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The Simons Begin to Rebuild their Historic Elm Rock House after Extensive Fire Damage


By Staff


Aug. 17, 2016:  What do you do when your house burns down? If you follow the path of Olinda and John Simon, whose lovely, white, turn-of-the-century house at 12 Elm Rock Road was destroyed by fire on August 2, you "pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again."

This Monday, the Simons moved into a temporary house at 50 Masterton Road, near enough to their Elm Rock house to be able to commute back and forth quickly during the rebuilding process. Fortunately, some pieces of furniture were saved, allowing the Simons to use them in the temporary house. "I had house guests planned for this weekend and I haven't cancelled," Olinda said. "It's a little sparse, but we're having them anyway."

The difficult part of the recovery begins as they work with their insurance company to rebuild the house. "We have Chubb Insurance and they are the best," said Olinda. "The top two floors were completely burned out and need to be rebuilt, but the bottom floor and basement can be salvaged," she added. "It will be a while before we get any estimates."  

At least no one was hurt. The housekeeper, Dione Adao, heard noise on the porch and went to a bedroom on the second floor to look out a window. When she saw smoke, she quickly alerted Olinda. After they judged the seriousness of the situation, 911 was called and they left the house immediately.  

The Eastchester Fire Department arrived soon after. It took the firefighters the better part of the day to put out the flames and prevent the fire from flaring up again. The New Rochelle and Mount Vernon Fire Departments also arrived to assist. 

"I just love my house," said Olinda. "Often I would walk down the steps from my bedroom to the first floor and tell my husband, John, how much I love the house. It's an historic house and we have done lots of entertaining in it to share it with the community."

Right now they are using shovels and picks to dig things out of the debris, but "we're going to rebuild the house, and it will rise again," Olinda promised.  

Pictured here:  The Simons' house on Elm Rock Road after the fire.

Photo by A. Warner

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