“I don’t know why, but design is pretty much all I think about all the time. Much to my wife’s dismay.” Master woodworker and furniture maker Blaise Gaston laughed, fully aware that the affection he lavishes on his work is the sort many reserve for first loves. Which, in a way, it is. “I remember […]
“I don’t know why, but design is pretty much all I think about all the time. Much to my wife’s dismay.” Master woodworker and furniture maker Blaise Gaston laughed, fully aware that the affection he lavishes on his work is the sort many reserve for first loves. Which, in a way, it is. “I remember […]
When Bill Hamilton and his team decided to remodel Hamiltons’ at First and Main in 2011, the flooring was a potential stumbling block. Hamilton wanted to preserve the character of the original restaurant space, built in 1996, and the wooden floors were an important part of the aesthetic. But they needed work. Options for new […]
When we asked designer Chloe Ball to answer a few questions for us this month, she said, “I’m one of two who make a team.” So we talked to Chloe and her partner, Kathleen Conroy, and they enlightened us about the Medici family’s Pitti Palace, tinsel on Christmas trees, and Sister Parish. Have you ever […]
Red Pump, one of Charlottesville’s newest restaurants, carries the tagline “A Tuscan Kitchen,” and its menu—bursting with pizzettes, bucatini, and salumi misti—certainly bears out that designation. But when it came to the interior, owners Dean and Lynn Andrews drew upon a continent’s worth of influences. A Tuscan fire breathes at the back of the restaurant […]
It was autumn, and I had just moved to Charlottesville late that summer to embark upon the second phase of architecture school. I was thrilled, humbled, and full of optimism. Back then, I kept a paper map of North Carolina in my car. It had torn edges, crisp, hair-thin folds, and palimpsest markings of journeys […]
When Bethany and Mike Puopolo bought their acreage south of Ash Lawn-Highland, she embarked on a paradox. In designing a home, Bethany began with the image of a temporary structure: “a camp or a revival tent, something very plain and very simple.” She and her family have now occupied this “camp” for nearly a quarter-century, […]
It’s a luxury to imagine, then create, a playground—not only for children but for adults of many recreational persuasions. That is just what Brooke Spencer and her partner, Kim Cory, did at a Free Union property whose 97 rolling acres include mountain views, mature oak trees, and a spring-fed pond. Its present owners bought it […]
Cars rush along a busy street near downtown Charlottesville, bowing day lilies that cluster beside the driveway of Chad and Rebecca Morgan’s early 20th-century home. But when you stand in the heart of the kitchen—a straight shot from the sidewalk through the front door and down the hallway—you could be a million miles from anywhere. […]
In the heart of Earlysville sits a fine brick ranch at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in the Earlysville Heights neighborhood. Fifteen minutes from Charlottesville and five minutes to Hollymead Town Center, this home currently features three bedrooms and one-and-a-half baths. We asked Troy Yancey of Teal Construction to give us his contractor’s expertise […]