Picking Up the Pieces on Lake Road
By: Ashley Zilka
Updated: January 31, 2013
Residents who lost their homes in the Webster shooting and fire face a long road ahead if they want to rebuild their homes, but one homeowner is already moving forward.
John Kohut combs through what's left of his house. There's not much left. He still remembers every detail of that horrible morning.
"I stood up on the bluff up there. You can see it from here and when I got there, the house was already destroyed," said Kohut.
"I had no emotions. Like a surreal feeling. It didn't look real to me because there was nobody around. It was quiet and the houses were just burning. I could see there was nobody on the street. There was nobody around. They were just burning. It was a weird feeling."
Before the Christmas Eve tragedy, John says he had the perfect lake house. He bought it in 1999 and spent most of his time planning, remodeling and enjoying it.
"I just finished. Only thing that was left was to finish two floors downstairs, and it would have been done. It was a long project working on it," said Kohut.
What took John 14 years to create was destroyed in minutes. But what came out of an act of hate is an unbelievable act of kindness.
"At first, I don't know if he believed me," said Andrew Hintenach of Sky High Architecture in Geneva.
Hintenach had never met John, but as an architect, he knew he could help.
"When I talked to him about it, he couldn't understand. I said well I will do the whole plan for you gratis, for me it's a little pro bono work," said Hintenach.
"Everybody has been helpful. The town, the neighbors, I got phone calls, people ask me if I have a place to sleep, if I have food," said Kohut.
"It's something I can give back. I can't write a big check to somebody to help them out, but I can do what I do and that's be an architect," said Hintenach.
So now John is starting over. Rebuilding a house and new memories of a lakeside community he loves.
"It's such a great spot. It's hard to give up," said Kohut.
John Kohut combs through what's left of his house. There's not much left. He still remembers every detail of that horrible morning.
"I stood up on the bluff up there. You can see it from here and when I got there, the house was already destroyed," said Kohut.
"I had no emotions. Like a surreal feeling. It didn't look real to me because there was nobody around. It was quiet and the houses were just burning. I could see there was nobody on the street. There was nobody around. They were just burning. It was a weird feeling."
Before the Christmas Eve tragedy, John says he had the perfect lake house. He bought it in 1999 and spent most of his time planning, remodeling and enjoying it.
"I just finished. Only thing that was left was to finish two floors downstairs, and it would have been done. It was a long project working on it," said Kohut.
What took John 14 years to create was destroyed in minutes. But what came out of an act of hate is an unbelievable act of kindness.
"At first, I don't know if he believed me," said Andrew Hintenach of Sky High Architecture in Geneva.
Hintenach had never met John, but as an architect, he knew he could help.
"When I talked to him about it, he couldn't understand. I said well I will do the whole plan for you gratis, for me it's a little pro bono work," said Hintenach.
"Everybody has been helpful. The town, the neighbors, I got phone calls, people ask me if I have a place to sleep, if I have food," said Kohut.
"It's something I can give back. I can't write a big check to somebody to help them out, but I can do what I do and that's be an architect," said Hintenach.
So now John is starting over. Rebuilding a house and new memories of a lakeside community he loves.
"It's such a great spot. It's hard to give up," said Kohut.
