From August 2007: Hot auction at Follensby
Uniquely Adirondack antiques from previously unbroken collection sell for more than predictedBy HEATHER SACKETT, Enterprise Staff Writer
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(Editor's note: With renewed public interest in the Follensby Pond property due to its sale to The Nature Conservancy, we decided to reprint this article which orginally appeared in the Aug. 27, 2007 issue of the Enterprise.)
TUPPER LAKE - Hundreds of bidders turned out in Tupper Lake Saturday, all competing to take home a piece of history in an auction of one of the biggest collections of Adirondack relics in recent memory.
The entire contents of the White Birches, the great camp lodge in historic Follensby Park, are now scattered among hundreds of buyers from all over the world.
Despite the heat, crowds gathered at the entrance to the park on Stetson Road and eventually overflowed from the seats under tents until the auction was standing room only. Kip Blanchard of Blanchard's Auction Service, which oversaw the auction, said the sale was conducted at the entrance to the property because of the remoteness of White Birches.
"It's 45 minutes from the gate to the lodge," he said. "It's eight miles on a dirt road. There was no possible way to do it in there."
The most popular items were hotly contested and had multiple phone bidders in addition to several of the roughly 350 bidders present. Some of the most interesting sales of the day were a pair of Westport chairs from the front porch of the camp that sold for $2,250; a shield, which was reportedly from a Lake Champlain Navy frigate that fought in the War of 1812 and which Blanchard called "a great piece of American folk art," that sold for $18,000; a Najavo ceremonial rug which sold for upwards of $20,000; and $500 for a letter to Mrs. Barbour from President Calvin Coolidge praising Follensby Pond, which he visited.
Before the start of the auction, Blanchard said the hot item of the day would be a pair of Theodore Hanmer guideboats built circa 1915. According to Blanchard, the boats were in vintage condition and had not seen water in more than 35 years. He predicted they would sell for between $5,000 and $10,000. They sold for $25,000.
"Everything is going higher because of the history," said Jon Kopp, owner of Wildwood Arts and Antiques and former director of the Tupper Lake Chamber of Commerce. "That's why you're seeing such terrific prices today. A lot of these people have their own great camps, and they are here today to buy a piece of Adirondack history."
Several items had the Barbour name on them, such as a mailbag which Kopp said was in such good condition it was worthy of a museum.
Kopp, who admitted he was trying for the guideboats but was outbid, said it is rare to see the sale of such a huge collection of antique Adirondack furnishings in the place of their origin.
"Quite often, a lot of stuff goes out of the Adirondacks to different auction houses," he said. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime auction."
Mark Wilcox, of Summer Antiques in Lake Placid, was bidding for several people besides himself and took home some of the prized L&JG Stickley furniture.
"I've been going to every auction in the Adirondacks for 20 years," he said. "You never see such a big collection intact."
One piece of Adirondack history that will remain in the area is the 21-foot 1956 Chris-Craft Capri Runabout motorboat. It had never been on any water other than Follensby Pond. It was sold to Susan and Tom Lawson of Tupper Lake for $28,000.
"It's just beautiful," Mrs. Lawson said. "I've always wanted one. It will stay right here on Simond Pond."
Lead developer of the proposed Adirondack Club and Resort Michael Foxman had a front-row seat to check out the antiques but said he was simply visiting friends in the area and did not plan on bidding for anything.
"It's fascinating," he said. "I haven't been to an auction like this in 20 or 30 years. I liked that Chris-Craft and the guideboats."
The White Birches lodge was built in 1913 by the Barbour family, and according to Blanchard, since John McCormick bought the property in 1952, the interior of the camp has remained exactly the same as it looked in a brochure put out the year he purchased it.
Blanchard said McCormick never put much thought into the furnishings contained within the lodge of Follensby Park.
"He never put much value into the contents," Blanchard said. "It just came with it when he bought the place."
Follensby Park is the second-largest piece of privately owned land in the Adirondack Park, boasting more than 14,500 acres with its own five-mile-long lake, dubbed Follensby Pond.
