Hard Hat Area: Can or Should Historic Home by Rebuilt?

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Jason and Jill Vanzandt have the dubious distinction of having the most photographed house in Du Quoin following Tuesday's storm that toppled a tree in the neighbor's yard onto their house, crushing the attic and causing heavy damage to the second story. For decades, the historic home was the residence of Granville and Helen Fry, co-owners of Duncan & Fry Furniture Co. In recent years it became home to Jason vanzandt and wife Jill, granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Rednour.

They worked very hard to make restorations and it became a beautiful home in a neighborhood that was part of a circle of life, changing from one generation to the next. The Vanzandts and their children were in the basement when the towering tree in Joe Angleton's yard next door was blown eastward onto the house, hitting their son's room--where had it not been for the storm would have been.

Jill sat on the tailgate of a truck in the lower yard watching as a huge crane from Mathis Crane Service lifted the massive trunk of the tree off the home. Tree trimmers from Ridgeway's Tree Service of Du Quoin cut the limbs apart on top of the roof and tied them off to the crane. By day's end, the building was covered before today's approaching second storm hits. Jill said a structural engineer will survey the house on Monday to see if it can be restored. If not, Jill said she and her husband have made no decision as to whether they will rebuild on the same site or move.

The Vanzandts are grateful no one was injured and the only thing she hopes to get out of any reconstruction is a "laundry room." The couple is staying at the Rednours until their plans are finalized.