Granite Union Auction Company opens in former church in Franklin

FRANKLIN — Granite Union Auction Company opens its doors in August at 58 S. Main St., just west of downtown Franklin, in a 1917 orange-brick church with a clock tower that has stood in continuous civic use for more than a century. The house opens with the mission of spreading joy through material culture.

“Auctions are one of the oldest ways to buy and sell things. I think they’ve stuck around this long because people love the thrill of a good bidding battle as much as the satisfaction of a great deal,” said Ryan Piccirillo, a licensed New Hampshire auctioneer who runs the company with wife and co-owner, Liza Penney.

Granite Union is the next chapter of Memory Hole Vintage, a former Somerville, Massachusetts, retail shop turned online auction business Piccirillo and Penney built into a nationally followed operation known for eclectic curation, honest condition reporting, and professional photography. The strengths of Memory Hole Vintage continue as Granite Union Auction Company. What has changed is the room.

Live public auctions took a hard hit in 2020, and much of what returned came back thinner — timed online sales, no gallery, no crowd. Granite Union was founded on the belief that the joy and community lost in that shift is worth bringing back.

“Online auctions have helped to bring a lot of new customers to the auction business, but I think once new buyers experience the excitement of being there in the room with the crowd, the merchandise, and a live auctioneer, they’re going to realize all the fun they’ve been missing out on,” Piccirillo said.

The house is built for that room. Auctions run most Sundays with doors opening in the morning for preview and the auction beginning at 2 p.m. The building is open to the public — no admission charge, no expectation that visitors buy anything. In addition to auctions, Granite Union will host film screenings under the moniker Memory Hole Movie House, showcasing classic films on a giant 15-foot screen.

In a period thick with algorithmic feeds, generated images, and disposable goods, a physical object with a verifiable history is an increasingly rare thing. An occupational photograph of a tradesman holding the tools of his work is not something that can be manufactured after the fact.

“When we hold an antique object, we hold a thread that connects us to the generations of people that held it before us,” Piccirillo said. “There is an inherent joy in that tangible connection to the past.”

Upstairs is a traditional seated auction of catalogued lots, sold one at a time to bidders in the room: folk art, photography, fine antiques, and the personal objects that carry a story with them — the things a family kept, and kept for a reason. Downstairs is a walk-around discovery sale of mixed box lots, offered on choice at a faster clip. Upstairs lots are catalogued on graniteunionauction.com ahead of each sale; the downstairs sale runs without a catalog, by design.

First-time bidders, first-time consignors, and all of their questions are welcome.

“We’re encouraging folks who have never been to an auction before to try it,” said Penney, the company’s director of operations. “We think you’ll be surprised how much fun an auction can be.”

Preview and pickup hours are Fridays, 2 to 6 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Mondays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The auction schedule is posted at graniteunionauction.com. Granite Union is accepting consignments for fall sales and handles full estates, partial estates, and single significant items, working with families, attorneys, and dealers throughout New Hampshire and northern New England.