Jim Crowley walked into what’s known as the Thompson House mansion and said he felt like he had just stepped back in time.
Not much had been touched for years — the furniture was reminiscent of the Victorian era up to the 1920s, a woman’s wardrobe from decades ago hung in the closets and vintage lamps sat on tables.
“It was like walking into a time capsule,” said Crowley, chief specialist and general manger of Brunk Auctions, a private auction house specializing in the sale of fine art, jewelry, Asian art, antique furniture, coins, and other areas, based in Asheville, N.C. “They never even updated the bathroom. This house is one of the most interesting jobs I have done being in the antique business.”
Many of those items that intrigued Crowley from the home in Shadyside will be available for auction through Brunk Auctions beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Crowley said he went upstairs to the attic, pulled down a ladder from the ceiling and climbed in — he could not believe what he saw: there were marble top tables and a punch bowl wrapped in newspaper dated 1936 and a silver tea set, he said.
Located at 5850 Fifth Ave. in Shadyside, “The Thomson House” is an historic three-story home that originally belonged to Scottish-American coal and coke magnate Thomas Chalmers Darsie and his wife, Edith Benney Darsie. The land that it sits on was purchased in 1902 and the home was built in 1909.
Thomas was one of the founders of the Hecla Coke Co., in partnership with his brother, James Darsie, and William Jr. and Benjamin Thaw — sons of the prominent railroad magnate William Thaw. The company operated in Westmoreland County until 1905, when the business was taken over by the H.C. Frick Coke Co.
Thomas Chalmers Darsie purchased the home in 1909 for what is thought to be $35,000, according to Brunk Auctions.
He left his $500,000 estate — nearly $11 million today — to his children Anne Darsie Thomson and Robert Adamson Darsie following his death in 1932.
The home was passed to Anne Darsie Thomson’s sons, who resided there until their deaths. The last surviving son, Robert, ran the Thompson & Sproull Insurance Company, which handled insurance for Chatham University. Upon his passing in 2014, Robert bequeathed the house and all contents to the university.
The home hadn’t been touched for nearly a decade until the decision was made to conduct an auction.
There are two types of auctions, absolute and reserve. An absolute auction is the classic type where the item — whether real estate or any other type of produce — is sold to the highest bidder, regardless of the price. The bidding starts at $0.
Reserve auction means an auction in which the seller or an agent of the seller reserves the right to establish a stated minimum bid, the right to reject or accept any or all bids, or the right to withdraw the real or personal property at any time prior to the completion of the auction by the auctioneer.
Brunk is a reserve auction house.
With the internet, the auction house can reach a greater audience, he said. Brunk Auctions sells on four platforms and has a database of more than 750,000 people. The company has a 25,000 square-foot gallery in Asheville, N.C., for people who want to bid in person. There are also telephone bids, absentee bids and online bids.
Potential bidders register to be able to place a bid.
There are more than 300 objects, including Tiffany lamps and vases, Scottish and American paintings, a selection of American gold coins, oriental rugs, a library of fine leather bound titles, and more.
Each piece is inspected by a specialist and its value determined.
Crowley said they have dealt with clients who have made huge donations to universities but hadn’t come across a situation where anyone donated the contents of an entire house until this one. He said he isn’t sure what is going to happen to the home.
The Thomson House is part of Chatham’s long-term institutional master plan to serve as a campus gateway and connector from Fifth Avenue to main campus and to one day be used for university offices or as an alumni center, a spokesman said via email. There is no current timeline for the full renovation project.
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“I walked in there and I was like a kid in a candy store,” Crowley said. “For an antique person like me, it’s about the hunt and the discovery.”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact JoAnne by email at jharrop@triblive.com or via Twitter .