Carolyn and Tim Extine plan to run monthly auctions of antiques and other items to help serve their community.
Review by Andrea Valluzzo
TOPPING, VA. — Walnut Hill Auctions celebrated its grand opening on July 7 with an ice cream social preview party, raffle prizes and an online auction the following day, featuring Americana, other antiques, estate items and property from several collections. Offerings ranged from American-made cast iron, primitives and ceramics to coin silver, Rookwood and McCoy pottery, folk art and nautical goods.
Serving the Virginia Peninsula, Middle Peninsula, Northern Neck and surrounding area, owners Carolyn and Tim Extine have picked and sold thousands of items since 1989, specializing in “the old and unusual.” First collectors, then sellers, all while maintaining their careers in pharmaceutical sales (Carolyn) and teaching (Tim), they started conducting auctions four years ago, hosting the sales in clients’ homes. Now they are in the auction business full-time, and opened their new gallery in order to conduct more curated sales. Their family business is dedicated to serving the community by helping people during difficult times earn money for their consigned items.
“We’re excited to serve an ever-growing need and help people move forward from difficult situations with confidence and peace of mind,” Carolyn explained. “For the community, we’re bringing the fun and fellowship that only an auction can offer. We had approximately 90 people attend our preview and ice cream social for our gallery grand opening. Even when sales are held online, the number of people attending preview inspections is continuing to prove that auctions are a desirable way to buy and sell quality items.”
The preview for the July 8 auction was well-attended.
A love of antiques has long been a constant for Carolyn. “I started going to auctions with my mom in my pre-teens. She loved country primitives and learned to repair slag glass lamps, building a beautiful collection and home,” she said. “During high school, I often went to auctions by myself and began collecting furniture and decorative arts that I still own today.”
Seeking a new direction after being spared from the ravages of Covid-19, Carolyn discovered the answer was auction school. “As Christians, we prayed for direction to how we could help others, and still stay in a familiar wheelhouse. I enrolled in auction school in 2022 and Tim and I have been serving people who are often overwhelmed with collections, estates, farms, vehicles and businesses they just don’t know what to do with,” she continued. “We listen to their situation, uncover their need and work to provide a solution — whether it’s the sale of one special item, an entire collection or an entire estate.”
Walnut Hill Auctions specializes in high end collectibles with an interest in Americana, farm equipment and estates with real estate. As a small company, the Extines plan monthly auctions and say they want to serve their customers with the integrity and dignity they believe their family deserves.
On display in the gallery during the preview was this grouping of items to be featured in the August 6 auction.
The top lot in their July 8 auction was a highly desirable, diminutive piece of classic Americana — a Dazey No. 10 glass hand-crank butter churn, bid to $948. Standing at approximately 11½ inches tall, the model was made by the Dazey Churn and Manufacturing Company starting in the 1900s and was reportedly their smallest size. “The No. 10 Dazey churn is a desirable and often elusive sized churn,” Carolyn emphasized. “We held a contest at preview to guess the closest selling price, which was pretty close at $875 before buyer’s premium.”
Rounding out auction highlights were a National Cash Register, Model 313, that came out of the Oceanview Amusement Park and sold for $483; a Walter Whitehead (American, 1874-1956) oil on Masonite at $393; and a Rookwood Pottery rook paperweight in a dark aqua glaze that realized $348.
All prices reported include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. Walnut Hill’s August 6 sale will feature advertising signs, gas pumps and more. For information, www.walnuthillauctions.com or 757-846-8620.
