Stephanie Tatel and Christian McMillen had only a vague idea of what they wanted their new kitchen to look like—nothing too firm or detailed, but they knew it had to be functional for a busy family of four. Enter Alloy, a Charlottesville-based architecture and design studio that specializes in construction and production. “We didn’t really […]
The idea of uncovering a buried treasure is not impossible in Virginia. With its rich history, the Commonwealth allows a homeowner to embark on a farmhouse renovation and suddenly find herself unearthing historical documents dating back to the early 1800s. At least, that’s how it happened for Julie Dixon. While removing the attic flooring in […]
“This was a typical ’60s ranch house,” said architect David Day of Kamilla Schenck’s Bellair residence. As the floorplan dictated, small rooms crowded the space, making the living and sleeping quarters feel disjointed, so the house was gutted. “The only things that remained were the main floor structure, the basement, the walls, and most of […]
Valentine’s Day may have come and gone, but who says it needs to be a special occasion for you to treat yourself to some chocolate? It’s finally here. A Downtown shop devoted entirely to chocolate. It’s as if it were custom made to satisfy my cocoa-infused taste buds. If there is anything in this world […]
Ingrid Cordano and her husband are experts in kitchen design. “This is the third kitchen we’ve designed during our marriage,” she said. And it shows. The Cordanos’ Belmont home is a modern treasure that feels fresh and light at first pass: long, straight lines converge into interesting architectural features punctuated by bright, lively colors. And […]
In Dick and Sandi Averitt’s kitchen, beauty lives in the details. And the details in this mountain home are all wood: beams across the ceiling, paneling on the walls, and rich red oak floors running throughout the space. The Averitts’ cabin, their second home, underwent a complete renovation over the last 14 months that focused […]
For being one of the most popular and most recognized desserts in the world, tiramisu’s provenance and time of origin is still a bit of a mystery. There are those who say that it was first created in the Tuscan city of Siena as an homage to the Grand Duke Cosimo III de Medici in […]
The view from Ken and Britton Horne’s large living room windows could easily be mistaken for a depiction from the Civil War, with rolling hills spreading out at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, cows slowly ruminating, resting under huge trees, lonely structures in the distance. The occasional noise of a passing car is the […]
Where I come from in the Lombardy region of Italy, fall is gray, cold, and sad, but the produce brightens up the season, turning it into a time for eating at the family table. Now that I’m settled beneath the Blue Ridge, where the deep reds and golds transform the landscape every year, the local […]
The best embellishments add to—not detract from—whatever it is they’re embellishing. No one knows this better than David Heilbronner and Bruce Wilhelmsen, whose Bone Doctors’ Barbeque Sauce took more than two years to fully develop. Like most good stories, this one has humble beginnings. Seven years ago, Heilbronner’s daughter’s soccer team was raising money for […]