Estate Sale at Late Comedy Writer's Home Attracts Huge Crowd

The biggest Labor Day weekend crowd in Sherman Oaks turned up at the home of the late comedy writer Sol Saks, whose furniture and personal property were being sold Sunday and Monday at an estate sale.

"People were lined up down the block before we opened the doors at 9 o'clock Sunday morning," said Lori Tucci of Sterling Estate Resolutions, who was managing the estate sale, at 14623 Sutton St.

Saks, a veteran comedy writer who created the classic sitcom Bewitched, died in April at the age of 100.

During the sale, virtually every room of the house was filled with people looking, evaluating and discussing the value of things that once belonged to Saks.

"Everything is selling like hotcakes," Tucci said, as people were counting out cash and handing it over to a man sitting at a table in the den.

"Everything means everything," said Tucci's assistant Cindy, who declined to give her last name.

 "Furniture, books, antiques, a washer-dryer, the accumulation of a life's work is on sale. Some of the buyers are fans of Sol Saks' work," said Cindy, who was standing in the middle of a crowded living room, surrounded by people who kept asking her questions.

"How much are these books?" queried a bearded man, holding up a bunch of small, dog-eared books.

"Those are $3 for each one," she said.

"I'll take them all," he said.

"There was a bidding war for the desk that Saks did his writing on," said Cindy. "That went for quite a high price."

Saks wrote for a number of television and radio comedies in addition to his work on Bewitched, which ran on ABC from 1964 to 1972 and starred Elizabeth Montgomery as a beautiful suburban witch. Saks also wrote the screenplay for the 1966 Cary Grant film Walk Don't Run.

Although the estate sale took place over two days, much of the property was sold on Sunday. Some people used a rented truck to pack in and haul away all the furniture they bought.

"I bought the washer-dryer," said Marcella Yart, sitting outside next to her purchase. "Paid $125 for them—good deal," she said.

How did the sellers arrive at the price of items that were being sold?

"Many of these sales involve a negotiation: How much is the buyer willing to pay? Sometimes, the owner of the property has a fixed price in mind and they won't take any less than that price," Cindy said.

"Last week we had an enormous crowd at an estate sale in the Sherman Oaks hills," she said. "These sales are a chance for people to buy rare things that have not been on sale for a long time.

"You find a lot of history at these estate sales," she added, smiling.