The Vault
Sample pieces. Real finds added from the control center appear here automatically and replace these.
A rotating gallery of pieces we've pulled from recent estates. With era, origin, condition, and what they brought. Nearly every one was headed for a dumpster. Tap any photo to look closer.
Broyhill Brasilia Walnut Credenza
- Era
- 1960s
- From
- Livonia
- Category
- Furniture
This is the real deal Broyhill Brasilia, that arched sculpted walnut front everybody chases. Came out of a ranch house in Livonia where it had been holding table linens since Kennedy was president. A few light rings on top but the veneer is all there and the doors still glide.
Victorian Eastlake Marble-Top Dresser
- Era
- 1880s
- From
- Dearborn
- Category
- Furniture
Solid walnut Eastlake dresser with the original white marble top and a swing mirror that still holds position. The incised carving and burl panels are what you paid extra for back in the 1880s. Heavy as a piano and built to outlast all of us.
Primitive Pine Farmhouse Harvest Table
- Era
- early 1900s
- From
- Wyandotte
- Category
- Furniture
Old pine harvest table with square nails and a top that's seen a hundred years of meals. Somebody scrubbed this thing every Sunday for decades and you can feel it. The kind of honest piece that looks better the more banged up it gets.
Set of Four Danish Teak Dining Chairs
- Era
- 1960s
- From
- Royal Oak
- Category
- Furniture
Four Danish teak chairs with the woven paper-cord seats, light and strong the way the Danes did it. Cords are original and tight, no sag. These get snapped up fast every time because you can't build them like this anymore.
Persian Heriz Room-Size Rug
- Era
- mid-1900s
- From
- Grosse Pointe Park
- Category
- Rugs
Hand-knotted Heriz out of northwest Persia, that big geometric medallion in rust and navy that holds up to real life. This one's got honest wear in the walkways, which is how you know it's the genuine article and not a factory copy. Ten years buying rugs and I still stop for a good Heriz.
Turkish Oushak Rug, Soft Palette
- Era
- 1930s
- From
- Ferndale
- Category
- Rugs
Old Turkish Oushak in the faded apricot and pale blue everybody wants right now. The wool's got that low silky sheen you only get from age and good lanolin. A little low in spots but it lays flat and the color is the whole point.
Karastan Olympia Wool Rug
- Era
- 1970s
- From
- Allen Park
- Category
- Rugs
Machine-made Karastan, the good American stuff woven in North Carolina back when they made it right. This is the Olympia pattern, a classic Persian layout in wool that wears like iron. Great starter rug if you want the look without the hand-knotted price.
Oil Painting, Lake Michigan Dunes
- Era
- 1950s
- From
- Lincoln Park
- Category
- Fine art
Signed oil of the Lake Michigan dunes by a local hand, original frame and all. Nothing famous, just a solid honest landscape somebody painted because they loved the water. Reads great on a wall and the colors have held up beautiful.
Framed Antique Bird Lithograph
- Era
- late 1800s
- From
- Redford
- Category
- Fine art
Hand-colored bird lithograph in the old style, framed under glass with a little foxing that tells you it's real age. The kind of print that used to hang in a parlor and still looks sharp today. Cheap way to put something genuinely old on your wall.
Hand-Carved Folk Art Duck Decoy
- Era
- 1940s
- From
- Trenton
- Category
- Fine art
Working decoy somebody carved and painted by hand, hunted over Lake Erie and it shows in the good way. Worn paint, a little shot wear, all original. This is the kind of Michigan folk art that keeps climbing every year.
Sterling Silver Flatware Service for Eight
- Era
- 1940s
- From
- Dearborn Heights
- Category
- Silver
Full sterling service for eight in a classic floral pattern, monogrammed and kept in the felt-lined chest. Weighs right in the hand, which is how you know it's the real sterling and not plate. Somebody's wedding silver that only came out at Thanksgiving.
Sterling Silver Water Pitcher
- Era
- 1920s
- From
- Grosse Pointe
- Category
- Silver
Heavy sterling water pitcher with a nice bellied shape and an applied border. This is holloware, the good weighty stuff, not a hotel-plate hand-me-down. Polishes up like a mirror and even at scrap it's worth real money, but it's too pretty to melt.
Brass and Crystal Five-Arm Chandelier
- Era
- 1960s
- From
- Dearborn
- Category
- Lighting
Five-arm brass chandelier hung with real cut crystal prisms that throw rainbows when the sun hits them. Came out of a Dearborn dining room and every prism is accounted for. Rewired and ready to hang, just needs a ceiling.
Pair of Mid-Century Brass Table Lamps
- Era
- 1960s
- From
- Southgate
- Category
- Lighting
Matched pair of tall brass table lamps with the original pleated shades, that clean atomic-era look. Both work, both switch clean, no dents. Pairs are hard to find so these won't sit long.
Roseville Pottery Jardiniere
- Era
- 1930s
- From
- Taylor
- Category
- Ceramics
Roseville jardiniere in one of the raised floral patterns collectors chase, glaze soft and matte the way it should be. No hairlines, no chips, marked on the bottom. Real Roseville, not the reproductions floating around out there.
McCoy Pottery and Stoneware Crock
- Era
- 1940s
- From
- Inkster
- Category
- Ceramics
A cheerful yellow McCoy planter paired with a salt-glaze stoneware crock that still smells faintly of the pickles it once held. The crock's got a blue cobalt stencil and a tight little chip on the rim, nothing that hurts it. Good honest kitchen crockery from when things were made to work.
Oak Gingerbread Mantel Clock
- Era
- 1890s
- From
- Melvindale
- Category
- Clocks
Pressed-oak gingerbread clock with the pendulum, the key, and a strike that still counts the hour. Runs when you wind it, which is more than you can say for most clocks I pull. That tick-tock in a quiet house is worth the price alone.
Seth Thomas Oak Wall Regulator
- Era
- early 1900s
- From
- Ecorse
- Category
- Clocks
Seth Thomas long-drop wall regulator in quartersawn oak, the kind that used to hang in a schoolhouse or a train depot. Big brass pendulum, seconds bit, keeps decent time once it settles. A statement piece for anybody who likes a real clock.
Costume Jewelry Lot with a Few Fine Pieces
- Era
- 1950s-60s
- From
- Lincoln Park
- Category
- Jewelry
A whole cigar box of vintage costume jewelry, rhinestone brooches and enamel and beads, and buried in it a little 14k gold chain and a sterling ring. That's how it usually goes with the jewelry box, mostly fun stuff and a couple of real surprises. Priced for the pile.
Porcelain Enamel Gas Station Sign
- Era
- 1950s
- From
- Redford
- Category
- Collectibles
Double-sided porcelain enamel sign off an old service station, real chippy edges and honest rust around the grommets. This is the stuff garage guys and pickers fight over, the more weathered the better. Found it screwed to a shed wall in Redford where it had been forgotten for fifty years.
Vintage Tin and Pressed-Steel Toys
- Era
- 1950s
- From
- Westland
- Category
- Collectibles
A little group of old toys, a pressed-steel dump truck and a couple of tin windups that still go when you crank them. Paint's worn from being actually played with, which is exactly right. Grown men buy these to put on a shelf and remember being seven.
Stanley Hand Plane and Vintage Tool Lot
- Era
- 1940s-50s
- From
- Garden City
- Category
- Tools
A grouping of old hand tools led by a Stanley Bailey bench plane that a woodworker kept sharp and oiled his whole life. Wood-handled chisels, a brace, a couple of squares, all with that worn wooden-handle patina. These get bought and actually used, which is the best thing you can say about a tool.
WWII US Army Footlocker with Gear
- Era
- 1940s
- From
- Wyandotte
- Category
- Militaria
Genuine WWII US Army footlocker with the soldier's name stenciled on the lid, and inside a folded wool uniform, a canteen, and a bundle of letters home. This is real Americana, the kind of thing families are proud to keep or pass on. I handle these with respect and price them fair.
Prices shown are typical of what pieces like these bring around metro Detroit. A feel for the range, not a price list. Think something in your home might belong here? Book a free walkthrough →
Houses I've cleared
The kinds of houses I clear across Detroit and Downriver, from a tidy Livonia ranch to a packed Redford basement. Every one goes back broom-clean.
The Livonia Brick Ranch
Folks up in Ohio inherited their aunt's brick ranch and needed it empty and realtor-ready in three weeks. Fifty years of living in there, closets packed, a basement full of good midcentury furniture nobody upstairs knew the value of. We ran a two-day sale, placed the Broyhill and the good rug, and had the house swept clean for the listing photos.
- Whole-house clean-out in under three weeks
- Broyhill Brasilia credenza and Danish teak set placed with buyers
- Left the house broom-swept and photo-ready for the realtor
- Out-of-town family handled everything by phone
The Lincoln Park Bungalow
Classic Downriver bungalow, the kind with the little arched living room and a kitchen that hadn't changed since 1965. Sweet lady lived there her whole married life and left a house full of costume jewelry, crocks, and kitchen stuff. We did a proper weekend estate sale on-site, neighbors came through all day, and what didn't sell we boxed for donation.
- On-site weekend estate sale, priced and staffed by us
- Cigar box of jewelry turned up a little real gold
- Leftovers donated and hauled, nothing left behind
- Family got a fair cash number up front
The Redford Full House
This one was packed floor to ceiling, the kind of house people are embarrassed to let anyone see. I told the family what I tell everybody, I don't care how messy it is and I've seen it all. We dug it out room by room, pulled a porcelain gas sign and good tools out of the garage that paid for the whole job, and handed back an empty house.
- Full pack-out of a heavily cluttered home, no judgment
- Porcelain station sign and vintage tools found in the garage
- Dug out room by room over several days
- Family walked away with a cleared house and cash in hand
The Dearborn Cape Cod
A couple downsizing to a condo needed to move out sixty years of a well-kept Dearborn Cape Cod. Real nice things in this one, the Eastlake dresser, a brass and crystal chandelier, sterling in the dining room hutch. We bought the antiques outright for cash and helped them clear the rest so they could close on the condo clean.
- Cash buyout of the antiques and sterling on the spot
- Eastlake marble-top dresser and crystal chandelier placed
- Helped a downsizing couple clear the whole house
- Quick close so they made their condo move