About a year after he began working for Peabody Energy in 2001, Morry Davis was looking for a venue for his wedding.

His father, who worked in Oak Brook, recommended he check out the Mayslake Peabody Estate and its relationship to the St. Louis-based coal giant. The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County now owns the 86-year-old mansion and the surrounding grounds.

“From the moment I walked on the property, I fell in love,” said Davis, director of government relations for Peabody Energy.

Although he and his wife ended up getting married at the Danada House in Wheaton, a relationship between the company and Forest Preserve District was born out of that visit. That connection grew even closer Oct. 29 as Peabody Energy presented the district with a five-year, $125,000 donation to help fund ongoing restorations at the estate.

Each year, the money from Peabody Energy will be devoted to the project most in need of funding. This year it will be used for projects in the solarium and living room, which will include restoration of ornamental plaster and paint; refinishing cabinets and casework; fabrication and installation of custom windows and doors; restoration and installation of historic zinc-leaded glass windows; and exterior restoration of masonry, stucco, timbers and carpentry in the eaves.

Chrissie Howorth, education site manager at Mayslake, said the work is an important part of preserving history.

“Mayslake Hall is an important example of Tudor revival-style architecture that was popular during the American Guilded Age,” Howorth said. “We’re working toward restoring this beautiful building on a room-by-room basis as funds become available.”

The 39-room mansion — a national historic landmark — was built for coal magnate Francis Stuyvesant Peabody. He died shortly after construction was completed, and the family sold the estate to the Franciscan Order of the Friars Minor.

The Franciscans owned the property until 1993, when the district bought it with funds from a voter-approved referendum. The estate now holds a number of cultural events, including jazz concerts and summertime Shakespeare performances by First Folio Theatre.

President Dewey Pierotti said one of the first votes he made after joining the Forest Preserve Board in 1992 was to purchase the estate.

At the time, the board was divided over the estate’s future and by 1994 had sought estimates for its demolition, Pierotti said. He said he is happy the district is now committed to its preservation and restoration.

“I have a really soft place in my heart for the Peabody mansion,” he said.

Kelly Mader, vice president of state government relations for Peabody Energy, presented the company’s donation to the district. He noted that  the amount of the donation marks the company’s 125th anniversary.

“Less than 1 percent of companies last 125 years, and few American mansions are still standing nearly a century after their construction,” Mader said. “Some would say, ‘Peabody and Mayslake had a good run,’ but we say, ‘we’re just getting started.’”