Village of Barrington

The Village of Barrington renovated a 14,000 sf mansion built in 1898, called Barrington’s White House, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house was in poor condition prior to restoration so the project faced several challenges including repairing fire damage, eliminating lead paint, removing asbestos, and replacing rotting wood. The restoration even included removing and lowering the basement floor to provide proper slab thickness and lowering the third floor 13 inches to create the upstairs ballroom. The renovation is a point of pride for the community and many of the companies and contractors that worked on it were local to the Barrington area.

The Foundation supported the installation of a geothermal system and the design and commissioning costs for LEED certification. Barrington’s White House received LEED Gold certification in December of 2015. The geothermal system and new HVAC equipment is expected to save 126,338 kWh per year, which could save $12,635 annually in utility bills.

The highly unique project was featured on the PBS series “Built to Last” and a local videographer documented the entire project and hopes to use the footage for a larger public project. Barrington’s White House also won the American Public Works Association award for Historic Preservation, the Donald P. Klein Award for impressive restoration and repurpose of the house from the Barrington Area Council of Governments and the 2016 ALA Design Merit Award.

Barrington White House is used for community cultural events and can also be rented out for private events such as weddings, corporate meetings and fundraisers. The history of the home combined with the beautiful historic renovation has made it a prime location for community gatherings and events.