Allison’s take:  Where to start? Well, it’s giant, heavy, velvet and medieval. Did I mention it’s ridiculous and not exactly my aesthetic? Ray bought this while we were dating and at the time I thought it was kind of funny hanging on the wall in his tiny apartment. It’s a little (a lot) less funny now that it’s in our house. Also, we don’t even live in a castle…

Ray’s take: Oh wow! This gem. Ok, the story… I went to an auction with Dale Tompkins which was kind of a bust, but on the way home we found a yard sale. I noticed this right off and Dale said I should buy it (side note: I think sometimes Dale says stuff like this to be silly or as a joke, but of course I took it to heart and realized I needed to own it). I went over and saw that it was the one thing at the yard sale that had no price on it. When everything has a price except one item I kind of always assume it’s expensive. I mean lets be real, who would ever want to part with something so magnificent?! It’s solid wood so its really heavy and hand carved! Also, it has red velvet on it!!! I then went on and found a few more treasures at the sale.  I asked how much they were asking for the glorious lion piece and they told me since I was already purchasing other items they would sell it to me for $15. A man cannot turn down a hand-carved, solid wood coat of arms WITH weapons for $15. So, that was the day the Lion with crossing swords on a red velvet field became the Hancock Crest.