By Rod Hansen
Staff Writer

A gust of wind on Sunday, Sept. 24, sent part of an ancient tree onto the roof of this home at 370 Paige Hill Road in Goffstown. It put holes in the roof and chimney and crushed part of the dormer window. No one was hurt in the incident, though three members of the Noterman family were home at the time. (Courtesy Photo)

A gust of wind and a burst of rain brought a brutal crash onto the Goffstown home of Kevin and Karyn Noterman on Sunday, Sept. 24, when an 1,800-pound maple tree slammed into the front of their historic home.

“We were looking out the window when this big gust of wind hit, and we were worried it would blow all the foliage off the trees,” said Karyn Noterman, who was at home with her daughter, Kayley, and father, Henry Plodzik, at the time.

The three of them were in the back of the house at 370 Paige Hill Road when the tree hit, Noterman said.

“We heard a crash and we saw the tree drape over the back of the house, the way a sweater would drape over a chair,” she said. “That’s when we knew the house had been hit.”

The tree hit the front of the house, Noterman said, causing cracks in the chimney, holes in the roof, destruction of some shingles and crushing a window dormer in an upstairs bedroom.

The home was constructed in 1876 and had once been part of a working farm with livestock It was called The Story House, Noterman said. The home was later refurbished by neighbor Dan Dugrenier, a former Goffstown building inspector, she said.

Although she cannot guess the age of the tree, Noterman said it predates the house.

“We have pictures of the house from 1876, and the tree is in it,” she said of the home she shares with her husband, Kevin, and daughters Hannah, 11, Kayley, 7, and Jordyn, 5. Noterman said she and her husband have lived in the home since 1992.

Noterman said she did not call police or fire departments, because the tree did not hit any wires or cause any injuries. Instead, she said she called a tree removal service to take the tree down before it caused any further damage.

“There were no gaping holes after the tree hit, so we thought we better get it down before the tree adjusts itself or the weight crushes the house,” she said.

The tree was lifted from the house within three hours, but remains on the property pending insurance inspection.

Police Capt. Glenn DuBois said he drove by the house while the tree was being removed, and commented to his wife about the damage it caused.

“It was kind of a shame, because (Dugrenier) had done so much work restoring it,” he said.

After the storm had passed, Noterman said the family marveled at the amount of damage that can be caused in a brief moment.

“We’re standing outside on a beautiful, sunny, 80-degree day, watching the tree get taken off of our house. The house experienced more damage from that one storm lasting all of 10 minutes than it had in all the other time it had been there,” she said.