New auction house in Franklin revives in-person bidding

Ryan Piccirillo stood behind a podium and looked over a crowd of people firmly sat in plush red pews — all eyes on him. The walls on either side of him have depictions of Jesus in intricate stained glass artwork.

A first glance might have you believe this is a regular church service, but look below Jesus’s feet and you’ll find another story: handcarved chairs and dressers, paintings of ships and women, sculptures of horses and angels, aging storefront signs and clocks of all kinds of grandeur.

Piccirillo isn’t giving a sermon either; he’s talking at a rapid-fire pace and shouting out price increases by the second. Those prices are bids on items found around the floor, held up in front of the room of people eager to win their next favorite thing.

“We’re obviously selling material, we’re selling antiques, but we also want to give people an experience and have them have a good time and have some laughs and join together with community,” Piccirillo said.

A 1917 church in Franklin is now an auction house owned by Piccirillo’s Granite Union Auction Company. Live auctions haven’t made a full recovery since the COVID-19 pandemic, but Piccirillo hopes this kickstarts a trend across the state to bring back a well-loved industry.

Granite Union Auction Company held its first live event Sunday where it sold over 200 lots. It will have its discovery auction on Sunday, Aug. 30 that will open its downstairs area to the public. No official opening date has been set yet but will be announced on its website.

In 2016, Piccirillo started Vintage Memory Hole in Somerville, Mass., and was a Union Square staple until 2020 when he moved to Jaffrey. Before his move, Piccirillo happened to visit Broadcove Auctions in Hingham, Mass., where he fell in love with auctioneering.

“It opened my eyes to what auctions are,” he said. “I always had this idea that auctions were Christie’s and Sotheby’s, fancy people in suits with British accents selling million-dollar paintings. I didn’t realize that it was working-class folks selling whatever comes through the door.”

Piccirillo took Memory Hole with him to Jaffrey, but moved it online. His barn held all the treasures he gathered through estate sales, flea markets and donations. He mostly held his auctions on Instagram Live before becoming frustrated with the platform’s limitations and built out his own site.

In 2023, Piccirillo met his now wife Liza Penney who runs the business alongside him. He admits that he was hesitant to co-own a business he had been running on his own, but Penney was a great addition given her pragmatic business background.

Penney herself never expected to come into an auctioneering business, but has grown to love it with Piccirillo by her side.

“It’s like such a social thing doing antiques because it’s all the same folks that are selling and buying everywhere,” Penney said. “It’s a great way to make connections in the industry.”

Before the auction started on Sunday, visitors strolled around the perimeter of the main room and made note of what caught their eye. Laura Pepper saw a little red riding hood painting that her daughter would love and a tackle box perfect for her son to use for fishing. She got both in the auction for $60 total.

Pepper, a Franklin resident, said she gets her eclectic taste from her grandfather who collected antiques. She said she frequented an auction house in Nashua and was happy to find one opening so close to home.

“It’s fun to help local business like them and really maybe go home with a sweet goodie or treat from the auction,” she said.

She hasn’t been down in Nashua for a while, she said, and is not sure if it’s still around. But in-person auction houses across the U.S. shuttered during the pandemic and moved online, just as Piccirillo did. Some local antique fanatics said Granite Union Auction Company is the first in-person auction hose they’ve seen in years.

Father and son Ted and Brett Varnum, from Laconia, visited the auction house after coming from an antique store in Epsom. Ted said he’s been going to auctions around New Hampshire for 40 years and tends to be drawn to books and ephemera.

He hasn’t seen another auction house since the pandemic and was glad to see the potential for community in Franklin.

“I think [this is] a good thing because it’s needed,” Ted said. “Back in the day, I could go to 10 in one day. But today, online has taken it away. I understand it, but I don’t like it.”

What Piccirillo most enjoys about auctioneering is the people he meets along the way. Before Sunday’s soft opening, he said he hope he doesn’t tear up at the sight of people that got him into auctioneering.

“I’m really excited to see all of the people that have inspired me over the years, all the people who have supported me and Liza in this endeavor come together and be in person and just celebrate,” he said. “If everything sells for $1, I’ll be happy because I’m just so excited.”