Huge fire at Northbridge's historic Oakhurst Manor in Massachusetts badly damages town's 100-year-old landmark
Andrew Hansen
Published Sep 18, 2026
A HISTORIC landmark that has played host to a President has been badly damaged in a huge blaze overnight.
The roof of the Oakhurst Manor in Northbridge, Massachusetts, collapsed during the fire that started around 1 am on Friday.
4
4
According to fire officials, the blaze took nearly six hours to get under control, and all seven occupants of the property managed to escape unharmed.
The 20,000-square-foot mansion on the Whitin Lasell Estate dates back to 1890 and is now being used as an event space.
Due to the size and age of the building, firefighters from multiple departments struggled to tackle the fire that was already ripping through the second and third floors of the building when they arrived.
"These buildings are old and very hard to put out. We went to a defensive attack quickly," Northbridge Fire Chief David White said.
read more on fires
"It's a historic building, as you can tell.
"It's one of the old mansions in town. It does have a little value there."
"We have several of these types of buildings in town we know about," he added.
"We train all the time, that's just a constant thing. It's the nature of the game when these catch fire.
Most read in The US Sun
"They're old buildings, the fire has a lot of places to go, a lot of void spaces."
He noted that the five-alarm fire started at 1:04 am and was declared under control by 5:45 am after which the roof had collapsed.
Shock photos of fire ripping through Target shelves with only store in town closed until March after $1million in damageIt is currently unclear where the fire started, but White said that the building is not completely destroyed and can be rebuilt.
"We are relieved to report that all residents & guests who were inside the manor exited safely and there are no known injuries at the time of posting," Estate of Mind, the organization hosting events at the property said on Facebook.
"The cause of the fire and scope of the damage remains to be determined."
Drone footage of the aftermath has been shared on Facebook by CBS News affiliate WBZ.
It shows the charred building with funnels of smoke continuing to come from gaping holes in the roof as firefighters douse the remains with water.
The sprawling Gilded Age mansion built by Blackstone Valley industrialist Chester Whitin Lasell sold for $1.25 million in November 2021, according to the Worcester Business Journal.
The home has reportedly hosted former President William Howard Taft and civil rights activist and educator Booker T. Washington.
4
4
