Preserving a historic mansion: The one that got away

The Raymond Judd Mansion is the only example of Mission Style architecture in Saint Charles, Il. This property is the subject of continuous debate, and has been for many years. A number of projects have attempted to demolish the mansion to develop the surrounding property. Check out our journey as we considered preserving this historic mansion.

History of the Judd Mansion

F.P. Haviland commissioned the mansion in approximately 1900 and Raymond Judd purchased the property in 1902. Raymond Judd earned his fortune as one of America’s prominent livestock dealers in the region and the property was occupied by his family until his death in 1931.

After his death, a nursing home purchased the property in the 1940’s. A single family returned the property to residential status in the 1970’s. The home found a new purpose in 2002 when a church purchased and rezoned it as a place of worship.

Sold again in 2006 the mansion became the centerpiece of a development project that fell victim to the Great Recession. Unfortunately, controversy again swirled when the developers removed century-old oak trees to make way for planned townhouses. The developers were eventually able to complete only one of the townhomes before the project failed. This structure was located on the northeast corner of the property and resulted in the demolition of the original garage.

Throughout all of these conversions the property maintained much of its original grandeur. However, the developers had sadly removed several of the original light fixtures during the 2006 townhouse development project.

Considering a restoration of the Judd Mansion

After moving to Saint Charles in 2007, we became involved in Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley and learned about the controversy and demolition risk the property faced. We began to keep a close eye on the house and watched as it continued to deteriorate. It sadly sat on the real estate market with no potential interest.

The bank relisted in July 2012 with a price of $599,000. The price fluctuated, but, a developer made an offer in late 2013. The City did not approve the demolition of the landmark building to make way for new construction and the listing was reactivated.

We have tackled renovation projects in the past. With the magnitude of this project greatly exceeding anything we tackled in the past, we decided to take a closer look. The property encompassed nearly a full city block. The house comprised four levels of living space, including the large basement.

Viewing the Property

The first step in our evaluation was to visit the property with our real estate broker. In touring the house, the extent of the deterioration and lack of environmental temperature and humidity control was evident. Plaster was falling in some places and paint was peeling everywhere. A beautiful home with many original features intact, we determined it was suitable for a restoration.

Highlights included an imposing brick and stone exterior with intricately carved wood accents, huge custom windows allowing for natural light throughout, four wood-burning fireplaces, an expansive formal dining room, mission style quarter-sawn oak trim and built-ins, wood flooring throughout, a central and open staircase, five large bedrooms on the second floor (two with fireplaces) and a third floor entertaining space. Reportedly, the basement was one of the first poured concrete foundations in the area with ceiling heights of at least 9 feet and presented the ultimate opportunity to create a Mancave!

Exterior

First Floor

Second Floor

Third Floor

Basement

Home Inspection and Construction Estimates

We have always conducted a home inspection before purchasing a property, but, typically after making an offer. However, we determined early on that this project was going to require extra due diligence prior to making an offer. We organized a formal home inspection and invited several contractors to make recommendations and provide quotes. Taking this approach we were fortunate to gain an understanding of estimated renovation costs prior to moving forward.

Best case scenario, we faced a budget $300,000 – $400,000 for all of the interior and exterior work. Landscaping and the construction of a new garage were not part of this estimate. Preserving a historic mansion is not for the faint of heart.

Trying to Make the Numbers Work

We researched comparable listings, but our analysis was quite complicated. After extensive investigation, we determined that a likely sales price after purchase and renovations could range from $800,000 – $1,000,000. Complicating a future sale were the size of the property and location on a busy street. To make this even reasonable to consider, it would have to become our primary residence versus a flip-investment project.

Working back, we came up with a maximum purchase price of $400,00 – $450,000. The primary challenge to make this project feasible was the listing price. The price dropped from a high of $699,000 to $570,000, ‘as is’ condition and was a rough price point to start out the project. Another challenge was the continued interest of development companies to further pursue townhouse development.

We knew that our success in negotiation boiled down to our ability to convince the city to preserve the property rather than allowing subdivision for townhouse development. The next steps included a meeting with the selling agent and the bank who owned the foreclosed property. At the time, the seller was not willing to accept our offer price.

How the Judd Mansion Got Away from Us

After several months of investigation and a fairly extensive lobbying effort to convince all parties that the best alternative was to preserve the Judd Mansion as a single family residence, we lost our battle. The City Counsel made the decision to allow zoning for the “highest and best use”. This translated into the conversion of the existing structure into a four unit apartment complex and the development of the rest of the property into five additional town-house structure (as previously approved in 2006).

In the end, a developer purchased the property for $465,00. The silver lining….despite much pressure from local developers to allow demolition, the City Council decision saved the Judd mansion allowing the conversion into four, two-story apartments.

The negative, we lost the opportunity to pursue one of our most challenging rehab projects to date and to live in a piece of local history and our ultimate vintage home sanctuary. When driving by the property, as it sits today, we continue to have bitter-sweet feelings about the compromises required and regret that we didn’t work harder to have the opportunity of preserving a historic mansion.

If you liked this story about our interest in preserving a historic mansion, be sure the check out the story of the Queen Anne house we were able to renovate.