Nov. 27—Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include charges being filed Wednesday against Robert Staton and information from the criminal complaint.
BURLINGTON — The 200 block of South Kane Street has long been known as the site of the historic Meinhardt mansion. After a fire in the early morning hours of Nov. 22, however, the address is now known as the site of a devastating loss of Burlington history.
“It was iconic,” said Andrew Lynch, who has lived with wife Wendy Lynch on nearby Duane Street for 18 years.
Andrew Lynch grew up about four houses away from the mansion.
“Everybody knew that house,” he said.
“It’s just so sad,” said fellow Duane Street neighbor Mary Cichocki. “A beautiful home gone.”
A City of Burlington Police Department news release says that when fire crews began arriving at 201 S. Kane St. about 3:25 a.m. Nov. 22, they found the three-story, 142-year-old Queen Anne home engulfed in flames.
According to city Fire Chief Alan Babe, no injuries were reported.
Robert Staton, the home’s owner, was arrested. On Wednesday, Nov. 27, he was charged with negligent handling of burning material and two counts of felony bail jumping, according to a criminal complaint.
During a virtual initial appearance in Racine County Circuit Court on Wednesday, Court Commissioner John Bjelajac set Staton’s cash bond at $15,000, according to court documents.
Staton is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 5, according to court documents.
Complaint details
On Nov. 22 around 3:20 a.m., an officer from the City of Burlington Police Department was sent to 201 S. Kane St. after a report of a house fire, according to a criminal complaint.
The complaint notes that the house was in a state of demolition and remodeling.
The officer reported that the house was engulfed in flames and that Staton was in a vehicle near the house.
Staton reportedly said that he did not know what happened and told the officer to “arrest whoever is in there,” adding that he was unsure who was in the house.
According to the complaint, Staton said someone was “trashing” the house, although he could not name anyone and officers found no one else at the scene.
After giving multiple statements to officers, Staton allegedly admitted that he started fires in four fireplaces in the home using cardboard and wood to “keep the workers warm” when they arrived the next day.
Staton reportedly said that after he lit the fires he went to sleep, and when he woke up he saw smoke and ran from the house.
Police also spoke with a home inspector, who reported that two of the house’s fireplaces had been “blocked off” and would have to have been breached in order for fires to be started, the complaint said.
The report also stated that the house’s fireplaces were designed for coal and were not suitable for wood fires because of the shallow depth of the firebox, the complaint said.
Additionally, according to the complaint, detectives learned that on Nov. 21, Staton reportedly approached a Burlington fire inspector at a fast-food restaurant drive-thru, thanked him for his service and allegedly gave him a $100 bill.
According to the complaint, the inspector tried to give the money back but Staton allegedly thew it into the inspector’s vehicle. The complaint said the inspector was unsure what to do, so he used the money to pay for Staton’s $40 food order and left.
When the inspector was stopped a a nearby traffic light, he reportedly rolled down his window and thanked Staton.
According to the complaint, Staton allegedly said: “No problem, if my house at 201 Kane Street ever catches fire, just let it burn!”
Staton denied making the statement, according to the complaint.
The complaint says the the house was “significantly damaged,” with the second floor being “virtually gone” and the tower in an unstable position.
No one is being allowed to enter the house, which has been deemed uninhabitable, the complaint said.
‘Terrible tragedy’
“I know the whole town is just so angry and frustrated, and it’s just a terrible tragedy,” Cichocki said.
She said her husband woke up that morning to use the bathroom and exclaimed, “The house is on fire!”
The couple has lived nearby for 17 years, and they watched as crews swarmed the mansion, working to quell the flames throughout the morning.
Cihocki and other neighbors fondly recall the home’s previous owner, Jeannie Everett, who bought the mansion in 1972.
Neighbors described Everett as a “steward,” someone who kept the home “pristine.”
“Inside, it was like stepping back in time,” one neighbor recalled.
Everett died in September 2022.
Staton purchased the 5,200-square-foot property from Everett’s daughters in July. Online real estate records show he paid $675,000 for the property.
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History
According to records from the Wisconsin Historical Society, the home is registered under the Kane Street Historic District.
German born Elisa Riel and her husband Anthony Meinhardt built the mansion in 1882.
Anthony Meinhardt would go on to found Burlington’s Meinhardt Bank in 1891 at 189 E. Chestnut St.
Although homes surround the mansion now, it originally was built on a 15-acre estate with gardens, an orchard, a pasture, fountains, a tennis court and a pine grove.
Samuel Curtis Johnson, the founder of Johnson Wax, installed the home’s Parquet flooring.
Rich Sorensen walks through the neighborhood regularly and saw the home as standing out amongst the others.
“I don’t know much about the history. I just, I found it interesting,” Sorensen said. “So many of the houses in the neighborhood, you can see how they’ve been remodeled over the years, and this one seems so original.”
For many in the community, the loss of the mansion is personal.
Wendy Lynch said that “a lot of people … grew up here and have ties to the house and families that have lived there.”
“I have a friend whose granddaughter played in that house,” Cichocki said. “She’s just heartbroken.”
Anyone interested in pictures of the mansion taken through the years can visit the Burlington Historical Society Museum’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/burlingtonwihistoricalsociety.
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