"Due to work at Mayslake Hall, these meetings will be at the Graue House next to Graue Mill and Museum."
That line appears in the registration listing for Peabody's Pages, the book club named for the man who built Mayslake. It is the plainest sign of where things stand this fall. The Peabody estate's own program now meets about two and a half miles east, in an 1850s house on Salt Creek. For the rest of 2026, the Forest Preserve District's Oak Brook calendar runs through Fullersburg Woods and Graue Mill, and the mill's season closes in mid-November.
What Is Closed at 31st Street, and Until When
Mayslake Hall closed to the public on March 1, 2026. The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County expects to reopen it in 2027. The District estimates the project at $9 million, funded by 2025 bond funds. Most of the work is about building systems. Crews are replacing the HVAC systems in the mansion and the retreat wing, demolishing part of the retreat wing, repairing the exterior of what remains, and evaluating basic accessibility improvements to the mansion's first floor. AltusWorks Inc. holds the design contract.
The demolition is the part most likely to change how the estate looks. When the District released early concepts in April 2024, it said that removing the south leg of the retreat building would improve the historic views from the mansion toward the lake. Those views date to 1919. That year Francis Stuyvesant Peabody hired Chicago architect Benjamin Marshall to design the Tudor Revival mansion, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Portiuncula Chapel is closed too. Peabody's family had the Franciscans build it in 1926 as a replica of the chapel in Assisi, and the order moved it to its current site in 1973. Neither the Hall nor the chapel can be rented through 2027.
The grounds are a different story. Here is what has changed at 1717 31st Street this season and what has not:
| At Mayslake Peabody Estate | Status this fall |
|---|---|
| Mayslake Hall | Closed for master plan work; reopening expected in 2027 |
| Portiuncula Chapel | Closed; no rentals through 2027 |
| Mayslake Forest Preserve trails | Open daily, one hour after sunrise to one hour after sunset |
| Off-leash dog area on St. Paschal Drive | Open daily; District permit required |
The one-mile trail around the lakes still connects the estate to the dog area, and fishing is still allowed on the northern shores of Trinity Lake and Mays Lake. The fenced dog area has separate sections for large and small dogs. It opens at 10 a.m. on Thursdays, after weekly maintenance. The parts of Mayslake used most on an ordinary weekday are still open. What is missing for now is the indoor programming.
Where the Programs Landed
Graue House is where Peabody's Pages meets now. It is the Graue family's 1850s Victorian home, next to the mill they ran on Salt Creek for 70 years. According to The Hinsdalean, the club was already meeting there by July 3. The fall session runs from October 2 to December 4 and costs $10 for all three discussions. It is open to ages 18 and up. The October book is Chronicles of Old Chicago: Exploring the History and Lore of the Windy City by Adam Selzer. November is Secret Chicago by Jessica Mlinaric, and December is Promised Land by Robert Parker. Members park in the lot on the west side of Spring Road, one block west of York Road.
Mayslake still has one program on its own calendar. Gothic Ghost Stories, a program for adults, is scheduled for October 9 and October 24 from 7 to 8 p.m. It costs $5, and registration is through ActiveNet or 630-206-9566. The District lists the location only as Mayslake Peabody Estate. One fall roundup places the stories in the Mayslake Hall library, which does not match the District's closure notice. Call to confirm the room before you go.
Six Weeks of Graue Mill
The Salt Creek corridor has a firm end date this year. Graue Mill and Museum, at York and Spring roads, is open from mid-April through mid-November, Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. As of today, that leaves about six weeks. Milling, spinning, and weaving demonstrations run every Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. These are the scheduled programs left in the season:
- October 6 and October 20, 3 to 4 p.m.: Graue Mill Guided Tour
- October 7, 1 to 2:30 p.m.: Spinning for Beginners
- October 13, 1 to 3 p.m.: Homeschool Historians
- October 15, noon to 1 p.m.: Brown Bag Lunch and Learn
- October 18, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Spinning Bee
- November 1, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Spinning Bee
- November 3, 3 to 4 p.m.: the season's last listed Guided Tour
- November 4, 1 to 2:30 p.m.: Spinning for Beginners
- November 15, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Spinning Bee, the last date on the mill's fall calendar
The mill is easy to pass without stopping. It opened in April 1852. Its basement walls are Lemont limestone, its other walls are brick fired from clay on the Graue farm, and its four one-ton buhrstones were imported from France. When the Forest Preserve District bought the mill in 1933, it was boarded up and its machinery no longer worked. In 1934, men from Civilian Conservation Corps Camp V-1668, stationed at Fullersburg Woods, replaced the windows and door and built a new millrace. The guided tours on October 20 and November 3 are the last two scheduled chances this year to hear that history inside the building.
Fullersburg Woods After Dark
Up the creek, Fullersburg Woods hosts two of the District's Halloween events this year. The preserve is at 3609 Spring Road. Both events take place in its 220 acres of oak woodland along Salt Creek.
The Pumpkin Night Hike for Families runs October 16 and 17. It is a self-guided walk along a pumpkin- and lantern-lit trail, with a Halloween scavenger hunt and a treat at the end. Groups leave every 15 minutes from 5:30 p.m., the last group leaves at 7:30 p.m., and trails close at 9 p.m. Admission is $10 for ages 3 and up and free for ages 2 and under, and anyone under 18 must come with an adult. One third-party listing showed registration as unavailable, so check ActiveNet or call 630-933-7248 before you plan around it.
Lanterns and Legends: A Historic Jack-O'-Lantern Event follows on October 30 from 5 to 8 p.m. Participants carve a pumpkin and make a candle while hearing the story behind the tradition. Supplies are included for $15 per pumpkin. Check-in is near the Nature Education Center. The registration page showed 18 openings when it was last checked.
Fullersburg has accessible flush restrooms by the main lot all year. The portable toilets near the mill are there only from mid-April through mid-November.
How the Village Calendar Lines Up
Two Oak Brook Park District and village events overlap with the creek schedule. On October 16, the first night of the pumpkin hike, the Park District holds its Pumpkin Swim at Swim Central, 1450 Forest Gate Road, from 6 to 8:45 p.m. On Sunday, October 25, the village's free Trunk or Treat and Public Works Open House runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Public Works Salt Barn. It includes a leaf-machine demonstration and pumpkin painting, and parking is at the library or the Bath & Tennis Club.
Winter Lights at Central Park opens a few days after Graue Mill closes for the season. The free display runs November 20 through January 3, daily from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m., on a half-mile paved loop. The Peabody's Pages book club keeps meeting at Graue House into December after the mill's doors close. The District's stated plan is for Mayslake Hall to reopen sometime in 2027.
Colleen follows changes like the Mayslake project closely because Oak Brook's shared spaces are part of daily life on every street around them. If you have questions about how the estate's work, or any other village project, fits into plans you're making for the coming year, Colleen C. Wilcox is glad to talk it through. Request a private market consultation.
