Home For The Holidays: Woman's New Beginning After House Fire

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — The words "home for the holidays" have beautiful new meaning for Ann LaWall, whose Water Mill home burned to the ground while she and her daughter Terri Kiernan were in Florida in March, 2016.

But now, it's the happiest of endings for the holiday season, as LaWall decorates her new home in Hampton Bays, an older beach cottage with breathtaking views that she's renovated and transformed into her own piece of heaven on earth.

Reflecting on the fire that swept away all her worldly possessions and years of keepsakes and photographs, LaWall's voice is filled with her trademark good spirit and optimism.

When she first heard that her house was gone, she said, "I was just shocked. But I never cried. I went right into work mode, thinking 'What do I do next?' I never looked back. I always looked forward."

LaWall had lived in her home for 40 years. The hardest part of the past months has been moving from rental to rental, before she moved into her new home, in Shinnecock Hills.

"I felt a little like a gypsy. I had a lot of wonderful places, but they weren't mine," she said.

Her daughter Terri, she said, has also found a new home in a condo about 3 miles away. "She's very happy," LaWall said.

Her old home, located at 5 7 Ponds Road, was at the corner of a huge farm field; for decades, she was able to gaze out at 40-plus acres of open space. "Right behind me was an active farm," LaWall said. "Over 40 years, I learned about farming, the rotation of crops. For a city kid" — LaWall grew up in Riverdale in the Bronx — "it was a sense of wonderment."

Living near a farm meant picking fresh potatoes out of the sun-warmed soil. "It was an awesome experience for the kids. It just made home life a little more homey," LaWall said.

But today, LaWall said she doesn't miss the house. It was just that, a house, she said. Home is found in her children, her family, all of whom were safe after the fire that ravaged their childhood home.

The fire, she said, took place on her son's 50th birthday, March 3, 2016, and she and her daughter were in Florida to celebrate.

A friend who was housesitting and Kiernan's dog Brando — who passed away later of old age — escaped the fire unscathed, and that was all that mattered, she said.

"I meant what I said then, and I mean it today: It's just stuff. You can get more stuff," LaWall said. "It was my home. It was 40 years of history. It was like a chapter of a book that was finished. If crying and jumping up and down would have made it never happen, I would have been happy to do it. But there was nothing we could do."

LaWall credits her pragmatic attitude to her career in business. "It's crisis management. You look at the issue and ask, 'What do I do next?' I just have never had a negative day."

There were moments of sadness, especially over losing all of her photographs and videos of her children when they were small. "But those memories live with me forever," she said.

Now, it's a new beginning, LaWall said. Having her own abode once again, she said. "It means I'm home," she said. "I'm grounded again. I'm a realist and a bit of a romantic, and to have found this amazing property on the water, on Peconic Bay, I'm living my lifelong dream of a home on the water."

That dream never would have been realized had she not first had to endure loss, she said. "This never would have happened if my house didn't burn down because I never would have left. So it's a very happy ending," LaWall said.

The fire was a "horrible accident," Kiernan told Patch at the time, with no foul play suspected — just a tragedy that left them blindsided.

Many say LaWall found her happy ending, her new home on the water with views that soothe the soul, because of the positive outlook she's maintained throughout the ordeal of the past months.

Not only did she find peace in her new home, LaWall helped to preserve a piece of paradise forever when she sold the development rights to her former home to the Peconic Land Trust and the Town of Southampton, ensuring that it will remain open space in perpetuity. "It's a farm again," LaWall said. "That made me very happy."

While she undoubtedly could have sold her land for more to a developer, LaWall said she finds great joy in knowing the vista is preserved, and that she and her family were the first, and last, to set down roots in that particular parcel in Southampton.

"It's my corner," LaWall said. "I love going by now and seeing corn growing. It's alive again and it's producing for people."

Neighbors in Water Mill have thanked her for "that great expanse of open space," she said. "So there was a bit of giving back, as well."

One lesson learned, LaWall said, is that homeowners should ensure they have the best possible insurance policy, in case of tragedy. "Everyone, including me, used to try to pay the least they could. Who wants to pay insurance premiums?" she said.

But in her case, insurance was a lifesaver, she said.

"I had just spent 5 years renovating that entire house before the fire. I'd redone the entire interior, from a new kitchen to new bathrooms. Everything was new. The mortgage was paid. Everything was done. I thought I could sit back and enjoy the spoils of my work. As a woman by myself, it was important to know I was secure, that I had a roof over my head," she said.

Until the day when fire swept through her home, leaving literally nothing in its wake — except her car, some bridal silverware, and some charred photographs.

Rising from the ashes was confirmation of something LaWall said she'd always believed. "My outlook on life didn't change, but it became more profound — you certainly realize in a hurry what matters to you. And that's the health, safety, and welfare of my family. After that, everything else, you just deal with it."

And as always, she took what some would consider the worst experience someone could have to overcome, and maintained her upbeat demeanor. "I've heard that if you remain positive, positive things will happen. If this was a test of that, I guess it's true," LaWall said. "I like to look at the glass as half full."

Both LaWall and Kiernan credited the fire department's heroic efforts to save their home. "The fire department was amazing —how hard they tried to salvage anything and they were dealing with absolutely horrible weather conditions," Kiernan said, at the time.

Mother and daughter thanked the community for the outpouring of support after the fire.

"A thousand thank yous to all of the awesome and amazing people that I know," Kiernan said. "God bless you all — my family and I are the ones who are truly blessed because of you."

Patch photos courtesy Ann LaWall.