News 12 spoke with a woman who grew up in a historic lodge in Litchfield County that was decimated by flames this past weekend.

The shape of the old house illuminated the night as flames obliterated the Bantam Lake Lodge in Morris. Crews battled the fierce fire from 9 p.m. Saturday almost until dawn.

In the 1950s and '60s, the rustic resort was home to Marilyn Birkett and her parents, who rented its cottages by the month or season to guests from New York City and elsewhere in Connecticut.

"I usually take a walk by there everyday," Birkett says. "I didn't today; I couldn't go by there without quite a few tears."

The lodge is believed to have been built around the turn of the century. Life at the lake was so sweet, Birkett says she returned to live there as a newlywed.

Her family sold the resort in the early '70s, and more recently it had been vacant. Seeing it go up in flames singed Birkett's heart.

"It's something that can't be replaced," she says.

Firefighters say officials are working to determine whether the fire was intentionally set.