Brainard Family Taking Catastrophe in Stride

It is hard not to notice the heavy damage to the beautiful and historic Brainard family home at 455 East Street in Middletown.  

In the middle of Hurricane Irene, an ancient white ash tree split in half, and one of its massive limbs completely took out one-third of the roof trusses of the home, as well as the original hand-hewn, chestnut center beam of the cedar-shake roofed home.  

Built in 1786 by Captain Giles Wilcox, the Brainard family has owned and resided in the home for the past three generations. The beautiful colonial home is well-known and much-admired in the Westfield section of town.  

David Brainard and his wife Terisa are taking the calamity in stride. 

“One thing about our family is that we are realists. We are happy no one was hurt, but we are not letting the drama get to us. We’ve got to put our lives back together.” 

David is retired after 22 years in the U.S. Air Force and Terisa also served in the Air Force. Like David, Terisa is used to staying calm; she is a labor and delivery manager at Middlesex Hospital.  

David recalls the five minutes before the tree fell. “I was watching the news the morning of the storm and looking outside at the tree and thinking to myself, 'I should get (their 15-year-old daughter) Cara out of her bed,'” he said. “A few seconds later, the tree fell onto the house.” 

Amazingly, Cara Brainard was uninjured.  

“Unbelievably, I had three quotes sitting on my kitchen table to have that tree taken down. But local arborists didn’t want to see it gone, it was such an old and beautiful tree,” he said.  

“What I think saved us was the fact that the house was built so sturdy, with huge chestnut beams, and the fact that I’d had a cable installed around two of the tree leaders to help keep it sturdy and stable about 15 years ago.”   

The family has been busy meeting with adjusters, representatives from the Connecticut Trust For Historic Preservation and newspaper reporters in between moving important antique furniture, Oriental rugs, historic family papers, and their personal items out of harm’s way.  

“My daughter’s getting ready to go back to school next week. My son Ryan, who is 24, stayed home from a planned trip to help us out.”  

The family of four moved into an area hotel once the home was inspected and deemed unfit for habitation. They will soon move into a leased home near their East Street home so they can be close throughout the reconstruction process.

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