Katrina. Improvements more than 25% of the home's value have to go through the Building Department as new construction & would be subject to the new building codes that we're currently grandfathered on. Example, if remodeling were estimated at 30% of value...the entire home would have to be raised on 10' stilts. Building codes are tough around here. Also, New England just has a built-in adversion to tearing something down just because it's old. Newer is not always considered better here. So, most New England neighborhoods are a true hodge-podge of eras. Just how it is here. Our home is small but we basically gutted & rebuilt it 4 years ago from the roof on down. We purchased it because of the location & the dock. We've got a Nordic Tug. Having the boat a one minute walk away was a deal maker, for us.

Tricia

they aren't going to buy your STUFF. Just your house.

Make sure your stuff isn't overshadowing your house (too much furniture, or a few pieces so overwhelming they block out the view of everything else), and there's nothing else to worry about.

Hi Tricia,

...you had me at...'deep water dock'...

Dated-schmated...not dated at all. I'm also on the CT shoreline and homes around us, Madison, Clinton, Westbrook, Old Saybrook that are close to the water are still above the housing boom/bust, as for the moment. Still going at near top price.

We have, however, had several teardowns along our part of the shore. They use the same foot print but, build up. Folks don't seem to mind the 10 ft 'stilts'...all the better for the view. The regulations are tight and there is a limit on how high up you can build, but if you have the $$, it can be done. It's our dependance on septic that saves us from an all out explosion...a mixed blessing. But in our area, the small, family, summer cottages are becoming a thing of the past. But now....you have me thinking about this and it's sad to see those cottages go.

But, your home dated?...Naaaaa

Sooey

Since you feel you will be marketing your house as a second home/vacation property at what I suspect could be quite a high price because of the location, I would look at your surroundings with a critical eye and make sure the interior is in sptoless, move-in condition. Someone spending considerable funds on a second home will be much more amenable to a higher price if the interior doesn't need any work. Forget the antiques--they may be beautiful, but people aren't buying those and don't care how significant they are. I love antiques and even the "clutter" they sometimes create, but don't let them get in the way of allowing your home's features to shine through. I'd store some while you're trying to sell.

Hi Sooey!

I love your area of CT. My fav though is Essex. I just love that town. We're in Mystic on the Stonington side. The drawbridge is about 1/4 mile from our house so piece of cake to walk downtown on a nice summer night. The Seaport is less than a mile so also an easy walk.

Sounds like we should consider a temporary relocation of the most fragile pieces. What a PITA. We'd have to get a climate-controlled storage facility.

Also, I hope these rain/wind "events" stop soon. We've got a huge Paladium window in the sunroom & it's just a mess! It looks terrible...can't hardly see out of it. Not going to be a good selling feature if you can't see the water 'cause of the dirty glass! We've had 4.25" of rain since Jan. 1. Not a single snow flake though. In fact, my garden's up & growing...very weird weather around the country this winter.

Tricia

Definitely doesn't sound dated. It sounds very modernized, elegant and top o' the line.

Get those antiques to a safe place with armed guards watching over it. Going on the world wide web telling planet earth about your valuables in your house for sale.... not the best idea. Put them away.

People get 20 minutes before their agent gets the jitters. That's all you want to give them so close down the museum til it's sold.

Well, you are in New England where you are probably not competing with scads of new cookie cutter development and the people there appreciate that Pottery Barn is not always better. My house is full of antiques and as is a storage room I rented. I too have collected over the years and many items have been handed down through the family. As a result, my furniture does clash with the exterior style of the home. While it should not make a difference, it apparently does for some people. I think it's a regional thing and I think where there is a lot of spec housing and builder's model homes, there is a different perception on what should or should not be in a house.

My family is from Meriden, CT. It's a beautiful state. We are moving to Maine - or at least I will eventually, my husband being there already. Housing style is vastly different from what I am used to in Alabama. No New England Cape Cods here. No four-squares and federals. Heck the first time I saw baseboard heat was when I went househunting in Maine.

You'll drive yourself crazy trying to adjust to everyone's taste. If your blue goose is a "deal killer" it probably really isn't your blue goose - that's something someone grabs onto (citing the dreaded "D" word) to justify a bigger reason as to why they don't like a particular house that they can't quite put their finger on. I believe people walk into a house and even if it's decorated to the hilt in perfection, they don't "feel" it - and that's a very valid reason for not choosing a specific house.

Some people see a lot of new construction, but will look at existing homes because you get a bigger house for your money - and they can't quite get their head around the fact that an existing house is not going to be just exactly like the newly built house. Design styles go in and out of favor about as fast as fashion does these days.

Because people's tastes can be so regional, you should listen closely to your realtor. He or she has to show houses everyday and they know what the general buyer in your area looks for.

I hesitate to beleive that most people can afford to pack up all their furniture and rent new stuff to stage their house. Most of us just have to do the best we can with what we got and want we can afford. Did I mention you should listen to your real estate agent? You will be fine.

I don't look at people's furnishings either.

Hey, Tricia,

I was just in Mystic tonight...the Stonington side... One of my favorite places to be. It's real New England. And Essex is the bomb! That's where I go to Talbots and the 'Gris'. A walk through Essex on a Sunday afternoon with out-of-town guests is always the thing to do. I'll miss CT a lot...but the Cape is wonderful.

Let me know if I can help you 'unload' any of those Antiques...anything for a fellow Yankee...

Sooey

triciae - I think you've provided somewhat contradictory descriptions of the home. Initially you decribed it as an old hog dog stand that was converted to residential 20 years ago. Then you described it as a house that was totally re-built four years ago.

Generally, I think American antiques look great in contemporary (if furnished sparshly) and colonial homes. But I still have no idea what your home looks like, except that it's on a great lot.

Triciae, your area of CT is gorgeous. I agree that the location will sell the home. I would, however, pack away as many of the "temptations" as possible, but I don' think they will distract from any serious buyers' interest.

We're from NE CT, the "quiet corner." Often we'll make arrangements to spend a weekend with friends from Old Saybrook; we'll visit the Essex steam train, Mystic, etc. It's on the short list of where I want to live when I retire.

I'm among those who didn't feel the other poster's house was dated. To me, a classic contemporary is the a building style - one that didn't gain many fans so it takes longer to sell but saying that's dated is like saying a federalist house or a victorian house is dated.

As for the furniture, like others, it has nothing to do with the house, so again it wouldn't date the house. As for antiques, I think I would store most of them just so potential buyers and the looky lous won't break them. But no, antiques won't necessarily turn off 30ish buyers - many appreciate antiques and may hope to acquire some.

I would say a house is 'dated' if it had shag wall-to-wall carpeting, old kitchen appliances and cabinets, old washer/dryer, old (and not charming) fixtures and the original furnace/ac from the 1970s.

I think the one point everyone keeps emphasizing is to de-clutter the house. If you have 58 ducks and 108 tea cups, it's not age, it's the clutter. Clear surfaces with clean lines (nothing on the floor to trip over) is the goal.

Clarification on the house itself...

It was (and still is underneath) originally a hot dog stand in the 1940's. Then, in the mid-80's converted to a residential. There are two windows in our garage...they are the original hot dog stand windows still in their untouched original paint (blue). All of the other windows are white. So, some of the building's history remains.

At the time it was converted, the sunroom with the killer view was added. It adjoins the kitchen & has a 15' open beam ceiling. On the south wall (Connecticut's shores face south)...there's a 10' wall of arched windows.

When we purchased the property we: completely re-roofed; replaced countertops with granite (leaving the original, custom-built oak cabinets); added propane for a gas stove; put in new Koehler cast-iron sink, range, & frig as I noted above; the tile floors were in excellent condition so we left those; recarpeted the living room, hall, & den, & bedroom; added central air-conditioning; replaced the garage door & all of the exterior window shutters; added a new 1,600 s.f. patio to the front of the property (there are two additional brick patios in the rear); replaced the atrium door leading from the sunroom to the rear patios (all windows are Anderson so we didn't replace anything except this atrium door which had some rot); tore out all of the old landscaping & redid in an English cottage-style; redid some plumbing; the bathroom was already in great shape so we haven't touched it; repainted the interior; added tumbled marble to the kitchen wall that faces the sunroom; and probably other stuff that I can't remember right now.

So, it's a small (1,255 s.f.) home with only one bedroom plus a den, one bathroom, living room, eat-in kitchen, and a large sunroom. There's an attached over-sized one car garage with workshop in the back. There's also a garden shed on the property. The home is that New England brown with white trim, windows, doors, etc. Oh yeah, that's something else we did...we replaced the front door with a really pretty leaded-glass door & replaced the storm door with a ridiculously expensive powder coated, stainless steel-framed door with glass center section & a screen for summer. But, with the salt air we thought the SS would ultimately hold up much better & cost less than replacing the door every 3-5 years.

The home's size is quite typical of the area...some larger & some smaller. I still can't see it being a tear down but who knows...Sooey says they are tearing cottages down just 30-40 west of me so, maybe, someone would tear ours down too?

Tricia

When people talk about the 'blue goose' they mean the goose silhouette in cheap wood that people can buy unpainted at a craft store, and then paint up in pretty colors and put a ribbon around the neck. They're not talking actual decoys or sculptures.

I agree w/ the poster who advised moving all your good pieces out before selling. If these are real antiques, w/ real value, you don't want someone ruining them. Nor do you want anyone expecting them to convey w/ the house (like a corner cupboard might be).

I also think the deep water dock takes the home out of the realm of people worrying about the decor. It's a whole different ball game.

Tricia, it depends if they have an appreciation for such antiques~not much different than color choices. I think people will either know or NOT recognize your pieces to be 'the real thing', but it doesn't matter, nor do I think they will see the home as dated because of your fondness for such furnishings. To those *seriously* looking for a house, they'll look at sq ft first, cosmetic changes second.

I'm in agreement with taking out the more valuable pieces~it's also an opportunity for a perspective buyer to get a better visual of the sq ft.

Personally, it sounds like the perfect little cottage to me. ;o)

patty_cakes

From another CT resident, your location will sell your house. Now add the charm you speak of and it is very appealing. People will end up having to view more than once as I see them being blown away with view, charm and checking your "things" -- second time to look at structure etc. Many people that come to CT for a second or 5th home come for the antiquity and charm.

"It's located 75' from the water in one of New England's seaside quaint villages. There's a deep-water dock............" killer view "

that's your selling point.

From what you describe, your home sounds charming, not dated. There's a difference for me. Dated for me means bland/stale and devoid of charm.