H. Gerald Bulifant was struck by the 79-year-old Peabody mansion’s place in history the first time he saw it.
That was late last year, when the former hotel and tourism industry executive was contemplating coming out of retirement to lead the restoration of the building.
The 31-room Oak Brook mansion, which the DuPage County Forest Preserve District intends to open to the public, was part of the Mayslake estate of coal baron Francis S. Peabody.
Bulifant said it is representative of the opulent lifestyles of American business tycoons of the 1920s, men of incredible wealth who constructed virtual palaces.
“This is a very historic piece right here in DuPage County,” said Bulifant, 59, a lifelong history buff who was chosen in January by the Forest Preserve District to serve as supervisor of the multiyear project. “A lot of money was made at the turn of the century, and they went all out in spending on their homes.”
The mansion, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, was built at a cost of more than $1 million and is patterned after a manor built in Great Britain in 1520. It was designed by noted Chicago architect Benjamin Marshall, who also designed the Drake Hotel.
In 1992, the Forest Preserve District bought the building and 90 surrounding acres off 31st Street west of Illinois Highway 83 as part of a $17.5 million referendum proposal to acquire open space.
Forest Preserve District officials plan to pump about $4 million into restoring the building, though Bulifant believes the cost could go higher.
Much of that money will go toward renovating a retreat wing added to the mansion in the 1950s by the Franciscan order, which used it for a friary. The religious order bought the one-time 848-acre estate in 1924, two years after Peabody died of a heart attack during a fox hunt.
The first phase of the project includes installation of sprinklers, upgrading the electrical and heating systems, removal of asbestos and lead paint, and making the building accessible for the disabled, Bulifant said.
That work could take about a year to complete, after which the mansion would be open to the public while Bulifant oversees room-by-room restorations to ensure historical accuracy.
Bulifant said the house is in relatively good shape. All of the original woodwork is intact, as are light and bathroom fixtures. About half of the lead-glass windows remain.
“The Franciscans were very good stewards of the property,” he said, noting that the Franciscans sold the property because they needed the money.
To keep the mansion largely undisturbed, the biggest changes will be in the retreat wing added by the Franciscans, Bulifant said. Plans call for placing the main entrance to the mansion in the wing as well as a museum, public restrooms and offices for the Forest Preserve District.
Not counting servants’ quarters, the house has six bedrooms, each with a bath and a fireplace. There also are several libraries, including a private one where Peabody kept his extensive collection of original works of Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of “Treasure Island.”
In that upstairs library is a hidden staircase that connects to a first-floor study and from there to the basement, Bulifant said. There are tales a tunnel extended from the mansion to a gatehouse at the main entrance, but it has not been found. “We don’t know if it’s there or not,” he said.
Also on the property is a 74-year-old chapel that used to hold Peabody’s body. The chapel is a replica of the Portiuncula Chapel of Assisi, Italy, the home of the Franciscan order.
In addition to overseeing the restoration, Bulifant is charged with marketing the mansion for tours, cultural programs, corporate meetings, weddings and banquets. He also envisions theatrical performances in the 275-seat chapel in the retreat wing.
Fundraising looms as the hardest part of his task to return the mansion to its former glory, Bulifant said. He is working with the Mayslake Conservancy, a private group that operated the mansion for the county until last year, to procure the necessary funding.
“He seems to be a very good fit,” said David Fichter, president of the conservancy, which had a member involved in the selection process. “He has a lot of experience and is very qualified in this area.”
Dan Griffin, director of operations for the Forest Preserve District, credits Bulifant for winning support for preserving the retreat wing by developing a plan to convert it into a moneymaker for the district.
Bulifant was selected for the job mainly because of his experience in tourism and marketing, said Griffin, describing those areas as a big challenge for the project’s success.
“It was kind of a nice fit,” Griffin said. “Our needs and his interests came together at the right time.”
Bulifant expects it will take three to five years before all the work is completed. He has no thoughts of retiring again before then. “I’d like to see it through and run it for a while.”
His passion for the job is evident as Bulifant tells how it would be a tragedy not to save the mansion.
Industrialists such as Peabodyare important historical figures. Unfortunately, after their deaths, their families too often sold off the homes.
“A lot of their homes were lost to the wrecking ball,” Bulifant said, “and I didn’t want to see that happen to this house.”
