John Deere mansion up for bids Tuesday

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JBloggs

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[FONT= 'Times New Roman']John Deere mansion up for bids Tuesday[/FONT]
WQAD
But their dream of creating an elegant bed and breakfast became more like a nightmare, sinking more than $2 million into the project. ...

Form JB - This is actually pretty neat, but the words ELEGANT and JOHN DEERE are oxymora. Read the article so your jar can drop like mine did - for all those who have or currently are in a money pit.
 
Joey, my husband who is an avid John Deere lover wants to know "where they pissed away the 2 million??!!" Too bad we don't want to live in Iowa - we have enough John Deere tractors and paraphanalia (sp?) to decorate at least 2 rooms! Maybe I should sell them to the new owner if they actually find one. Someone should be able to buy it again for $100.00 - ok, inflation - $1,000
 
Joey, my husband who is an avid John Deere lover wants to know "where they pissed away the 2 million??!!" Too bad we don't want to live in Iowa - we have enough John Deere tractors and paraphanalia (sp?) to decorate at least 2 rooms! Maybe I should sell them to the new owner if they actually find one. Someone should be able to buy it again for $100.00 - ok, inflation - $1,000.
Moline is in Illinois - even worse. Moline is a n nice town though.
I think their BIG mistake was in trying to make it elegant. They should have stuck with what the Deere addicianados are - lovers of farm equipment. Oh the marketing possibilities with that!!!!! They could have been upscale without being elegant. But of course, they did not event finish the reno.....
I am with your husband - $2 million?????
 
Joey, my husband who is an avid John Deere lover wants to know "where they pissed away the 2 million??!!" Too bad we don't want to live in Iowa - we have enough John Deere tractors and paraphanalia (sp?) to decorate at least 2 rooms! Maybe I should sell them to the new owner if they actually find one. Someone should be able to buy it again for $100.00 - ok, inflation - $1,000.
Moline is in Illinois - even worse. Moline is a n nice town though.
I think their BIG mistake was in trying to make it elegant. They should have stuck with what the Deere addicianados are - lovers of farm equipment. Oh the marketing possibilities with that!!!!! They could have been upscale without being elegant. But of course, they did not event finish the reno.....
I am with your husband - $2 million?????
.
Oops! My bad - I don't know why I just thought Iowa!!!!
 
Joey, my husband who is an avid John Deere lover wants to know "where they pissed away the 2 million??!!" Too bad we don't want to live in Iowa - we have enough John Deere tractors and paraphanalia (sp?) to decorate at least 2 rooms! Maybe I should sell them to the new owner if they actually find one. Someone should be able to buy it again for $100.00 - ok, inflation - $1,000.
Moline is in Illinois - even worse. Moline is a n nice town though.
I think their BIG mistake was in trying to make it elegant. They should have stuck with what the Deere addicianados are - lovers of farm equipment. Oh the marketing possibilities with that!!!!! They could have been upscale without being elegant. But of course, they did not event finish the reno.....
I am with your husband - $2 million?????
.
Oops! My bad - I don't know why I just thought Iowa!!!!
.
It is one of the Quad Cities - Rock Island & Moline in Illinois and Bettendorf and Davenport in Iowa. Easy to mix up who is where.
 
That's just sad. It's hard to believe that you could pay out $2 mil and not even have a finished house.
 
Joey, my husband who is an avid John Deere lover wants to know "where they pissed away the 2 million??!!" Too bad we don't want to live in Iowa - we have enough John Deere tractors and paraphanalia (sp?) to decorate at least 2 rooms! Maybe I should sell them to the new owner if they actually find one. Someone should be able to buy it again for $100.00 - ok, inflation - $1,000.
Moline is in Illinois - even worse. Moline is a n nice town though.
I think their BIG mistake was in trying to make it elegant. They should have stuck with what the Deere addicianados are - lovers of farm equipment. Oh the marketing possibilities with that!!!!! They could have been upscale without being elegant. But of course, they did not event finish the reno.....
I am with your husband - $2 million?????
.
Oops! My bad - I don't know why I just thought Iowa!!!!
.
It is one of the Quad Cities - Rock Island & Moline in Illinois and Bettendorf and Davenport in Iowa. Easy to mix up who is where.
.
Yeah, but Hubby is from MN - I should have known better!
 
The point is it is EASY to spend big bucks on reno's. OBV the house was in total disrepair to buy it for $100. OBV it was going to be a money pit. As thr article demonstrates - Aspirings think they can "save" an old house and have no clue how much the saving and reno's actually costs. Not to mention the toll it took to their health and mental well being over years of working on the money pit. The article said it was nearly done, however and they ran out of money and into debt.
I am sure no one will be buying it for $100 or $1000 after 2 mil was sunk into the project. It's a big place.
And maybe I am wrong...maybe...just maybe there is romance in a john deere as so many men attest. tee hee As the wife, I would be saying "Come on, you are pulling my leg, a John Deere B&B!" :)
 
The point is it is EASY to spend big bucks on reno's. OBV the house was in total disrepair to buy it for $100. OBV it was going to be a money pit. As thr article demonstrates - Aspirings think they can "save" an old house and have no clue how much the saving and reno's actually costs. Not to mention the toll it took to their health and mental well being over years of working on the money pit. The article said it was nearly done, however and they ran out of money and into debt.
I am sure no one will be buying it for $100 or $1000 after 2 mil was sunk into the project. It's a big place.
And maybe I am wrong...maybe...just maybe there is romance in a john deere as so many men attest. tee hee As the wife, I would be saying "Come on, you are pulling my leg, a John Deere B&B!" :).
If they had gotten it finished, and for a lot less money, I think it would have made a beautiful B&B, just looking at the outside. If they did it 'right,' it could be set up to evoke that elegant feeling of times gone by. John Deere or otherwise. I just see so much potential in a place like that. But, obv, so much expense, too.
It sounds like there's more to the story than lack of money...there are also delays (deliberate or otherwise), permitting, inspections, etc. If they said the whole project should have taken a year, it cetainly sounds like they gave themselves enough time to get it done.
There was a similar style house up the street from me in VT. Always in dire need of a good paint job. When it was finally painted, it stopped being the 'haunted house' to the local kids, but painting cost the owner $45,000. There were days when 5-6 guys were out there sanding, priming, painting, repairing.
So, yes, renos ain't cheap, even when the house isn't abandoned.
 
The point is it is EASY to spend big bucks on reno's. OBV the house was in total disrepair to buy it for $100. OBV it was going to be a money pit. As thr article demonstrates - Aspirings think they can "save" an old house and have no clue how much the saving and reno's actually costs. Not to mention the toll it took to their health and mental well being over years of working on the money pit. The article said it was nearly done, however and they ran out of money and into debt.
I am sure no one will be buying it for $100 or $1000 after 2 mil was sunk into the project. It's a big place.
And maybe I am wrong...maybe...just maybe there is romance in a john deere as so many men attest. tee hee As the wife, I would be saying "Come on, you are pulling my leg, a John Deere B&B!" :).
That house is a huge contrast to the house they were living in when he invented the plow. The original property is open as an historic site at Grand Detour, very near White Pines State Park, Oregon, Illinois. And for the time period, THAT house was not bad.
 
The point is it is EASY to spend big bucks on reno's. OBV the house was in total disrepair to buy it for $100. OBV it was going to be a money pit. As thr article demonstrates - Aspirings think they can "save" an old house and have no clue how much the saving and reno's actually costs. Not to mention the toll it took to their health and mental well being over years of working on the money pit. The article said it was nearly done, however and they ran out of money and into debt.
I am sure no one will be buying it for $100 or $1000 after 2 mil was sunk into the project. It's a big place.
And maybe I am wrong...maybe...just maybe there is romance in a john deere as so many men attest. tee hee As the wife, I would be saying "Come on, you are pulling my leg, a John Deere B&B!" :).
Nearly done??!! Did you view the video of the inside - they had only just begun as far as I can tell, unless the pics were not accurate. It was a shell inside.
 
This whole report is very interesting. This Mansion is 40 miles North East of Muscatine. We are in a Bed and Breakfast Group from that area. We have not talked about this renovation at all. We will no doubt have a discussion at our next meeting. 2 million seems like a lot, but we also do not know what had to be removed from the house, etc. Was money spent on the Grand Daughters Home as well? I will give a full report. There would definitely be a need for another Bed and Breakfast as we have had 2 close and one for sale in that area. 200,000 visitors to John Deere is very right. I think it would definitely be a very busy B and B. Cooperate people coming in alone could keep it full. The whole John Deere Thing is something. Many people have made their Living from the John Deere Production, etc. We are not just talking about the Putt Putt tractors of years past.
 
http://www.bbonline.com/quadcities/index.html
http://www.deere.com/en_US/deerecom/landing/events_landing.html
2 sites that help to show what John Deere means to the Quad Cities
 
The point is it is EASY to spend big bucks on reno's. OBV the house was in total disrepair to buy it for $100. OBV it was going to be a money pit. As thr article demonstrates - Aspirings think they can "save" an old house and have no clue how much the saving and reno's actually costs. Not to mention the toll it took to their health and mental well being over years of working on the money pit. The article said it was nearly done, however and they ran out of money and into debt.
I am sure no one will be buying it for $100 or $1000 after 2 mil was sunk into the project. It's a big place.
And maybe I am wrong...maybe...just maybe there is romance in a john deere as so many men attest. tee hee As the wife, I would be saying "Come on, you are pulling my leg, a John Deere B&B!" :).
Nearly done??!! Did you view the video of the inside - they had only just begun as far as I can tell, unless the pics were not accurate. It was a shell inside.
.
suellen222 said:
Nearly done??!! Did you view the video of the inside - they had only just begun as far as I can tell, unless the pics were not accurate. It was a shell inside.
No I didn't view the video, just read the article which made it sound like they were handing it over near completion. Sorry I didn't get the full gist. So it is outlandish after all that put into it.
 
http://www.bbonline.com/quadcities/index.html
http://www.deere.com/en_US/deerecom/landing/events_landing.html
2 sites that help to show what John Deere means to the Quad Cities.
Thanks for checking in!!! It's great to get a locals perspective - when you find out more about what is or isn't going to happen let us know!
 
http://www.qctimes.com/news/local/article_97683236-fa80-11de-ac66-001cc4c03286.html?mode=story
also read Related stories. Moline woman buys historic apartment.
 
To me, this sentence is the crux of the matter - Work on the house came to a five-year stop in 2003 when the city demanded a complete set of building plans stamped by a structural engineer before it would issue permits, a demand that Colmark claimed violated his agreement.
Considering this would be a public place, to me, the City was doing due diligence to have a structural engineer approve the plans. How many years had it been empty? What had they done in the reno (as in tear out walls and add things) re load bearing?
Edited to add: If Colmark was doing this with his Dad and Dad had the Big A, all the more reason to want structural engineer approval. Wandering minds do strange tings.
 
To me, this sentence is the crux of the matter - Work on the house came to a five-year stop in 2003 when the city demanded a complete set of building plans stamped by a structural engineer before it would issue permits, a demand that Colmark claimed violated his agreement.
Considering this would be a public place, to me, the City was doing due diligence to have a structural engineer approve the plans. How many years had it been empty? What had they done in the reno (as in tear out walls and add things) re load bearing?
Edited to add: If Colmark was doing this with his Dad and Dad had the Big A, all the more reason to want structural engineer approval. Wandering minds do strange tings..
More to the point was that work had commenced already without permits in place, it would seem. No matter WHAT building work is going on, complete reno, add a porch, reconfigure something that was 'seasonal' into 'year round' it is imperative that building permits are in place before work begins.
Sure, get all the people lined up to do the work, but not a hammer swings until you are permitted to do the work.
I wish they would show that on home improvement shows. The one that is pretty good about that is the Canadian show where the guy renos basements for rental units. They show problems with codes, building inspections taking place, etc.
 
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