The Middletown Press, Conn.
(TNS)
Feb. 26—MANCHESTER — Locals with historical knowledge hope the Seth Leslie Cheney mansion can turn a new leaf after a fire left the property uninhabitable over the weekend.
Manchester crews responded to a fire early Sunday at the circa-1840 home at 139 Hartford Road, which killed several cats and displaced two residents.
Local fire officials said Sunday that firefighters began "an aggressive, offensive attack" with the aid of some emergency responders from East Hartford, controlling the fire in 40 minutes.
Fire Marshal David Mauldin said the mansion is "completely salvageable," with fire damage limited to the front porch and living room.
" Manchester did not lose an icon," he said Tuesday.
Mauldin said an investigation into the fire revealed it seemed accidental in nature, with "smoking materials" found on the porch where officials believe the fire began.
As far as damage is considered, reconstruction could begin in a matter of months, Mauldin said, as the structural integrity of the building is still intact.
The Seth Cheney mansion is one of a number of homes lining Hartford Road built by members of the Cheney family, known for establishing the 19th century silk mills that defined and shaped Manchester through their economic impact and influence on development across town.
Town Historian Susan Barlow said the Seth Cheney mansion is a "very special mansion" with a unique history dating back to 1840 and she hopes it can be ultimately restored.
Originally "more like a cottage," Barlow said, the house changed and grew alongside its historic owners. The mansion received a large expansion in 1910 designed by architect Charles Adams Platt, a member of the Cheney family known for his work on universities, museums and houses across the country.
Barlow said the Seth Cheney mansion was one of the first of the family's grand Hartford Road homes on the Great Lawn to be repurposed as a bed and breakfast by previous owners Bruce and Marianne Hamstra, who purchased the property directly from the Cheney family in 1995.
"At the time, the Hamstras really had to struggle to get through zoning," Barlow said, "the idea of it was so new."
After spending years renovating the property, the Hamstras opened the Mansion Inn Bed & Breakfast in 2001 and ran the business for years until they sold the property in 2017. The next owners ran a bed and breakfast in the house before the current owners purchased the property in 2022.
Grace Zapor, co-owner of the neighboring Austin Cheney mansion at 99 Hartford Road, said she heard sirens and saw fire trucks responding to the scene around 1 a.m. Sunday, the house just out of sight but the smoke clearly pluming above the tree line.
"I think the fire department did a really good job," she said. "That house would have had some very dry wood just because of its age and they managed to stop the fire before it got to the back of the house."
Zapor said the Seth Cheney mansion was previously run as a bed and breakfast but used as a private home by its current owners. She said she hopes for their sake that the damage isn't as bad as it looks.
Barlow said many of the Cheney houses have gone through "a period of disarray," whether that be damage from a fire or gutting by a previous developer.
"Most of them have been through a lot," Barlow said.
The Philip Cheney mansion at 50 Forest St., redesigned and rebuilt in 1928 from a previous home on the property, experienced a fire while its owners were in the process of preserving the home.
The Austin Cheney mansion at 99 Hartford Road, originally constructed in 1911, was eventually purchased by Hartford Road Holdings in July 2016. The company leased out the space to a defunct nonprofit that rented dorms for international students attending Connecticut schools.
Zapor, who runs the house as the Wedgeway Bed & Breakfast, said she purchased the property with her husband Robert in September 2019, after the previous owners fixed heavy water damage and subsequently listed it for sale.
A window left open during winter break, when no one was staying at the home, led to frozen pipes and water pouring down "for days on end," Zapor said, largely impacting the dining room.
"After that happened, I think they got the insurance money, quickly slapped things back together and put it back on the market," Zapor said.
Zapor said her husband spent a long time recreating the original trim, aided by a house tour with previous owners recorded by the Manchester Historical Society, which showed many details that were ultimately removed by the company running the dorms.
"It is, in a way, a labor of love, and we like to be able to share the history with people," Zapor said. "The architecture is a piece of the history."
Zapor said she hopes that, at the very least, the fire can be a learning moment to help other owners of historical homes prevent similar damage in the future.
"Unfortunately, with old houses you have to be super extra careful," Zapor said, "and sometimes, being extra careful doesn't cut it."
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