Ten years after voters approved the purchase of the Mayslake Forest Preserve, the public is getting its first look inside the historic Peabody Mansion, the centerpiece of the 90-acre wooded estate.
One-hour tours of the mansion, billed as a "restoration in progress," will be held Saturdays and Wednesdays. Admission is $5 per person.
The mansion is unfurnished, but tours offer a close look at the Tudor Revival-style architecture built in the early 1900s and patterned after 16th Century English homes.
"This allows the public into the building, and I know they've been waiting a long time for that," said Chrissie Howorth, supervisor of the Mayslake Estate. "It's a unique opportunity to see things as they exist now before they are fully restored."
Howorth hopes the tours will help attract donors and volunteers to aid the restoration of the mansion, which will happen over many years and cost millions more than has already been spent.
In 1992, voters approved borrowing $17.5 million to buy the 39-room mansion designed by Chicago architect Benjamin Marshall. Coal baron Francis Peabody paid $750,000 to build the house. He died in 1922, four months after he moved in.
In addition to the purchase price, the DuPage County Forest Preserve District has spent roughly $3 million so far in renovations that included adding a modern heating and air conditioning system, roof repairs, new parking lots and lights. ,
Commissioner James Healy, of the Forest Preserve District panel that oversees the project, said he hopes to present a business plan to the district this month that will outline future financing for the project.
Healy is looking to borrow from several possible sources to finance the remaining fixes, including the district's $180 million landfill fund, the district's general fund or a private bank.
Once those renovations are complete, Healy said, donations, grants and tour fees will be used to furnish the mansion.
An adjacent three-story retreat wing, built by the Franciscan Order of the Sacred Heart after they bought the estate from the Peabodys, will be renovated and rented out for social occasions. The retreat wing may be available to rent by fall 2004, Healy said.
Healy hopes the bookings will cover all the operating costs for the entire Mayslake Forest Preserve, more than $250,000 a year.
An official open house will be held July 20 in honor of Peabody's birthday, July 24.
In the meantime, tours begin at 9:30, 10, 11 and 11:30 a.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Wednesdays. For more information, call 630 850-2363.