It's taking a village to renovate the Barrington White House
More local businesses have joined the villagewide effort to renovate the historic Barrington White House before next year's sesquicentennial festivities.
Beth Raseman, the project coordinator for the village, said Insignia Kitchen and Bath will help design and outfit each of the 116-year-old house's eight bathrooms at a greatly reduced cost, and a designer from Walter E. Smith has selected furniture for the house, which has been purchased at a discount.
“They really believe in the project,” Raseman said of the companies. “It's a great partnership because they can help us with what their specialty is.”
Terry Kenney, a sales manager at Insignia, said she has enjoyed working with project planners to decide what colors and materials will be featured in the house's interior.
“We are paying very strong attention to the house and the flavor of the original architecture,” Kenney said, adding that they are trying to strike a balance between vintage and contemporary.
The donor-funded project to restore the house at 145 W. Main St. and convert it to a community center kicked off in July.
Since then, crews have ripped out pieces of the structure — most noticeably, the roof — giving it the appearance of a skeleton of its old self.
“It's got to come off a board at a time and go back on one board at a time. It is meticulous work,” said Jeff Baustert, a Barrington-based documentary filmmaker who is chronicling the renovation.
Baustert said workers have uncovered interesting things from the White House's nooks and crannies, like newspapers dating back to the 1940s and electrical equipment that likely was first installed in the 1910s.
As pieces from the 19th century building's past are uncovered, 21st century technology is being installed. Raseman said crews will dig seven geothermal wells, each 450-500 feet deep, that will help heat and cool the building using renewable energy that is cheap to maintain.
The White House will be the first building in the village to use geothermal energy, she added.
Baustert is not the only person documenting the work. A film crew from “Built to Last,” a TV series broadcast on some PBS stations, will feature the project in at least one episode next season, Raseman said. The show is funded by the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters and focuses on the skilled work done by woodworkers.
Baustert made a commercial for the project out of some of his early footage that has been running at the Catlow Theatre for the past six weeks. The commercial urges the public to donate to the project.
Those interested in donating can find out more at barringtonswhitehouse.com.
Pepper Construction, headquartered in Barrington, is overseeing the renovations.