See how the Frank Crystal’s claims department helped restore a $7 million dollar farm house to its 1913 splendor.

Situation:

A client owned a large vacation property, which was occasionally rented out as a luxury vacation and retreat location. In an unfortunate twist of fate, a fire completely destroyed the second largest structure on the property, an original 1913 farm house.

Concerns:

• The structure was original, making rebuilding the structure to its original state a challenge.
• The client feared that the charm of the farm house, and his vacation property, was destroyed.
• Due to age the farm house had several charming qualities/items which would be a challenge to replicate
  • Concrete flooring had a specific finish and shrinkage cracks
  • Electrical fixtures were hand made locally
  • Iron work no longer manufactured

What We Did:

Frank Crystal held weekly meetings with the client and insurance carrier to fully assess the damage, progress and discuss best course of action for rebuilding the farm house.

Samples of the concrete flooring were sent to a lab in order to determine the exact components of the original concrete in order to reproduce the authentic flooring. Sample slabs were made and a specialist was brought in to match the finish, several versions of finish were tested until a match was found. 

A historian was used to track the origins of the handmade electrical fixtures, and a restoration company in Boston was called upon to reproduce the fixtures. Iron posts and railings that survived the fire were recast in order to recreate damaged ones. Any salvaged bricks were placed in storage until the last leg of the restoration, when they were returned to the exterior ramps and pathways.

Result:

The farmhouse fire was the largest single loss for the carrier in 4 years, totaling $7 million dollars. The client was extremely pleased with the outcome and reconstruction of the farm house.