Historic Illinois mansion sold for $505K

LINCOLN, Ill. (AP) - A historic Illinois mansion built in the late 1800s has been sold for $505,000.

The State Journal-Register reports that Court and Karen Conn of Springfield have purchased the Gillet House atop Elkhart Hill, one of the last remaining unsold pieces from the 785-acre (318-hectare) Old Gillett Farm.

The purchase includes a carriage house, water tower and seven barns.

The house and its core farm had remained in the Gillett family up until fairly recently. More than 570 acres (231 hectares) of the farm sold last year at an auction for $3.9 million.

The mansion anchored a 20,000-acre (8,100-hectare) cattle operation assembled by John Dean Gillett in the late 1800s. He and his wife, Lemira Parke Gillett, constructed the original home in 1870 and rebuilt it in 1873 after a fire. The sellers are the last descendants of Gillett to live in the mansion.

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Information from: The State Journal-Register, http://www.sj-r.com