17 years earlier, a project that cost more than quadruple the purchase price. The structural system was restored. All the original finishes on the inside were brought back to their original appearance. On the outside, Bayer's paint scheme was blasted off in favor of the original brick. The last change was as popular with the community as the original paint scheme had not been. In her 1991 romance novel Aspen Gold, Janet Dailey praised the result: "... once again, the Hotel Jerome stood in stately dignity ... no longer a symbol of Aspen's rich past but a vital part of its present." The Hotel Jerome logo was designed by Jamie Koval from The Marlow Group. Around the turn of the 20th century two further renovations took place. The first, in 1998, used photographs over a century old to restore the J-Bar's original appearance. Four years later, a $6 million project added a new rear wing and grand ballroom, and restored the guest rooms. Hunter S. Thompson, who had worked out of the J-Bar for so many years, died in 2005; his memorial service was held in the ballroom. That year the Gaylord family, publishers of The Oklahoman newspaper, bought the hotel for $33.7 million. They sought to further expand and renovate it with a fourth floor. Two years later, the Gaylords tired of the city's delays in approving their project and sold the hotel for $52.2 million. The buyers were two Chicago-based entities, Elysian Worldwide LLC and Lodging Capital Partners LLC (LCP), headed by David Pisor, owner of the Elysian, Chicago. They hired RockResorts, a subsidiary of Vail Resorts, owner of the Vail Ski Resort, Aspen's principal competitor in that area, to manage the Jerome. To finance the purchase they took out a mortgage with Morgan Stanley. The note later became the property of Lehman Brothers. When that firm went bankrupt in 2008 as a result of that year's financial crisis, a new entity, Jerome Property LLC, emerged as the holder of the debt. Jerome Property soon filed for foreclosure against the two owners, citing nonpayment of the $36 million balance remaining. LCP and Elysian at first contested the filing, saying that they had not defaulted, but later a sale was approved. LCP-Elysian conveyed the trust deed, with which it had originally collateralized the loan, to Jerome Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of its creditor, in exchange for the forgiveness