WALDOBORO, Maine — Dan Goldenson was sleeping soundly at his Bremen farm, Twin Acres, early Sunday morning when he was awakened by his phone: The historic Waldoboro mansion he and his wife, Suzanne, were preparing to move into within weeks was burning.
Goldenson raced into downtown Waldoboro, and watched for the next seven hours as, despite the efforts of 10 fire companies, the Col. Isaac Reed Mansion was consumed by fire.
Because there are no hydrants on Glidden Street, firefighters hauled hoses up the granite steps to the house, and Dan said tankers circled the block.
On Monday morning, as insurance adjusters and investigators from the fire marshal’s office combed through the charred remains, three singed flags — representing the United States, Maine and Lincoln County — flapped in the wind.
High on a hill overlooking the Medomak River, well-known housewright Nicholas Codd is thought to have built the Federal-style, timber-framed home in 1807 for Reed, a lawyer, politician and benefactor of the town. Sitting 43 granite steps up a terraced lawn, the grand, two-story home is where, in 1820, Reed helped craft the state seal of Maine, according to the National Historic Register.
Like Reed, Dan and Suzanne Goldenson have spent recent years giving to the midcoast area around their Bremen farm. Looking past the embers at the Medomak River on Monday, Dan, a semi-retired businessman who made his money in publishing, real estate and other business ventures, said the couple is as committed to the environment as they are to revitalizing the area economically.
They bought the Isaac Reed mansion at auction, along with historic furnishings, with thoughts of historic preservation. The couple planned to create a bed-and-breakfast, and spent the past year combing auctions from Maine to New York. Suzanne carefully chose window treatments and upholstery fabric to emphasize the history of the mansion.
But as they readied the inn, “we got attached,” Dan said Monday, squinting in the sun as he looked at the remains. A week ago, they put their farm on the market and planned to move into the Reed Mansion.
The morning of the fire, Dan called his son in California with the news, and learned his daughter-in-law had been in a car crash with his grandchildren. Although everyone was OK, he said, wryly, “It was like, ‘Who’s after the Goldensons?”
Because of the extent of the damage, the cause of the fire will remain undetermined, Sgt. Ken Grimes of the state fire marshal’s office said Tuesday. But Grimes said he learned from interviews that it may have started near an outlet in the caretaker’s quarters, where a caretaker and friends were moving out in anticipation of the Goldensons’ arrival.
“We think it was an electrical fire,” Goldenson said. “Nobody was smoking.”
The couple had already moved many belongings into the home — including a set of Genoir china — although a sizeable collection of Maine art and Suzanne’s collection of early American iron implements had not yet been moved from the farm.
The Goldensons have made their mark in the area since arriving two decades ago. Active in the Medomak Valley Land Trust, the couple donated a nearly 200-acre swath on Bremen Long Island, to the trust, as well as 50 acres near their Bremen farm to Maine Audubon.
They’ve given “millions” to area towns in recent years, Dan said, most recently buying a new defibrillator for the Lincoln County Ambulance Service.
Last year, Dan told the Lincoln County News that he was investing in the Waldoboro area — he owns several convenience stores, among other properties — as “part of a major new economic revitalization effort … dealing with strategic properties and businesses” in Bremen, Damariscotta and Waldoboro.
As he describes their connection to the community, Dan stops to answer several calls, one from a local selectman inviting him to dinner.
“They’re all very concerned,” he said of area residents.
“I had a delayed emotional reaction. It sort of didn’t hit me how awful it was until later in the day,” he said, pausing. “I didn’t sleep.”
Suzanne, he said, “is pretty upset.” She spent the winter in Florida, while Dan worked in Waldoboro to ready the mansion.
“This isn’t our first tragedy,” Dan said. The couple were among those bilked out of billions by disgraced stockbroker Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. They lost more than $1 million. Dan said Monday that a trusted financial adviser convinced them to invest millions in a fund managed entirely — but secretly — by Madoff.
The Goldensons sued in federal court, but “we lost,” he said Monday.
On Monday, taking note of the flags still flying over the debris, Dan spoke of the future. Later this week, he’ll fly to Florida to drive home with Suzanne for the summer.
Within weeks, a gourmet burger restaurant, The Burger Bar, is slated to open this spring in one of several convenience stores they own in the area.
He said they may stick closer to home — this home — now, maybe even changing their official residence to Maine instead of Florida.
But they won’t rebuild on the site of the mansion.
“The historic significance can’t be replaced,” Dan said.