A secret panel pops open to reveal a spiral staircase to the first floor, clear lead crystal legs hold up a delicate antique sink and a small glass cutout in the wall of the servants’ quarters reveals wires to a call system labeled for each room in the estate.
No, it’s not an episode of Downton Abbey. It’s Saturday at the Peabody Estate at Mayslake.
The Tudor revival estate is located just west of Route 83 and South of 31st Street, at the end of winding road. The property, now owned by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, is situated on 88 acres of land next to a manmade lake that the original owner, coal baron Francis Stuyvesant Peabody, named after his daughter, May.
Tours of the grand residence are led by docents like Linda Neff, and geared for people interested in local history, architecture, restoration and nature. Each tour begins in the home’s solarium, where visitors learn about the renovation work and the property’s history.
Development on the property began in 1919, but according to Neff, the Yale educated Peabody didn’t have much of an opportunity to enjoy the work.
“Construction was completed in 1921,” said Neff, “but he died of a heart attack in 1922”.
After Peabody’s death, his grown children had no interest in maintaining the estate.
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“Part of the land was sold to the Franciscans to build a seminary, high school and two-year college,” said Neff, who also noted that the property itself used to be part of Hinsdale.
The Franciscans sold most of the property off over the years, mostly to developers, Neff said. In 1992, the last 88 acres was supposed to be razed for a development, but instead was saved through passage of a referendum, which allowed the DuPage County Forest Preserve District to acquire and subsequently preserve the property.
The stately home features a number of ornate finishes including stucco-duro ceilings in the library, Bedford limestone mantles throughout the home, and the original Carrera marble floors in the more recently renovated breakfast porch, which Neff explained were most likely not from Italy, but rather Vermont.
External details further enhance the Tudor revival style.
“The slate shingles are each tapered toward the top to make the roof look even steeper than it is,” Neff said.
While most Tudor-style homes have white stucco on the exterior, green was the color chosen for the renovation as it was believed to be the original color of the home, selected to “match the slate roof.”
Over the breakfast porch, the second floor sleeping porch that overlooks the lake, is next on the list of projects to be undertaken. While most of the original lead glass windows remain intact, some of them are visibly bowed in, said education site manager Janneke Fowers.
“We can preserve the glass, but the windows will have to be re-caned with zinc, and the frames will need to be re-milled,” Fowers said.
With all the work that needs to be completed, projects can only be started as funds are made available. The sleeping porch project “will start once funding has been secured so we haven’t set a start date yet,” said Fowers.
The $50,000 raised so far came from public donations through the membership program of the Mayslake Hall Restoration Society and through the Friends of the Forest Preserve District, Fowers said.
The restoration of the property is part of a broader mission which is “connecting people to nature through art, painting and photography,” Fowers said. To that end, much of the funding for the site’s maintenance comes from tours which will soon be expanded to include specialty tours, and through art programs.
In addition to their existing photography classes, the staff is in the process of developing a nature photography program.
“Even though this is a house, it’s connected to the outside, as much as the outside is connected to the inside,” said Fowers, referring to the many window-lined rooms and their views of the expansive grounds.
The county has been able to make significant progress on the property, despite the fact that an approved $215,000 state grant has yet to materialize due to the budget impasse in Springfield.
“If the grant comes in it will most likely be used to offset the cost already incurred on the past project since that was what the grant was awarded for,” said Fowers.
Up to $450,000 will be needed to complete the next phase of restoration. Information on programs, tours, and room rental can be found on the Mayslake website at www.mayslakepeabody.com.
Paulette Delcourt is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.