Massive flames tore through a mansion Friday evening in Topsfield, Massachusetts.
The seven-bedroom home — which includes a gym, a movie theater and a pool — now appears to be a total loss.
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No one was injured in the fire.
"It sounded like three bangs to me," said neighbor Steve Kouroubacalis, who heard a loud noise and looked outside. "I saw the right side of their deck on fire, I yelled to my wife to call 911 and to call the owners to make sure they weren't in there. I start running toward the house, all of a sudden it just went up very quickly, like it was lighter fluid."
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The home sits along the golf course at the Ferncroft Country Club and neighbors say the fire spread to the 17th hole.
"It was a fun, entertaining house," said Mick Lafata, who built the nearly-8,000-square-foot home on Coppermine Road in 1999.
Lafata lived there with his family for 19 years before selling it to the current owners in 2018.
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"It's just a house," said Lafata. "As long as everybody is safe, nobody got hurt, that's what really matters. They'll rebuild, they'll do something, they're great people."
Family members tell NBC10 Boston the current homeowners had been out of the house since December while renovations were taking place.
Neighbors say there was a crew working on the property earlier in the day.
Whether the remodeling played any factor in the fire is unknown.
"The fire definitely had a head start on us," said Topsfield Fire Chief Jenifer Collins-Brown. "So that's a challenge, you're behind the eight-ball right from the beginning."
Lafata, who says the home was built mostly of wood, says despite moving out fiveyears ago, he'd often drive by because his family had so many memories here.
"It's very sad," he said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
