Surgeon turns 19th century Barrington schoolhouse into gallery, museum
When Tanya Zaks bought a Barrington schoolhouse dating back to 1873 about a year ago, it was in dire need of restoration.
Now the building at 323 W. Main Street has been restored as a gallery, gift shop and schoolhouse museum, bearing the name Schoolhouse 1873 Gallery & Gifts.
The building, constructed as a schoolhouse for the St. Paul Church, originally stood between the original wooden church and the parsonage before being moved to its present location near Barrington’s downtown, according to the Barrington Area Library website.
“Nobody wanted it because it was so much work,” Zaks said. “So, it was perfect. The most amount of work with the most amount of history and requiring the most amount of love.”
A semi-retired surgeon who also teaches, Zaks has plenty of experience fixing things up. Her other talents include restoring antiques, painting and making jewelry.
Schoolhouse 1873 is a labor of love several years in the making and follows in the footsteps of her mother-in-law Sonia Zaks, who ran a gallery on Michigan Avenue in Chicago for four decades.
“When she passed, my husband and I wanted to open something in her honor,” she said.
Her husband, Dr. Ariel Zaks, died three years ago and she had all but given up on the project when the building went on the market.
Zaks served as her own general contractor, hiring out for only plumbing and electrical work.
The floors, the insulation and most of the electrical have been redone. So was the plumbing — when she opened the sink in the bathroom, the water wound up in another room.
The structure was restored to its original character and beauty, and filled with eye-catching objects in its ground floor gallery and gift shop. Items include lamps from the early 1900s, leather shoes from the late 1800s and a vintage telephone.
There are also personal elements, including her husband’s picture from his bar mitzvah in one of the rooms.
On the upper level is a schoolhouse museum, which feature such artifacts as period benches, chairs, a harp and an old-fashioned stove.
She will be selling the wares of local and international artists, and most of the proceeds will benefit disabled and needy artists and students.
“I try to focus on multimedia and different forms of artistic expression,” Zaks said. “So if they use fabric plus tile plus oils, that’s fantastic.”
The Main Street location within walking distance from the center of town is ideal for an art gallery, she said.
Among the guests for last week’s grand opening was Zaks’ mother, Yasmin Hussain, who arrived from Bangladesh.
“She’s very humane and she is a very kind-hearted person. So whatever takes her fancy, she will do it with her heart and soul. There is no in-between.”
szalusky@dailyherald.com