Harriet Roughan in her element at Estate Treasurers, surrounded by an eclectic mix of furnishings and décor
Harriet Roughan’s inventory at Estate Treasures in Greenwich reflects a demand driven today by young people with a taste for home furnishings characterized by a cleaner, contemporary look and reproductions rather than antiques. “Times change,” Roughan says “Young people today go for what I call a ‘transitional look.’ They don’t want anything frilly. And they are not much interested in what their parents thought was in vogue.”
Roughan’s 7,500-square-foot shop (at 1162 East Putnam Ave.) has achieved landmark status as a resource for home décor for 32 years and a chic outlet for two generations to indulge their shopping impulses.
A number of glitterati patronize the shop. But Roughan won’t reveal their identities. Or non-celebrities either.
“Confidentiality is the cornerstone of my business,” she explains. “No one knows who shops here or the origin of the pieces or who buys them. An item could be the residue of a divorce. Who wants to talk about that?”
Floorspace and shelving in the shop brim with at least 5,000 items arrayed to catch the eye, everything from sofas and chairs, beds and dressers, desks bookcases, mirrors, lamps, china, place settings, crystal, estate jewelry, painting and prints, statues, globes, objets d’art, curios, you name it. Until someone creates a better cliché, you never know what you’ll find.
What carries a special cachet today, Roughan reports, are sterling settings whose value has appreciated as the price of the metal silver has escalated over the last five years, doubling to reach almost $20 an ounce.
Virtually everything in the shop is on consignment. Usually Roughan consults with the owner of the merchandise to establish a fair market price.
Two thirds of the proceeds go to the owner of the item, one-third to Roughan, a formula she says she considers revising every year--to 60-40 in favor of the owner or even 50-50--but invariably reverts to the original one-third-two-thirds split.
Roughan is amused by the old cartoon in the New Yorker that shows a storefront with a sign that reads: “We buy junk and sell antiques.” At the same time she laments that popular TV shows like “Antiques Road Show” and more recently “Pawn Stars” have inflated the expectations of people with pre-owned articles to sell.
“Almost everyone,” Roughan reports, “is under the illusion that their items are worth much more than the actual value in the real world. When you are selling something, you have to find a buyer at that price. If your price is unrealistic, no one with touch it.”
Until five years ago Roughan made regular excursions abroad to scour the antique markets of Britain, Italy and the Netherlands for those exclusive pieces of furniture and merchandise for the high-end shopper. The strength of the pound and the euro against the U.S. dollar has since shrunk that market. But there are indications the international currency is softening which would send Roughan abroad again to Europe’s caches of furnishings.
But builders and real estate agents still enlist Roughan to provide the furnishings for stagings—giving the property a warm lived-in look-- in multi-million dollars homes in Greenwich that are brand new or have been vacated and left devoid of furnishings and décor.
Based on her experience and a eye for color and creative décor she first developed years ago while studying at the New York School of Interior Design, Roughan has converted empty rooms into warm and elegant living space for homes that routinely go for $4-million-plus and one property in Belle Haven that sold recently for $17 million.
Another source that has expanded Roughan’s inventory recently are consignments of furnishings, silver and collectibles from the homes of longtime Greenwich residents of advancing age who are either downsizing or moving into senior residences. Divesting themselves of their lifelong possessions is a process that is eased by Roughan’s experience and sensibilities.
Not everyone who browses at Estate Treasures is a buyer. “Some people come here to get away from the anxiety of their lives,” Roughan observes.
“They walk around totally relaxed. They just want to look. There is no pressure here.”
Today Roughan has lost none of her entrepreneurial vitality and has no retirement plans. “Over the years my customers have turned into my friends,” she explains. “Simply being here gives me a great deal of pleasure.”
