Lenis Northmore of Newark, Delaware has a home packed with rare and exotic collectibles. But finding them in a 6,000 square foot house is like finding needles in a haystack. As a retired art historian and a world traveler, her house is packed with the artwork, artifacts and mementos she has collected throughout her life. Lenis definitely has an eye for nice things but it turns out her items hold a lot more than just monetary value. They’re all wrapped in stories of adventure and family history. A Chinese jade scepter head, a 120-year-old American flag and a hand-carved canoe prow from New Guinea are just a few of the things hiding in her mid-19th century home.
More about this episode:
Now it’s time to pack up the house and make some tough choices about what stays and what goes. As Lenis prepares to downsize to a much smaller house in Williamsburg, Virginia to be closer to her daughter and grandkids, the Legacy List team is here to help her through it all. Once they find these hidden gems, they’ll dig deeper into the history behind each object, to find their origin, their worth, and most importantly, their connection to Lenis’ family.
But Lenis isn’t the only one searching for mementos. Her daughter Angelica stops by to meet Matt and add an item to the list… the antique dolls she remembers playing with as a kid. She’d like to have her own mementos of the place she grew up.
When Matt’s team is done, Lenis and Angelica get a tour of a very different house, now completely empty of a lifetime of belongings. When Matt sits down with them to share what he’s found, it becomes a revealing and emotional conversation for Lenis and her daughter. They’ll have to leave most of it behind but not without their memories intact... and a fresh start ahead.