One of Jamaica Plain’s most visually striking homes was badly damaged in a fire on Thursday, its owners said.
The teal-painted hilltop home, which overlooks Centre Street, features 12 sides and is crowned with an ornate cupola. The home’s dodecagonal shape is made of three hexagons pressed together, according to historical research published online by current owner Bob Field.
Immigrants from Nova Scotia or Scotland built the house in the 1870s, according to Field’s research, and in 1987 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Someone reported the fire after seeing smoke pouring out from a corner of the roof, neighbor Ellen Donaghey said.
Firefighters responded within five minutes to a 1 p.m. 911 call, said fire department spokesperson Brian Alkins.
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The home sits on a small lot and abuts a 50-foot rocky drop-off in the back. The front of the home faces the corner of a steep winding street, which meant the fire department’s large trucks with ladders could not pull up next to the home, Alkins said.
“The location of the home made it challenging, it being on an icy hill, no access [by truck] to the back of the house,” Alkins said.
No one was home at the time, and the fire was put out in 25 minutes, he said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
On Friday morning, Field and his wife Joan sorted through broken glass and ashen debris in the foyer while repairmen parked their trucks along the narrow street.
“Both Joan and I would like to thank the fire department for getting here so fast and putting out the fire as quickly as they did,” Bob Field said. “We’re very proud of our fire department.”
The couple, who bought the house nearly 30 years ago, had little time to speak Friday as they busily consulted insurance adjusters.
They stayed with Donaghey and Giulia Norton on Thursday, and their insurance coverage will likely pay for the cost of a hotel while the home’s interior is repaired, the neighbors said.
The damage inside is “very bad,” Bob Field said.
“We’re going to have to go down to studs everywhere,” he said.
There was almost no damage to the outside, Alkins said. Most of the interior damage is likely from firehose water pouring through the roof and into the walls, floors, and electrical outlets, Alkins said.
“It’s unfortunate,” he said. “If you have a fire in your house, you want to have it on the first floor.”
Alkins said the fire was in the home’s eaves, around the attic and roof. Upper-level windows were boarded up Friday morning, and ash and debris covered a staircase.
The home at 17 Cranston St. has been a landmark in Jamaica Plain’s Hyde Square for more than 100 years, according to the Jamaica Plain Historical Society. In 1908, the Boston Daily Globe described the Italianate residence as “a most peculiar and interesting house.”
It was difficult to drive up to the house in the early 1900s as well, the article said.
“Two of the three exits are so steep that to drive a horse and vehicle through them is an extremely hazardous undertaking,” the article said.
Gretchen Grozier, who helps run the all-volunteer Jamaica Plain Historical Society, said the owners have been “wonderful stewards of the house.”
Neighbors are devastated by what happened, Donaghey said. The couple and their eclectic home are the heart and soul of the block, she said.
“They run a summer party for everybody and a Christmas party,” said Donaghey, 64. “They’re very involved in the neighborhood.”