Erika Howsare

How do you design a landscape for a house that sits within a stunning landscape? Gregg Bleam, whose firm envisioned the exterior approach to Elk Run Ridge, understood the problem as “trying to do the most with the least.” The hilltop site affords panoramic views: fields, woods, and distant ridgelines. What’s more, the house was […]

What sort of modern house might be at home in a cattle field? That is just one of the many questions illuminated by Churchville’s Elk Run Ridge, designed by Jim Burton for clients Fred and Kathryn Giampietro. It is a house that embodies many contradictions, and does so gracefully. It’s a private retreat that can […]

Having been in the business of selling vacations for 19 years, Julie Arbelaez was ready for a getaway from her workspace. “I felt like a change of scenery,” she said. The challenge was symbolized by the slash in her business name: Peace Frogs Travel/Outfitters. The company is a hybrid, both travel agency and retail store. […]

It was none too inspiring—just a paved area behind a Downtown house-turned-office. But the people behind the Blue Moon Fund, a philanthropic organization that occupies the building, had a vision for their outdoor space that went far beyond simply sprucing up the spot where they park their cars. “They approached us to create a progressive landscape,” […]

Richard and Linda Shank loved their last house, which he’d designed for them in Ednam Forest. But it had two problems. One was the lack of a view. The other was deer. During their 20 years there, he said, “The deer took over our landscaping.” When they decided to relocate, they searched for a site […]

Think of history in Charlottesville, and you might think first of Court Square, Monticello, and other seats of power. But the city has an industrial past, too, and it’s still visible in places like the Silk Mill Building, an 1898 factory whose brick façade is tucked behind the Preston Avenue Bodo’s. Eighteen years ago—after stints […]

It was a familiar Charlottesville story. The house, a 1960s ranch, boasted a great location near Downtown, but its outdated floor plan needed to be modernized. “It was a lot of square footage but didn’t seem like it when you walked in,” said Scott Abbott, owner of Abbott & Co. General Contractors. “It was your […]