Help Save Rockcliffe Mansion!

Hello friends! Welcome to the Rockcliffe Mansion Blog! Here you will learn about all the daily happenings at Rockcliffe Mansion in Hannibal, Missouri.

HELP SAVE ROCKCLIFFE MANSION!!!

J.J. Cruikshank, one of the most successful "Lumber Barons" of the Midwest, began construction of his Hannibal, Missouri dream home in 1898. Using the woods of his trade, he filled his home with the finest rich mahogany, oak and walnut accoutrements. He retained Tiffany & Co. in New York to provide special windows and light fixtures. The famous landscape architect, O. C. Simonds, designed special gardens and orchards to grow within the six foot high limestone wall that encircled the property. In all, Cruikshank would spend the extraordinary amount of $250,000.00 on his home and gardens ($5,447,000.00 in 21st century dollars).

The 13,500 sq. ft., 30-room mansion was completed in 1900. A full page pictorial in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch declared it "The Finest Country Home in Missouri". Cruikshank, his wife Annie, and their four daughters shared their home with the society of Hannibal, and in 1902, during his final visit to Hannibal, Mark Twain spent the afternoon at the Cruikshank home, speaking for over an hour to the 300 invited guests in attendance. However, upon the death of J. J. Cruikshank in 1924, his wife Annie moved into the home of one of their daughters and shuttered the mansion. It would be empty for the next 43 years, left neglected to the ravages of time and the elements.

In 1967, three prominent Hannibal families joined to save what had come to be known as "Rockcliffe". Mr. and Mrs. Delbert L. Hartley, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Raible, and Dr. and Mrs. Merrill Roller purchased the property one week before its scheduled demolition and spent the next two years lovingly restoring it back to its original splendor. J. J. and Annie's daughter Helen, who lived next door to Rockcliffe and who had salvaged and stored much of the contents from Rockcliffe since 1924, donated the original furnishings, furniture, draperies, books and decor items back to the mansion. Thus, upon its grand reopening in 1969, Rockcliffe looked very much as it did when its doors first opened in 1900, with 60% of its original contents intact.

Since that time, the Rockcliffe Mansion Museum has been privately owned yet open to the public for tours, special events, and other cultural activities. Hundreds of thousands of guests have poured over its 13,500 sq. ft., marveling at the opulence of the manse and its original contents. In 1980, Rockcliffe was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The city of Hannibal takes great pride in Rockcliffe Mansion Museum, and, nearly 110 years since its completion, still regards Rockcliffe as one of the top attractions in Hannibal and a vital part of the fabric of the Hannibal community.

Currently, as it was in 1967, the property and all its contents are at risk. The current owner, who was responsible for the operation of Rockcliffe Mansion Museum and five other business properties, was forced into Chapter 7 Bankruptcy on August 14, 2009 and the court-appointed Trustee is now in charge of Rockcliffe. The Trustee has accepted a contract for Rockcliffe from a "cash buyer" from Florida, Jim and Robin Gillette, and it is likely that they intend to convert Rockcliffe into their private residence. It would then cease to be open to the public, lost forever as a feature of the Hannibal community, with its priceless antiques and artifacts scattered to the wind.

Ken and I are fighting to save Rockcliffe. We have been working since the end of July on a possible plan to purchase Rockcliffe and keep it open to the public as a museum. However, because of the economic climate, banks, private lenders, and even the SBA are simply not loaning money out to commercial projects such as this -- they tell us this is too "high risk" of a business venture (even though Rockcliffe has been open as a museum since 1968!).

We have worked with mortgage brokers, private investors, our state representative's office, our U. S. Congressman's office, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office, the federal Department of the Interior, the northeast Missouri Department of Economic Development, the Hannibal Chamber of Commerce, Friends of Historic Hannibal, the Hannibal Convention and Visitors Bureau, etc. and no one is able to help finance the purchase of Rockcliffe. Everyone wants to see it stay open to the public, but no one is able (or willing) to invest in its future.

The bankruptcy court has agreed to lease Rockcliffe to us so that we may continue to operate it as a business until the purchase has been finalized. We are desperately seeking private investors or other financial backers to work with us to counter Mr. Gillette's contract, or put into place a back-up contract, to purchase Rockcliffe and its contents and preserve this historic property. We would be happy to hear from anyone who is interested and would like to review the Business Plan we have produced.

In the mean time, we continue to give tours daily from 10am to 4pm, and we have special events planned for Halloween. We also plan to have holiday tours beginning on November 10th.

For more information, please visit our website at www.rockcliffemansion.com

Thank you for your interest in Rockcliffe Mansion, keep checking this blog for further information!

Lisa Marks