By RODNEY HART
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
HANNIBAL, Mo. -- Lisa and Ken Marks live in the Rockcliffe Mansion and care about one thing.
"I just want to make sure the mansion stays open to the people of Hannibal," Lisa Marks said Wednesday afternoon during a public rally while standing in front of the 10th and Bird historical house. "We just want to pull the community together to keep the mansion alive."
The Maywood couple welcomed visitors to roam the massive home of former Hannibal lumber baron J.J. Cruikshank. They've been operating the 13,500-square-foot museum since September. About 30 people were gathered at 5:30 Wednesday afternoon to listen to several speakers and tour the mansion.
The Markses learned last week that they have been given permission to lease the historic home until Jan. 15. That date is when James and Robin Gillette of Fountain, Fla., would close on the home if a bankruptcy court judge approves their $710,000 bid on Rockcliffe at a hearing Nov. 2 in Shreveport, La.
The Markses' first bid on the home of $700,000 was made July 28, but they missed an Oct. 1 deadline to come up with proper financing to buy the home. They had until Wednesday to counteroffer the $710,000, and Lisa Marks says "we have irons in the fire," but they let the deadline pass.
Lisa Marks says she fears prospective buyers would turn the mansion into a private residence and not let the public tour the historic grounds. They are willing to listen to any idea. They'd even be willing to be caretakers of the mansion while living in another Hannibal residence.
Lisa Marks says she and her husband want to continue to renovate the home and the grounds, including planting a public garden.
Steve Chou of Hannibal, a history buff, said the mansion is a "local treasure."
"It's been held together and preserved by luck and circumstance," Chou said. "It's a marvelous picture of a part of Hannibal, a picture of the wealth brought by the lumber industry."
Chou says his house in Hannibal was built by lumber from the Cruikshank lumber company.
Many of the Cruikshank items are still in the house, and much of it looks like it did early in the 20th century. The house has an expansive feel with big rooms and high ceilings, grand staircases and fireplaces.
Mary McAvoy lived in the house and managed the residence with her late husband, Jerry, from 1993 to 2005. She enthralled the assembled throng with ghost stories and tales of strange things they experienced. Some of the tales involved people seeing J.J. Cruikshank walking through the home, hearing children play in the upper floors, and even a crew filming a movie in the house reporting their cameras being plugged in and turned on while nobody was in the room.
"It was a lot of work, and we were married to the house, but it was wonderful," McAvoy said. "We love the house, and we want to see it being saved."
Lisa Marks agreed they've heard some strange noises in the house, but it's all good to her and her husband.
"I never get a scared feeling. There's a very warm feeling when you walk into the house," she said.
Rockcliffe Mansion is on the National Register of Historic Places. Originally known as the Cruikshank Mansion, it was built by the J.J. Cruikshank family between 1898 and 1900 for $250,000. The Cruikshank family lived in the mansion until 1924, and it was left vacant until 1967. It has been open as a museum since 1968.
Candlelight tours are being conducted for $15 a person Friday and Saturday nights at 7. Then Ken and Lisa Marks will start Christmas tours Nov. 10.
-- rhart@whig.com / 221-3370
