Relatives of the Robertson family for whom Barrington’s historic “White House” at 145 West Main Street was built in 1898 were among more than 200 guests who stopped by to tour the home during a rare public viewing Saturday and Sunday. In addition to serving as a private residence, over the years the property has been used as a hospital during the 1918 influenza epidemic, a rest home and as a real estate office.
The Village purchased the 115 year old home for roughly $1.8 million in 2007 and just launched efforts to raise $5 million to renovate the property into a cultural and community center for Barrington.
Their plans for the building include three parlors, a dining room and kitchen on the first floor, office space for non-profits on the second floor and a large ballroom on the third floor to accommodate seated parties of up to 150 people.
The group behind the campaign to raise renovation funds shared their vision Saturday for ways the public will be able to use the space inside including events for businesses, clubs and non-profits, corporate meetings, lectures, cooking classes, musical performances, holiday parties, weddings and more.
Committee chair and long-time Barrington resident Mary Smith says no donation is too small and the door to Barrington’s White House will be open to everyone. “It’s going to be a very broad-based building so the options are almost limitless.”
Much of the construction cost involves significant structural work bringing the building up to today’s safety codes while preserving its historic character. The Village will move forward with the project when they secure 80% of the funds needed.
If they are successful in raising needed funds, the Village hopes to break ground in the spring of 2014. The renovation will take about nine months to complete and their goal is to unveil the transformed property in time to celebrate the Village’s Sesquicentennial (150th Anniversary) in 2015.
To ensure that the facility generates enough revenue to cover costs, Beth Raseman, volunteer coordinator for the renovation committee and former village trustee says they estimate annual expenses to operate the facility will be about $280,000. Their goal is to generate $350,000 annually from events and office rental with the $70,000 in profits to cover building maintenance, repairs and upgrades.
Beth says the cost to rent the third floor ballroom will be comparable to that of renting space at other culturally significant Chicagoland properties like the Kenilworth Club, Oak Park’s Cheney Mansion and the Women’s Club of Evanston Clubhouse.
For more information about Barrington’s White House and how you can contribute to the project, visit Barrington-il.gov.
And if you missed this weekend’s pubic tour of Barrington’s White House, here’s a slideshow for a look inside courtesy of Barrington Photographer, Julie Linnekin.
