'Emotional' restoration of historic Gridley mansion nearly complete

BLOOMINGTON Keith Thompson is a self-admitted "sucker for historic properties."

So when Diane and Bud Sullivan approached him in 2008 about investing in the historic Asahel Gridley property at 301 E. Grove St., neither Thompson nor his wife, Diane, could resist. Gridley was a state senator credited with getting the Illinois Central Railroad to roll through Bloomington, was a friend of Abraham Lincoln and the city's first millionaire.

"It looked like something that might be OK," said Keith Thompson about the restoration project.

Granted, the 1860s Gridley mansion and the 1937 apartment buildings in front needed a lot of work, but Bud Sullivan was a contractor and Diane Sullivan, then president of the Old House Society, was passionate about restoration work, so the Thompsons were convinced it could work.

But two years went by and little work had been accomplished. The city began citing numerous code violations. By 2012, the property went into foreclosure, the Sullivans owed $807,558 on the property, according to legal documents. Their original loan from Thompson was $644,500. Diane Sullivan had already moved from the community and Bud Sullivan moved away later.

Thompson was the highest bidder at a foreclosure auction ($700,000) and the property, and all of its problems, were now his.

"It came down to an emotional decision rather than a financial one, stupid for a banker," said Thompson, a senior loan officer with Mortgage Services Inc. "I'm sure someone would have knocked it down."

But now, about $1 million later, the renovation is complete and Thompson can focus on finding tenants for the mansion apartments.

One of the eight apartments already is taken, by Thompson and his wife.

"I'm glad he took it on," said Laura Walden, coordinator of the Old House Society's Architectural Salvage Warehouse. "It was too overwhelming for anyone else. He's done a great job. Hopefully it will last forever."

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'Emotional' restoration of historic Gridley mansion nearly complete