SYCAMORE – Repairs are planned for a historic Sycamore mansion damaged by a recent fire.

Dave Waters, the owner of the historic Charles O. Boynton House that caught fire three weeks ago, said his tentative plans are to repair the damage and move back into the 130-year-old mansion.

The building was left uninhabitable after significant damage to its east side as well as smoke and water damage throughout its interior, and the house’s insurer, Kane County Mutual in Geneva, initially estimated it would take a minimum of nine months for repairs.

In the interim, Waters’ insurance was able to move him into another home 2 miles north of the Boynton House and provide rental furniture.

Insurance is still working to come up with an estimate of damages, Waters said. A news release from the Sycamore Fire Department had assessed the damages at $175,000.

“It’s a unique house with a lot of unique features, so it’s not an easy estimate because of that type of workmanship,” Waters said.

The fire started after a van parked in the house’s carport belonging to Norm Mathisen, owner of Norm’s Custom Hardwood Flooring, caught fire and spread. Mathisen had reported the fire while doing carpentry work on the building.

Both Kane County Mutual and the van’s insurer, State Farm, are conducting investigations. Waters said he felt confident that insurance would be able to cover all of the costs.

One of the biggest problems is damage from the smoke, which permeated the whole house, so it was unclear if the home could be habitable during the construction, he said.

Waters said that he had recently spoken with Mathisen, who told him that the van must have caught fire not long after he pulled into the carport as he had smelled smoke only a few minutes after he had started work on the house.

The fire was put out in about three hours. Waters lauded the efforts of the Sycamore Fire Department for covering all of the pictures inside the house so they wouldn’t be ruined and preventing additional damage.

The fire departments of DeKalb, Maple Park, Elburn, Kirkland, Hinckley, Sugar Grove, Burlington, Genoa-Kingston and Cortland also helped with the blaze.

Sycamore Fire Chief Pete Polarek said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Before the fire, Waters said he had spoken with a real estate agent about possibly putting the house on the market, but it was never listed.