Estate sale at Bill Martin's Church Hill home this weekend benefits the Valentine Museum

RICHMOND, Va. — The Church Hill home of Bill Martin, the longtime executive director of the Valentine Museum, is open to the public this weekend for a special estate sale, with all proceeds benefiting the museum he spent more than three decades building into a Richmond institution.

Martin, 71, was struck and killed by a driver while walking in downtown Richmond in December. The sale runs Saturday and Sunday and features antique furniture and art pieces from his home.

Martin joined the museum in 1994 and transformed it into a community resource deeply connected to Richmond's history and its people. Acting director Meg Hughes reflected on his vision for the institution during a special open house in his honor in February.

WATCH: Remembering Bill Martin: 3 decades of Richmond history at The Valentine

"He really turned The Valentine into a community resource. Everything that we do is with a goal to be of use to the region," Hughes said.

For those who knew Martin, his loss was immeasurable. Virginia McDonald, a friend of Martin's, captured the depth of what Richmond lost.

"When an older man dies — I say, old people, period — a library burns," McDonald said. "When we lost Bill, we lost institutes and colleges all in one person."

All proceeds from the estate sale will go directly to the Valentine Museum.