After months of work and a $1.1 million cash sale, a group of Northeast Portland neighbors successfully saved a historic mansion on Tuesday.

The sale of the Ocobock Mansion was finalized Tuesday afternoon, but it's a bittersweet victory, neighbors said. A handful of them had to put their own finances on the line. They won't see any profit from the sale considering that the home still needs at least another half-million dollars in renovations.

But the effort, they said, was a labor of love.

"It came down to private citizens having to put their own financial livelihood on the line to save the home," said Ursula Kienbaum, who's lived behind the mansion for 10 years.

Amid the rows of bungalows on Northeast Rodney Street, the Ocobock Mansion stood out. The mansion, which was owned by Portland philanthropist Augustus W. Ocobock, was built in 1913 by Charles W. Erst, who also built several Portland buildings, including the Laurelhurst Theater.

The home had great significance to the Portland African-American community, neighbor Jacquie Walton said. It was even rumored that Martin Luther King Jr. visited the mansion for a reception in the 1960s.

"It's a landmark in the neighborhood," Walton said.

The mansion later housed foster care provider Give Us This Day, which was shut down last year amid fraud, abuse and neglect allegations first reported by Willamette Week. After that, the home fell into disrepair.

Neighbors, however, still wanted to save the mansion. According to Walton, many of them reached out to Troubled Asset Solutions, which received the house from the state after Give Us This Day was shut down. However, when they asked about the mansion's future, they were told the building was still being assessed, Walton said.

Though it was never listed on the open market, the house was sold to Wilde Properties for $570,000 in March. Wilde removed the home from the Historic Resource Inventory, allowing it to be demolished.

In May, Wilde Properties sold the house to Everett Custom Homes, owned by Vic Remmers, for $900,000.

Word got out that Remmers planned to tear down the house and build new units on the property.

Since then, neighbors have been fighting to save the mansion.

It's been a long battle, Kienbaum said. She and five other neighbors organized protests and set up a Facebook page to get others in the community involved. They appealed and delayed demolition on the home, and negotiated the sale with Remmers for months.

"It kind of became a second job," Kienbaum said.

Remmers said in an email he is happy to work with anyone interested in buying any of his properties.

"Our team prides ourselves on being a responsible and collaborative community partner, so that's exactly why we were dedicated to working closely with the surrounding neighborhood throughout this process," he said. "We're happy for the Rodney Ave community, and wish them the best of luck in their ownership of this property."

Kienbaum said she isn't sure what will happen to the house. A handful of the neighbors formed a limited liability corporation that now owns the house. They have discussed turning it into apartments or townhomes or keeping it as a single family home after its renovations.

Though she's happy the mansion was saved, Kienbaum worries about what happens in other Portland neighborhoods where people don't have the resources to buy houses from developers, she said.

"I'm more aware of what happens in our city," she said. "I'm jaded. I don't think our city is doing enough to protect our historical resources."

Though saving the mansion was a long and difficult process, Walton said she's glad the neighborhood came together.

"It feels really great to have that sort of support from your neighbors, to share that common goal," she said. "They've put their checkbooks on the line to save a house, knowing they're not going to get anything in return."

-- Samantha Matsumoto