Nemacolin Castle to host auction
BROWNSVILLE – Bits and pieces of the lifestyles of the rich, famous or not, will be auctioned this weekend at Nemacolin Castle. Park Royal Galleries, a Virginia auction house, has rented the castle grounds for the auction that will include an original Pissarro pastel, a $100,000 Rolex watch, handmade carpets, and numerous other objects.
Many of the items are the antiques, home furnishings and fine art objects owned by a prominent Florida plastic surgeon, Dr. Edward Carvallo, as part of a divorce settlement. Other items are from the personal collections of Sen. Adlai E. Stevenson III and Sen. William S. Cohen, the former secretary of defense under the Clinton administration.
Castle coordinator, Nellie Mammarella, said she was surprised when the auction house representative contacted her more than a year ago.
“I told her, ‘Are you sure you have the right place?'” Mammarella said.
A company representative said Park Royal found Nemacolin Castle on the Internet while looking for a place near Pittsburgh to hold an auction. The company hasn’t held any auctions in the Pittsburgh area recently, and likes to vary the locations of its auctions.
“The castle will be open for tours, so not only will they be able to go to the auction, they can go through an historic house as well,” Mammarella said.
Mammarella said she has received some calls from individuals concerned that the Brownsville Historical Society is auctioning off some of the castle furnishings.
“We definitely, without a doubt, are not,” Mammarella said.
All of the items being auctioned are being brought in from outside the area by the auction house. They will be under 24-hour armed guard.
The Historical Society will be selling refreshments during the auction. Mammarella said the normal castle tour hours will be extended to accommodate the auction crowd. Tours will be available from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. The auction will begin at 1 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, with the items available for viewing starting at noon each day.