Colonel Harland Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, has built a global empire worth billions, and now the personal items, home, and restaurant he once owned are going up for public auction. The sale represents the most comprehensive collection of Colonel Sanders memorabilia ever offered to the public, attracting worldwide interest from collectors, historians, entrepreneurs, and food enthusiasts.
The auction features nearly 100 artifacts that have been preserved for over fifty years by the Settle family, who purchased Blackwood Hall—Sanders’ former 5,000-square-foot residence—and the Claudia Sanders Dinner House directly from the Colonel and his wife Claudia in 1974. This unbroken chain of ownership gives the collection exceptional provenance and historical significance.
Among the standout items up for bid are Sanders’ iconic black bow tie, his engraved pressure cooker, a personal working planner with handwritten notes, his watches, an original cash register, a cutlery set, and a bust of the Colonel sculpted by his daughter. The collection also includes letters and correspondence from U.S. presidents, Sanders’ Kentucky Colonel certificate, his monogrammed Bible, and handwritten recipes. Already, online bidding for one of his signature clip-on bow ties has exceeded $2,000.
One of the most intriguing pieces is Sanders’ 1964 personal planner, which features a handwritten herbs and spices recipe that became the focus of legal drama. In 2001, KFC filed a lawsuit seeking to keep the planner’s contents private, concerned it might contain the secret blend of 11 herbs and spices that remains one of the world’s most closely guarded culinary secrets. However, KFC later dropped the legal action after reviewing the document, stating the ingredients didn’t match Sanders’ secret recipe and appeared to be a recipe for stuffing instead. Despite this determination, the recipe will remain private for the buyer to decide what to do with it.
The auction encompasses more than just personal memorabilia. Also for sale through sealed bids are the historic Claudia Sanders Dinner House, a nearly 25,000-square-foot restaurant and banquet hall, along with Blackwood Hall itself. The package includes the operating restaurant business, furniture, fixtures, equipment, intellectual property, trademark rights, and goodwill. The restaurant, which has been continuously operated by the Settle family, remains open and will continue serving guests throughout the sales process.
The history behind these properties is significant. Sanders established Blackwood Hall as the first headquarters of his restaurant business in the late 1950s, making it a landmark in fast-food history. After selling KFC in 1964 to a group of investors, Sanders and his wife opened the Claudia Sanders Dinner House in 1968 in a building adjacent to their home. The Colonel created the restaurant to honor his wife Claudia, offering Southern comfort food including country ham, fried green tomatoes, and various chicken dishes—a different culinary direction from his fried chicken empire.
Many of the artifacts come from Blackwood Hall, where the Colonel served as a de facto training ground for KFC franchisees. In the early days of franchise expansion, business owners traveled from around the world to the home to learn directly from Sanders, gathering to study cooking techniques, hospitality standards, and business practices that built the worldwide brand.
The Menish Group is conducting the auction, which has attracted global interest. According to the auctioneer, there has been significant feedback from international buyers, particularly from Japan, where Sanders remains an extraordinarily celebrated figure. The auction organizers designed the sale to accommodate a worldwide audience, offering online bidding to bidders across the United States and internationally.
A public preview of all the items and properties will be held on July 27, 2026, between noon and 6 p.m. The live memorabilia auction begins at 6 p.m. EDT on July 28 at the Claudia Sanders Dinner House in Shelbyville, Kentucky. In-person attendance is reserved for registered bidders and approved guests, but qualified bidders can participate remotely through online bidding platforms. Sealed bids for the real estate and restaurant business must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on July 31, 2026.
One lesser-known detail about the Colonel’s personal style has been revealed through the auction materials. Sanders wore clip-on bow ties rather than traditional tied versions, preferring not to spend time each day with the ritual of tying them. This revelation adds an intimate dimension to understanding how the man behind one of the world’s most recognizable brands managed his daily life.
The auction comes decades after Sanders sold KFC, continuing to serve the company as a brand ambassador until his death in 1980. His image remains one of the most iconic faces in fast-food history and global advertising, recognized worldwide as the white-suited, goateed founder of a restaurant empire that today operates more than 30,000 locations in over 120 countries.
For those interested in acquiring a piece of this extraordinary history, the auction represents a rare opportunity. The Settle family has carefully preserved these artifacts for more than half a century, and now collectors and history enthusiasts have the chance to own items that tell the story of one of America’s most successful entrepreneurs and one of the world’s most recognizable food brands.