"A bookstore is the number one thing I've seen requested on social media," Barrington Village President Mike Moran told the Daily Herald in June. He was talking about Bell House Books, which held its grand opening that month inside the Ice House Mall & Village Shops at 200 Applebee St.
Four months later, the store runs on a calendar of evening events. On Thursday, October 22, Bell House hosts "Uncorked: A Sip & Share with Lauren Brynjelsen" from 7 to 9 p.m. A few doors down in the same building, The Pepper Pot holds its free Sip and Stitch night at 6 p.m., as it does every Thursday. Both shops are woman-owned, both opened in 2026, and both fill their weeks with scheduled gatherings. That has turned a building best known for daytime browsing into one of downtown Barrington's busiest weeknight spots.
A Building That Has Changed Jobs Before
The Ice House started out as a working building. Bowman Dairy built it in 1904 and delivered milk around Barrington by horse-drawn carriage. It later became the Suburban Ice Company, then the Jefferson Ice Company, according to the mall's own history page. In the 1970s, owners turned it into shops and kept its original architecture. Accounts of the exact year vary: the Barrington Area Library's local history timeline dates the mall conversion to 1976.
You can still see that history in Chessie's Restaurant. The mall says it seats diners in a 1926 Illinois commuter railroad dining car built by Pullman. The Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce listing puts Chessie's in Suite 140 and says it opens daily at 11 a.m.
The two newest tenants add another change to that list. They sell goods, and they also draw people in with a weekly schedule of classes, clubs and open nights.
How Bell House Books Got Here
Bell House Books didn't start in a storefront. Owner Montana Bellagamba grew up in Barrington and started the business out of her home, the Daily Herald reported. The name refers to both her last name and that home-based start. Before she had her own space, she ran pop-ups at women-owned shops in the area and at the village farmers market, which is now known as Thursday Night Out.
One of the shops that hosted her was The Pepper Pot, the needlepoint and mahjong store already inside the Ice House Mall. Bellagamba told the paper that a network of female entrepreneurs welcomed her into their spaces. "They are willing to connect and collaborate and help you grow," she said.
When she moved into her own corner space of nearly 1,100 square feet, she kept the gathering part of the business. The Daily Herald described her goal as a general-interest bookstore that also works as a community hub, with author events and book clubs. She also calls herself "a one-woman show," handling the behind-the-scenes work, the customer service and the events herself.
Her October calendar shows what that looks like in practice. The month opened with a Bell House Books x Suburban Stitches pop-up on October 1, which turned the store into a guest space for another business, the same way she got started. After that came:
- Entrepreneur Like a MOTHER, a happy hour with Beth Mazza and Victoria Sivrais, on October 7
- Know Your Neighbor Game Night on October 8
- Mindful Made Easy Storytime on Sunday morning, October 11
- Author Event with Thomas Kent West on October 15
- The Bell Pepper Book Club on October 19
Thomas Kent West is the local author whose "City of Iron and Ivy" Bellagamba was holding in the Daily Herald's opening-week photo. Most of the month's events start at 6 p.m. or later, after a typical workday ends.
The Pepper Pot Runs on a Separate Clock
The Pepper Pot calls itself a full-service needlepoint shop and lounge. It sells canvases, fibers and accessories, and it uses its lounge for needlepoint classes plus mahjong classes, open play and leagues, as described on the Village of Barrington's development updates page.
The shop's posted hours are:
- Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Thursday, noon to 8 p.m.
- Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
No Monday or Tuesday hours appear on that list. Even so, the events calendar schedules free Open Stitch on Mondays from 1 to 3 p.m., and its October listings included mahjong open play on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. So the lounge runs on days the retail counter doesn't. The posted open-play times also differ between pages on the shop's site, and one page adds a Thursday 10 a.m. session, so check the live calendar before you go.
Thursday is the shop's longest day, open until 8 p.m., and that's also when the free Sip and Stitch night starts at 6. For anyone curious but new to needlepoint, First Stitch is a recurring beginner class priced at $25, and that $25 is credited toward canvas and threads.
The paid mahjong events are where the calendar gets specific:
| Event | Date and time | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Tile by Tile: A Beginner American Mahjong Series | October 26 and 28, 6:30 p.m. | $125 |
| 1989 Mahjong | November 7, 4 p.m. | $50 |
| Pairs & Pungs | November 13, 6 p.m. | $80 |
| Merry Mahjong | December 17, 6 p.m. | $50 |
Tile by Tile is a two-night series, so it suits someone who wants to learn the game from scratch before joining open play or a league. The other three are one-off themed evenings that run through the holidays.
Where the Two Calendars Overlap
Put the two schedules side by side and the building has something going on most weeknights through the end of October:
- Thursday, October 22. Sip and Stitch at The Pepper Pot at 6 p.m., then Uncorked at Bell House Books from 7 to 9 p.m.
- Monday, October 26. Night one of Tile by Tile at The Pepper Pot, 6:30 p.m.
- Tuesday, October 27. Mahjong open play at The Pepper Pot, with the evening session at 6 p.m. in the October listings.
- Wednesday, October 28. Night two of Tile by Tile at 6:30 p.m., at the same hour Bell House hosts The Next Chapter Book Club: Fiction, which runs 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
- Thursday, October 29. Sip and Stitch again at 6 p.m.
On October 28, both shops have evening events starting at 6:30. Bell House's October 19 meeting went by the name The Bell Pepper Book Club, which points toward the Pepper Pot on its own. The bookstore's November and December events aren't posted yet, so its events page is the place to watch for what comes next.
What Else Is in the Building
The two new shops share the old dairy with Chessie's and its Pullman car, plus the tenants listed on the mall's directory page. That page still shows its "2023 Mall Hours" and asks visitors to call individual stores for their hours. If you're planning to make a full evening of it, call ahead to any shop beyond the two covered here.
The Village development page now marks both Bell House Books and The Pepper Pot "Now open!" On Thursdays, The Pepper Pot stays open until 8 p.m., and Bell House events often run until 8:30 or 9.
If you've found your Thursday-night spot at the Ice House, Tami Hamilton and the Edgewater Home Team keep up with the small openings and new routines that shape daily life in Barrington. Reach out anytime to talk about what's new downtown, or about where your own next chapter might happen.
