From the ashes

Jul 8, 2010 — Foster's Daily Democrat

Kyle Stucker

Jul. 8, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- SOMERSWORTH -- When Lincoln and Kathleen Soldati first got the chance to look inside a quaint Victorian on the top of the hill 27 years ago, they knew the house was for them.

The couple already looked at a couple homes in Dover and were looking particularly for Victorians. They hadn't considered the Hilltop City, though, until a real estate agent recommended they stop by 18 Grand St.

And when they did, the Soldatis just "fell in love" with the house.

"She took us through this house, and Kathleen was like just, 'This is the house I want to die in,'" said Lincoln, now the city's mayor. "We knew immediately, if we could afford it, it was the house we wanted to raise our kids in. That was it."

Not everyone was initially sold on the house, however.

Along for the shopping trip was Lincoln's mother, Virginia. Soldati said his mother "was a very shrewd woman," and she tirelessly pointed out every possible flaw because she believed the party shouldn't seem too eager to buy the house.

"My mother's like, 'Shh, shh, shh. No -- we need to find things wrong with it,'" he said. "She's got a pen knife with her and sticking it in (parts of the house, saying things like), 'Well I don't know about this sill here.' My mother's going through the house complaining about everything in the house, and of course Kathleen was like dying because it was like, 'Oh my god, I've died and gone to heaven.'"

"It was kind of funny."

The Soldatis said they have many memories of their home at 18 Grand St., which was devastated by a four-alarm fire on Tuesday, June 29. The blaze took firefighters from across the Seacoast area to extinguish, and no one was injured. No one was home at the start of the fire, and the cause was ruled "undetermined" by fire marshals.

Although much of the home is now charred beyond recognition and most of their belongings were destroyed by the flames, the Soldati family said the memories still remain. The Soldatis said they plan to utilize those memories as they enter the planning stages of the full-scale restoration process.

The 11-room, four-bedroom Victorian was built by Yvonne Langelier and her father in 1900. Kathleen Soldati said she has heard many "amazing" stories about the home, many of which came after it was included in a historical tour of the city years ago.

She said "people would walk through and ... they would tell us stories" about the home's carved wooden staircase, ornate stained glass window and the house in general. One story that stood out to her during that tour was one from an elderly woman who used to clean the home when she was younger.

"In (then-owner Yvonne Langelier's) closet were these extraordinary clothes, and (the woman) remembered that when she would go to Sunday church, she'd sit behind her and Mrs. Langelier would just look stunning," she said. "So... when she came to the house to do the chores, (the woman) would go in her closet and would try on Mrs. Langelier's clothes and then she would march down this gigantic front staircase and do a little twirl."

The Soldati family also had a tie to the home long before Lincoln and Kathleen purchased it from a UNH art professor in May 1983, shortly after Lincoln became county attorney.

Lincoln's sister, Jennifer, said their father, also named Lincoln, used to deliver newspapers to the home, but was never let inside the house. The day his son moved in the home 27 years ago, the elder Soldati began to cry because he finally got the chance to see the ornate fixtures and woodwork within.

The home also served as a backdrop to a tumultuous milestone a few months after Lincoln and Kathleen moved in.

Kathleen planned to have a home birth for their eldest son, Pacifico, in one of the second floor rooms, although a tractor-trailer truck ran into a telephone pole and knocked out power to most of the city. Public Service of New Hampshire was in the neighborhood at the time, and Kathleen said her sister ran outside screaming, "You gotta help! My sister's in labor!"

"They went and got some electrical line -- like I have no idea from where -- and ran it directly into the house to get the power back up, just so I could have power for labor," said Kathleen, who eventually went to the hospital the next day because the labor "went on forever."

The Soldatis plan to rebuild the house in the upcoming months, something Lincoln said could be challenging given the home's unique structure and small details. He said he's confident it can be restored, however, as he has made repairs to the "rugged" house in the past while maintaining its original 1900 appearance.

Until the house is back in a livable condition, the family is renting a home less than half-mile away at the corner of Noble and Grand streets.

Michael Soldati, the second-oldest of the four Soldati children, said 18 Grand St. served as the official "hang-out spot" for his friends over the years, as well as the community in general, because of his parents' inviting nature and large parties, like the annual Hilltop Christmas party.

Even though he doesn't live at home, Michael said he's happy his parents plan to restore the house because it's significant to the community, and more importantly, because he still officially calls 18 Grand St. home.

"I'm really glad because this space has been so important to us," he said. "It's where we grew up. It's where we made some of the best friends of our lives, and there's so many memories in this house. It's nice to know it's for the most part gonna still be there."

Newstex ID: KRTB-1268-46797699