Grief on the line

After a loved one’s death, how often do we say, “I wish I could talk to …”? Addressing this need is the idea behind the Telephone to the Wind in Darden Towe Park: an unconnected phone booth, next to a bench in a quiet spot under the trees. Anyone can use it, any time; their […]

Get to know your city on foot

We all have a circuit—work, the grocery store, school, the gym—and soon these routes become routine. But there’s a lot of city that we don’t see unless we go exploring. All the more reason, says Tommy Safranek, to ditch your vehicle and go on Charlottesville’s Neighborhoods Walks. Safranek is a little biased: He’s the bike […]

Righting past wrongs

“The law is reason free from passion,” according to Aristotle. Keeping the law honest is the mission of The Innocence Project at UVA’s School of Law. For more than a decade, the university’s program has offered investigative and litigation assistance to wrongly convicted inmates who cannot afford representation for lengthy and expensive appeals. Under the […]

You’re not alone

Mother Tree Wellness believes mothers need a village. Local counselors Holly Kennedy and Ellen Jones both became moms in 2012, and bonded over the world-shaking changes motherhood brings. They’ve joined forces to offer both private coaching and group sessions on everything from pre- and post-natal counseling and relationship challenges to time management, de-stressing, and work-life […]

Finding the perfect house with a killer view

We all fantasize about strolling through Zillow to find our dream home. But for one family, the fantasy became reality. “At the time, we were living in the Norfolk area,” recalls the client. “I’d gone to UVA, and always knew I wanted to retire to this area.” The clients’ children were still in school, and […]

Listening to the stories a site has to tell in The Land is Full

It’s not easy being a landscape architect. Thomas Woltz, senior principal with Nelson Byrd Woltz, calls this time “an identity crisis” for the profession. When he tells people he’s a landscape architect, Woltz says, “they ask me what to plant in their backyard.” So now he tells them he designs public spaces, a succinct description […]

Monticello Wine Week celebrates all things oeno

Let’s all raise a glass to the Monticello American Viticultural Area, where the award-winning wines are why Charlottesville and its surrounding counties are bubbling over with oenophiles and oenotourism. June 5 kicks off Monticello Wine Week, a celebration of the wines and wine producers of the five-county Monticello AVA. The program is sponsored by the […]