SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

Local News

Related Photos

  • Robin Kellow walks through the upstairs of her house, which was devastated by a tree that fell on the house during a microburst last year. David Le

    2950688SN.jpg

  • Robin Kellow of Danvers stands in what used to be her favorite room looking through the unfinished ceiling to the floor above. Kellow's house and pool were devastated by a tree that was uprooted during a storm and fell right into and through the house. In the past year, Kellow has struggled with insurance adjusters, her insurance company, the Historic District Commission and a fire that destroyed the trailer she and her twin sons were living in. David Le

    2950678SN.jpg

  • Robin Kellow stands in what once was the front hallway of her house. David Le

    2950687SN.jpg

Discussion

Comments from users with registered accounts will post at once. Comments from unregistered accounts will post after being reviewed by a site moderator. Posts that do not meet site standards, which can be found here, will be removed.

comments powered by Disqus
July 30, 2010

Mighty wind leaves trail of woes

Danvers house still unlivable a year after microburst hit

By Ethan Forman Staff writer

DANVERS — Hobart Street resident Robin Kellow says if she did not have bad luck, she would have no luck at all.

One year ago tomorrow, a microburst roared through her section of town, toppling a tree onto her four-bedroom home at 175 Hobart St. The tree glanced off the back of the house and landed in the pool, taking all the patio furniture with it.

At the time, Kellow, director of rehabilitation at the Twin Oaks Care and Rehabilitation Center, was at work. The force of the tree hitting her house scared her twin boys, then 16, who were home.

But the storm was just the first knock in a string of troubles that have continued over the past year. Now, construction is stalled and Kellow's house is still unlivable.

A few weeks after the storm, the chimney toppled onto the trailer in the driveway where the divorced mother and her three teenage boys were living temporarily.

Meanwhile, water seeped into the house, buckling ceilings, ruining possessions and damaging electrical wiring, she said.

Then, on May 30, the trailer caught fire. No one was hurt, but the fire wiped out most of their belongings.

"We literally had our clothes on our backs," Kellow said.

The construction project brought its own set of troubles. Building Inspector Rich Maloney discovered the $307,000 house, built in 1948, had many code violations — small second-floor windows, low ceilings, no hard-wired smoke detectors, a hidden water shutoff, and deficient electrical systems and gas piping — that would need to be corrected during reconstruction.

The initial repair estimate was $111,600. Eventually, Kellow and her contractor, M.D. Bean Co. of Danvers, decided to turn the 1,500-square-foot ranch into a Garrison Colonial, with a second-story overhang and an expansion of the second floor.

"The new second level was an opportunity to clear all these problems," Michael Bean wrote to the state Division of Insurance and Kellow's insurance company. The addition did not drive up the cost because the builder agreed to do "more work for the same money, as the economy is bad and work is hard to get these days," Bean wrote.

However, as the work progressed, the Historic District Commission got involved because Kellow and the builder had failed to seek permission before starting work. Kellow's home is in the Salem Village Historic District, and renovations were not approved ahead of time, according to a letter from Town Archivist and Historic District Commission member Richard Trask.

Kellow said she faces fines because the builder used vinyl siding instead of clapboards. Bean did not return a call seeking comment.

The home itself has no historic significance, but it's on land where the old Salem Village Meeting House once stood. That's the place where many central figures in the Salem witch hysteria of 1692 were examined.

At the end of May, Trask told Kellow and her builder their application to the commission lacked a description of the project and was incomplete.

"It's a lousy situation," Trask said, but it was not of the commission's making. Just because Kellow has had a string of setbacks does not mean she should be allowed to skirt rules others in the district must abide by, he said.

Now, Kellow says she's fighting to get her insurance company, which has paid $79,000 so far, to pay the rest so her contractor can finish the job. She is insured through the Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association. According to the company's website, the firm provides insurance for those who cannot gain it otherwise through the voluntary market.

Kellow says the insurance company has threatened to stop paying for the temporary trailer in her driveway because the insurer thinks the work should have been done by now. She has until Aug. 21 to finish the project.

"I'm not going to be able to fix the house in time," she said.

Bill Walsh, vice president of claims at the insurance company, declined to comment yesterday because of "privacy issues."

There is some hope, Kellow said. Her public adjuster told her there may be another $22,000 coming, but that still leaves her short about $10,000.

"I don't want to say who is to blame," Kellow said. "I can't figure out who is responsible."

Stephen D'Aglio, a senior adjuster with Patrick J. Donovan Associates Inc. of Wakefield, Kellow's public adjuster, declined comment.

In the meantime, the work has been stalled for more than a month. The pool in the backyard is filled with debris, its liner torn and the deck buckled. While the exterior of the home has been rebuilt, the inside is a construction zone, with the second floor partially framed in.

Maloney said his office has done what it could to support Kellow. Her situation reminds him of the one faced by many Danversport residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed in the 2006 paint and ink plant blast.

"The insurance companies can be tough, and you really have to fight for what is coming to you," Maloney said.

Staff writer Ethan Forman can be reached at 978-338-2673 or eforman@salemnews.com.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Mighty wind leaves trail of woes
by By Ethan Forman , Staff writer , Fri Jul 30, 2010, 05:58 AM EDT
Local News

North Shore News Updates on Twitter
Stories Shared on Facebook
AP Video
Comments Tracker