2023 Best of C-VILLE Staff Picks

It’s our home too

Like New Yorkers with the Empire State Building or Washingtonians with their monument, Charlottesville residents may only visit UVA when guests come to town. Fortunately, the University Guide Service offers a free, hour-long historic tour of the Lawn area daily during the academic year, providing a whole different perspective on our company town. UGS student […]

Carol Diggs | August 23, 2023

News

The forest for the trees

Rod Walker has always loved the natural world. Throughout his career as an IT consultant, the avid hunter and fisherman owned forested land where he and his family could get away for a quieter life, if only for a weekend. But now retired to a western Albemarle County farm, his quiet life has inspired a […]

Carol Diggs | August 16, 2023

News

Why did the bobcat cross the road?

Albemarle County is in the midst of a two-year process to update its Comprehensive Plan, a guidance document to set goals and priorities for the county for the next 20 years. The plan covers programs for growth and development, education, transportation planning, housing and land use, and protection of natural resources. However, the last Comprehensive […]

Carol Diggs | May 24, 2023

Magazines Weddings

Go for grand

Gallison Hall is grand. If you’ve always dreamed of arriving at your wedding in a coach-and-four, like Cinderella at the ball, this place is for you—come through the ornate ironwork gates, down the tree-lined drive, and step down into the stone courtyard in front of the palace. In fact, it’s likely the Governor’s Palace in […]

Carol Diggs | May 11, 2023

Abode Magazines

New home base

Jeanne Ward has traveled the world. As a child, she grew up “all over the United States,” and as an international consultant, she lived for 15 years in Kenya and went wherever the job took her: East Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia. But a friend’s suggestion, serendipity, and the pandemic brought her to a […]

Carol Diggs | April 12, 2023

News

A second life for your stuff

Whether you are moving out, moving in together, downsizing, settling an estate, or just tired of the clutter, spring is a great time to get rid of stuff. But do the Earth a favor: Give your castoffs a second life.   Reuse helps both people and the planet. Community advocates point out that lots of […]

Carol Diggs | April 12, 2023

Knife & Fork Magazines

Dinner out (really out)

Whether it’s s’mores in the backyard, burgers and ears of corn on the grill, or fresh-caught fish when you’re camping, there’s something about fresh air and a fire that makes food taste better. Two Fire Table wants to bring that feeling to your next gathering—and you won’t even have to build a bonfire. Two Fire […]

Carol Diggs | April 8, 2023

434 Magazines

Ten years in

his year, the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center marks its 10th anniversary. Since 2013, it has provided educational programs, cultural events, and commemorations for Charlottesville’s Black community—and revived the role of the original Jefferson School. “From its founding, the Jefferson School held the cultural practices—the gatherings, performances, the festivals—of the African American Community,” says […]

Carol Diggs | March 2, 2023

434 Magazines

The artist’s artist

Jen Deibert doesn’t care much for categories. “I would not call myself a potter,” she says, although her cozy cluttered studio is packed with ceramic pieces. (It actually looks like a vintage shoppe and a crystals booth got married in a kiln and had children.) Asked about her art, Deibert simply says, “I make things.” […]

Carol Diggs | March 2, 2023

Abode Magazines

Back to life

What’s in your back yard? Some people have a fire pit, or a small pond with water lilies and koi, or a trampoline and a tree house. Matt Lucas has a 200-year-old log cabin. “I’ve always been interested in old things,” says Lucas, a D.C.-area native who graduated from UVA and made a career in […]

Carol Diggs | February 1, 2023