The mansion was ultimately sold for a much lower price of $4.5 million, after major renovations cost over $11 million. It was then that it became one of Chicago's most expensive homes. The mansion was built in 1891 by lumber baron Adolphus Paglin for his wife, Elizabeth "Bess" Taylor Paglin. Bess was a beautiful woman who had many suitors but chose not to marry any of them. She enjoyed playing with jewelry and had a special fondness for pearls. The lumber baron died a few years before she did. Bess married money when she married Adolphus. He was a rich man and owned timber lands, factories, and commercial buildings all over Illinois. They had two children together: a son who lived only three months and a daughter who later killed herself by jumping from a window. After the death of her husband Bess went into deep mourning for six months instead of three. She bought a new home on South Park Boulevard in the wealthy suburb of Oak Park, Illinois. This mansion was also built by a lumber company owner named Adolphus Paglin but it was much smaller than its neighbor.