I was walking among the furniture at the auction house looking for something interesting and different when I came across a Louis XV style writing table with two notes attached:
“Originally out of the lobby of the Trump Taj Mahal.” “Out of the home of Carol Cooper Brown.”
I had never heard of her, probably because I could not afford her. So I Googled her name, and read a heady promotion of the sale. This South Jersey auction house was selling Brown’s personal furniture, and touting her as “the designer and decorator for celebrity business man and presidential hopeful Donald Trump.”
Then I kept seeing the same note on several other pieces of furniture, much of it bulky. Just around the corner from the writing table was a three-piece French Provincial commode-style bedroom set. Its mirror bore a note about its origin, too.
Another large ensemble was a dining room table with eight chairs upholstered in white jacquard fabric. Its note enticed bidders even more to take it home: “Out of the home of Carol Cooper Brown. Donald Trump ate dinner at this table.”
The note also mentioned the furniture-maker: Bernhardt, known for its classic and elegant furniture. A few of the pieces were marked Bernhardt.
There were at least eight pieces of furniture from Brown’s estate, and the auction house labeled most of them. I was intrigued about who she was. According to the auction house, she was an award-winning designer/decorator with a worldwide reputation.
Based in New Jersey, Brown’s design firm is called “Carol Eyes It.” On her website, she tells of her collaboration with Trump, which continues to this day. In 1999, she says, Trump was visiting her home at Christmas time and admired her “classic shades of white accents.” He asked her to decorate his restaurant at the Trump Taj Mahal, and all his other restaurants and casinos. Her designs also made their way onto the set of the first season of “The Apprentice.” The Taj Mahal casino is now owned by billionaire Carl Icahn, who pulled it out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed by Trump Entertainment.
I wasn’t around when the furniture sold, but here are photos of what you could buy.
