21 Sept 28th–Oct 4th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | cONTeNTs | feeDBacK | OPiNiON | NeWs | feaTuRe | NighT+Day | culTuRe | film | cafe | music | New Old- Fashioned Style Tod Carson doesn’t just sell antiques in Scottsdale — he sells history. BY TIMOTHY RAWLES H istory is synonymous with antiques, although the latter is more subjective than the former. Which is why Tod Carson is in the business he is in. Carson is a curator of authentic 18th- and 19th-century furnishings which he sells at his brick-and-mortar in the heart of downtown Scottsdale. Some might think that his antiques, mostly from France, are not the most popular home decor preference of Arizona model homes, and Carson isn’t trying to convince you otherwise. Still, for those who are looking to venture beyond the big box store trends, and into European opulence, he’s willing to help. Carson is an Arizona native. He grew up in Phoenix and went to College Brophy Preparatory before attending the University of Arizona. He had always been interested in antiques but hadn’t committed to making a business of it as a young man. Before he started working on domestic houses, Carson worked in fashion houses. During his college years, he moved east and entered the high-end designer clothing world. “I got an internship with Bloomingdale’s in New York City,” Carson tells Phoenix New Times in a telephone interview. “This is gonna sound crazy, I was an executive trainee intern in charge of Calvin Klein underwear the year it was launched exclusively at Bloomingdale’s — it was an insane job.” After leaving Calvin Klein, he moved back to Arizona briefly, where he finished college before heading off to take a second bite of the Big Apple. This time he wasn’t an intern — he joined Ralph Lauren’s house in various roles, but still worked within the realms of classical fashion and design. He enjoyed doing that but didn’t keep a lot of company, so his social life flat- lined. He found other pastimes. “I spent all my weekends going to Sotheby’s and Christie’s and the William Doyle Gallery and Phillips,” he says. “And I went to all the auction houses and became more and more interested in antiques.” That interest took him from the Empire State to the Golden State; Carson landed in Southern California where he opened his first antique store between West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. “I had a store there for 22 years,” he says. “In 2018, I decided, ‘enough.’ I closed the store, sold everything off and moved to Phoenix. And after a year, I realized 57 was too young to retire. So, I bought it all again and started over.” His Scottsdale showroom is located at the southwestern part of the Seville Shopping Center, facing the historic McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. The location is significant not only for Arizona’s history but also for one of the pieces Carson has in his store. There are two 9-foot mahogany and walnut cabinets in his showroom that used to belong to wealthy socialite Guy Stillman. Carson tells an incredible story of how they got there. “When Mr. Stillman moved his family from upstate New York to Arizona, he brought this pair of cabinets with him, they’re English from about 1850. His house stood on the property where my store is. His house — which he called his ‘ranch’ — was the entire Seville Shopping Center. This is where his house was and these cabinets were in his house when he died, and when his wife remarried and sold off this property, she sold the cabinets to Sylvia Todd who was a Paradise Valley real estate broker. And when Sylvia downsized, she called me and asked me if I wanted them. I immediately said yes!” Those impressive cabinets stand among the antique chattel in his showroom, but they’re young compared to some of tthe other things in the room. Carson is a curator of antiques made in the 18th and 19th centu- ries; the majority come from France. His showroom keeps growing, with more and more pieces coming in each month. He says he was just in France and is expecting a 40-foot ▼ Culture Pair of enormous English Edwardian Biblioteques from the Stillman Estate. (Photo by Tod Carson) >> p 23
