The two-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath house on Hillside Avenue in Barrington was tired, for sale for many months, and unoccupied. Some may say, unloved. But then a new owner had a vision for the house and local architect Mark Swanson got to work. Swanson has lived and worked in the Barrington area since 1980. His portfolio includes thousands of houses. “I listen to what the owners want to achieve for their property. There may be many ideas, but what fits and what’s possible?” he must ask. He finds those answers.

For the house on Hillside, he determined that the Arts & Craft bungalow was structurally sound and true to its historic style. Its single story was preserved by raising it on stilts and building a new first story and foundation underneath it. This feat was the talk of the town.

A canopy was added over the front door, period style windows were installed and an exposed textured foundation was built with concrete blocks similar to those used in the 1940’s. The now two-story house is double the square footage with an open floor plan, two-and-a-half baths and a lengthened garage that fits two cars. It’s a win, win, win project. The owners are enjoying living in the house. Swanson is proud of its preservation. The town of Barrington and neighbors are glad to see the period house reborn.

Although this house is not in the town’s historic district Swanson tells me Barrington has the largest historic district in Illinois. As if staying true to his own authentic style Swanson employs some old school ways. He foregoes computers and instead creates his drawings on a drafting table using vellum, a pencil and a ruler. “I can do it just as quick with a pencil. I had someone ask what I do if I need to change something and I replied, ‘I have an erasure.’” For any who question his methods, there are those who admire it. One young couple gushed over his hand-drawn ability. With a laugh he says, “I’m retro-cool.” And so is the house on Hillside.