For the first 20 years of her life, Rachel Carson lived in a four-room house with an outdoor kitchen on a 65-acre farm in Springdale.

The Rachel Carson Homestead Association, which has offered tours since 1975, has decided to restore the environmentalist's home to how it looked when the author of "Silent Spring" lived there between 1907 and 1927.

The organization plans to maintain the home's exterior, which is listed with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. But the interior, which is in disrepair, will feature modern galleries with thoughtful exhibitions about Carson's life and legacy. The goal is to attract far more visitors than the 2,000 that arrive annually by appointment.

The homestead will close for a year after today's auction of antique furniture, books, paintings, and decorative and useful objects, including a chestnut roaster and signed crystal decanter from Tiffany & Co.

There are boxes of St. Nicholas magazines, which Carson began writing for when she was 10. However, none of the editions contain her work. There are two antique clocks, an Eastlake rocker, an old microscope, an Eastlake fireplace screen and an antique phone.

None of the items in the auction is directly connected with Carson, and proceeds will help pay for the restoration.

Joy Braunstein, executive director of the homestead association, said the group's board has decided that the homestead needs to operate in a different way in order to preserve Carson's legacy.

The architectural firm of Rob Pfaffmann + Associates is overseeing the restoration, Ms. Braunstein said, adding that Shomer Zwelling, who did the interpretive plan for the U.S. Holocaust Museum and the Fort Pitt Museum, has been hired to do the interpretive plan.

After the Carson family left in 1927, the home was sold to Angelina Sober, an English teacher at a primary school Carson attended. The home's original two rooms date to the mid-1800s, and the four-room house dates to between 1890 and 1920. In the 1930s, Ms. Sober put on an addition, which will eventually be removed.

"It was originally a two-room farmhouse with one room down and one room up with an outdoor kitchen and a garden out back," Ms. Braunstein said, adding that the spring house is still on the property.

The items up for sale were collected to create an atmosphere. They include a tall, Victorian-era bookcase, a round Mission-style table and a Steinway piano.

This particular Steinway, made in 1874, is known as a New York upright, Style II, and was made in 1874, said David Kirkland, a customer service representative with Steinway, who checked the records after being given the instrument's serial number.

The piano has seven octaves, 85 keys, which was standard at that time, and a rosewood case. On June 30, 1874, Steinway shipped it to Adams and Lucas, a dealer in Wheeling, W.Va.

Pianos from this era can sell for as little as $500 or as much as $5,000, Mr. Kirkland said.

"Steinway uprights, in general, do not have high appraisal values because they are too expensive to restore. You could spend $30,000 having it restored. Its actual value, depending on its condition, might be worth that. You could buy a new Steinway for $30,000," he added.

Ms. Braunstein said the piano has a steel sounding board, which makes the instrument quite heavy.

"In a lot of rooms, it's really going to overwhelm the room. It's about 3 feet deep by about 6 1/2 feet wide."

Ms. Braunstein's favorite item in the auction is a toddler's rocking chair with a scene showing Mother Goose and a large moon. Jack Squires, an auctioneer, said the scene was probably steam-pressed onto the oak. There's also a carved rocking chair and a first edition of "Silent Spring."

A preview begins at 9 a.m. today and bidding at 10 a.m. on the front lawn of Rachel Carson Homestead, 613 Marion Ave., Springdale (15144). There is no admission fee, but you must show a valid driver's license before obtaining a bidding number. To review auction items, visit www.bhdauctions.com. Payment is by check or in cash.

First Published: June 11, 2011, 8:00 a.m.