DANVERS — Richard and Stacey Stamm have had three addresses in the last year, but they still aren't home.
The Stamms closed on a new house at 108 Water St. in Danvers on Nov. 21, 2006 -- just 16 hours before the chemical plant explosion that destroyed their newly purchased home, along with more than 20 other houses in the neighborhood.
"It's definitely been an experience I wouldn't want to repeat," said Stacey Stamm, as she stood at the construction site of her new home on a chilly evening recently.
The old house was demolished last winter, and now, after various construction delays, the Stamms hope to be home in time for the Super Bowl in February.
"It's a great prediction that we (the New England Patriots) are going to be in the Super Bowl, so I'm going to pick that day," said Richard Stamm. "We just want to get in."
The Stamms lived in Arlington before they bought their house in Danvers. After the explosion, they moved to the Embassy Suites on Route 1 until they found an apartment in Hamilton. In August they had to leave Hamilton, so they moved to an apartment in downtown Danvers.
"It's not your space, and everything is in the wrong place," Stacey said of living in rented, furnished apartments.
Their 14-year-old daughter, D.J., has struggled amid the turbulence of the last year, and Stacey is bracing for the holidays without the family's Christmas decorations and keepsakes, which are still packed in a storage pod along with their winter coats.
"Now I have Christmas for a 14-year-old and not a stitch to put up," said Stacey. "We're going to do an edible tree this year, with gingerbread men ornaments and a Fruit Loop garland, so we're trying to make it fun."
The bright side is that the Stamms are building their dream home -- with cathedral ceilings, a gabled roof, large bedrooms, a sweeping deck, and grand windows with a view of the Crane River -- and at 3,000 square feet, it's double the size of their former house, built in 1911. The only piece they could salvage from their old home was the front door.
"We're the house of 11 gables -- not seven," Richard said with a laugh as he looked up at the shell of his new house. "It's a little bigger and bolder. It's gorgeous. We're almost there.
"The main concern is getting in. I just want to relax and cut the grass."
Danversport Explosion
Related Photos
-
Matt Viglianti
Discussion
The Salem News has a real-name policy for commenting. Users may sign in using the Facebook Connect tool above the comments field. Once your first comment is posted by a moderator, all future comments will post automatically. If you prefer not to use Facebook, send an e-mail with your comments user name (which must be the same as your real name), city or town, street address and daytime phone number to comments@salemnews.com. A staff member will contact you directly to confirm your identity. It may take a day or two before you can post comments. Only your user name will be public. All users are required to follow our rules for commenting, which can be found here.
The Stamms: a grand new house on the rise
- Local News
-
-
Developer plans $20M plaza
A proposed land swap with the state would allow a private developer to build a $20 million shopping plaza on Brimbal Avenue with stores, restaurants, a bank and medical offices. The plaza, to be called North Shore Commons, would have about twice as m
-
Route for cable work changed
A Salem neighborhood got a partial reprieve yesterday when National Grid announced it no longer plans to install an underground transmission line down Derby Street, a narrow roadway that runs through a downtown business district. Not laying the new c
-
Police get a two-fer during robbery investigation
SALEM -- A Salem robbery investigation took a "Law and Order"-style turn when, police say, while seeking to question witnesses to a robbery, they discovered a prostitution business being run by the suspect's girlfriend. Now, both Aaron Pelletier, 44
-
Former attorney for victims of plant explosion indicted
DANVERS -- A lawyer who represented some business and property owners affected by the 2006 CAI ink plant explosion in Danversport has been indicted by a Suffolk County grand jury on charges that he invented additional, fictitious victims of the disas
-
Salem Pioneer Village may stay open for summer
SALEM -- The city is working on a plan to keep Salem Pioneer Village from closing this summer. Gordon College announced last month that it will not renew its agreement to manage the city-owned living history site. The Wenham college will finish its c
- Man gets 18 months in housebreaks
- Family Festival offers something for everyone nearly every day
- Work underway at Universal Steel site
- 10 to square off in Danvers Idol finals
- Police: 1 injured, 1 arrested in stabbing
- Several roads will be closed for paving
- Senate proposes changes in welfare
- College students race concrete canoes in national competition
- Police
- National Grid underground cable project in Salem will avoid Derby Street
- School's longer year all but gone
- Soldier admits role in $1M cocaine deal
- Sapienza reflects on his tenure
- Child molester denied permission to travel to NH
- Correction
- Gloucester mailman accused of stealing debit card and pin, then spending $4,000
- Taxi rate hike put on hold
- Woman admits story was a hoax
- Police: Man assaults Home Depot employee
- Hells Angels trial may be postponed
- Police
- House OKs civil service change
- Rainbow flag irks veterans
- UPDATE: Beverly woman admits kidnapping story was a hoax
- Kidnapped woman found in trunk of car
-
Developer plans $20M plaza
