auctions at the barn
They say you can't go home again. Turns out, you can.
For 15+ years, the recognizable historical big red barn and brick house at U.S. 23 and Ohio 315 in Delaware County was the place that I called home for the majority of my auction career and for my family when I raised four small children there alongside a burgeoning business.
In the 1950s, Garth Oberlander bought the property at 2690 Stratford Road and began to cultivate a community of buyers and sellers that would grow to include some of the biggest, most legendary names in the art and antique business nationwide. From Peter Tillou to Bill Samaha - and his parents before him; from the Sacks of New York to midwestern icons like Clark Garrett and the Momchilovs, these people called Garth's Barn (now known as The Barn at Stratford) home - and they looked forward as much to the warm atmosphere, lemon meringue pie, and Carolyn's irises out front as they did the scholarly exchanges inside and the breathless anticipation as the saleroom buzzed with excitement for that next great piece that would soar past estimates to land on the pages of Maine Antique Digest, Antiques & the Arts Weekly (aka The Bee), and Ohio Antique Review.
For countless others in the antique community, The Barn has served as a home base, incubator, and regular stomping grounds.
Now, the emblematic property is poised to cultivate today's community of art and antique enthusiasts as we return to the familiar, comfortable saleroom to strengthen relationships, share knowledge, and fuel the passionate pursuit of shared history and material culture.
Join me as we return to auctions at the barn.


We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
T.S. Eliot

Photos of the property are courtesy of the Delaware County Historical Society, whose leaders and volunteers have thoughtfully stewarded this community treasure through nearly $2M in renovations. For more information or to support their efforts, visit delawareohiohistory.org