While on honeymoon, fire destroyed Tipp Hill home, including wedding gifts.
Newlyweds Molly and Adam Lutwin were on their honeymoon when their home burned.Syracuse, NY -- Newlyweds Adam and Molly Lutwin still had a 35-hour drive home Friday evening when a friend called to say Syracuse firefighters were trying to salvage their home on Tipperary Hill.
The couple, on their honeymoon, returned home Sunday to see their wedding gifts and pretty much everything else at 301 N. Lowell Ave. destroyed by fire.
“It’s the place that hurts more than the things inside,” Adam Lutwin said. “When you walk in, everything is black. We had just finished painting and really making it nice. It’s difficult to see that, but at the same time you realize what could have happened if anyone was in there.’’
Adam Lutwin, 30, a Fowler High School English teacher, and Molly Francis, 25, a professional Irish dancer who runs the Francis Academy of Irish Dance in Syracuse and Rochester, married Aug. 6 in a sunset ceremony outside Springside Inn in Auburn. The Lutwins left six days later for their honeymoon. They drove cross-country and camped at national parks. They visited a friend in Portland, and made stops in San Francisco, Monterey and Las Vegas, Adam Lutwin said.
On Friday, they were west of Denver when the friend broke the news. Adam Lutwin said they were relieved their downstairs neighbor escaped. They also knew their dog, Cassie, was safe in a kennel.
“The most important things were not destroyed,” he said. “They are still here.”
Before the wedding, Lutwin rented the house from Molly’s father, Jim Francis, of Liverpool. The couple have insurance, said Adam Lutwin’s father, Steve Lutwin, a retired city schools math teacher.
Jim Francis put in a new stove, refrigerator, new windows, and as a surprise he refinished all the floors while the newlyweds were away, Steve Lutwin said.
Firefighters said they believe the fire started in the front of the house, but they have not determined the cause.
As soon as word spread that the home where Adam and Molly planned to start their lives together had burned, family, friends and even strangers reached out.
Friends Conor Murphy and his girlfriend, Stephanie Sauda, are organizing a benefit at 1 p.m. Saturday at Blarney Stone ($10 for all you can eat or drink). At first, Adam and Molly Lutwin said, “no, we’ll be OK,” according to Steve Lutwin. “But people were adamant. They wanted to help.”
Adam Lutwin said he and his bride are overwhelmed by the support, offering their condolences and couches, dining room tables, plates and glasses. The couple will be staying temporarily with his sister but are looking to return to Tipperary Hill.
“I think it puts your life into perspective,” Adam Lutwin said. “You understand the important things aren’t the things in your apartment. They’re the people that have been there for you, the time you spent there and memories you’ve made.”
--Contact Catie O’Toole at cotoole@syracuse.com or 470-2134.