Everything Goes : ‘Garage Sale’ to Precede Redesign of Santa Paula Mansion

Greg Finseth and his wife, Jean MacDonald, want to get rid of everything in their house.

The baby grand piano, the Tiffany lamps, the Chippendale dining set, the Steuben glass.

They want to start over from scratch--with the help of the best designers in Ventura County.

Today and Saturday, the biggest garage sale in Santa Paula will be held at the couple’s historic colonial house on Foothill Road. More than 400 items, including the MacDonalds’ 1954 Bentley and 1968 Mercedes-Benz, will be up for grabs.

After their possessions are cleared out, the house will be redone as part of the Ventura County Symphony League’s Design House project.

The 5,500-square-foot house will be furnished as it would have been when it was built in 1929 and the yard landscaped. The project is expected to be completed by May, when the house will be open for tours. The money raised at the viewings will go to the symphony.

The couple believes that the sale will raise enough money to cover the cost of the redesign, which is expected to exceed $100,000.

Finseth, who owns Hall Place Antiques in downtown Ventura, and MacDonald, an editor at NBC News in Burbank, spent Thursday packing boxes and pricing items.

“At one point my husband said to me, ‘I don’t know if we’re riding the crest of a wave or flying by the seat of our pants,’ � MacDonald said. “I said, ‘Well, I think we are doing a little bit of both. But life is an adventure.’

“I like new beginnings. . . . I think it’s important not to get too attached to things.�

Starting at 8 a.m. today, the public will have a chance to walk through the 24 rooms of the mansion called the Walden House and bid on anything they see. But bargain hunters are not welcome, Finseth said.

“We’re selling everything for what it’s worth,� he said.

A green and yellow Tiffany ceiling lamp, which glows much like a caldron at night, is expected to sell for $10,000. The baby grand is priced at $3,500. And an Aston Martin coupe, if Finseth decides to part with it, will cost at least $30,000.

“If we can raise enough to pay for (redecorating) the house, we’ll be happy,� Finseth said.

Every year since 1983, members of the Ventura County Symphony League have chosen one residence in the county to redesign.

This year, league officials decided to ask the couple if they would agree to the project.

“The home is selected by word of mouth,� said Karine Beesley, executive director of the symphony orchestra. “It’s expensive to the owner. But not as expensive as if they were doing this all on their own.�

Finseth and MacDonald said they agreed to the project, simply because they always wanted the house redecorated but did not have the time to fix it up themselves.

“Even if we worked hard, I don’t think we could do it in 10 years,� Finseth said.

A dozen interior designers and several landscape architects have already started putting together plans for the house.

“It has never been properly furnished,� MacDonald said. “At least when we get back in here, the house will be decorated according to period.�

The house was built in 1929 for Arthur and Eva Walden. Much later the house was sold to Irving and Dawn Baum and then to Finseth and MacDonald.

When the couple moved in several years ago, they brought truckloads of antiques they had collected over the years. Much of the furniture is from England.

“The house is so big it has become a warehouse for all the things I like,� Finseth said. “But unfortunately, all those things don’t necessarily go together.�

FYI

The Walden House sale of more than 400 items, including antique furniture and classic cars, will be held today and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 720 Foothill Road in Santa Paula.