It came as no surprise when Alice Marshall, co-owner of The Second Yard, a purveyor of decorator fabrics and home furnishings, told us that her first design memory was re-arranging dollhouse furniture. “I was born loving to decorate,” she said. “I didn’t care much about the dolls,” only about creating beautiful spaces for them to […]
If you have a fireplace or a wood stove in your home, odds are good that you also have a chimney. And if you have a chimney, it needs to be cleaned—every 30 to 50 fires, according to Wendell Worley of Mirkwood Chimney Sweep. In addition to telling us why chimney cleaning is crucial, Worley […]
If stone walls could talk, they’d probably say, “Man, it’s great to be built to last and look good doing it.” Landscape walls are more than just a way to give your backyard a sophisticated and high-end look; they can be quite useful. They might be retaining structures. They might cordon off a lovely patio […]
More than a decade ago, three of Charlottesville’s signature arts organizations got a beautiful new home—the City Center for Contemporary Arts, housing Live Arts theater, Lighthouse Studio, and Second Street Gallery. Yet, since 2003, the lobbies of the building—on floors one, two, and three —have been unfinished. “It was an awesome achievement—a very, very ambitious […]
“For me, architecture is like a state of active meditation—like yoga for the brain.” That’s Alloy Workshop architect Kate Snider Tabony on practicing her craft—one that’s taken her, since attending UVA’s architecture school, to California’s East Bay, Santa Fe, Princeton, New York City, and finally, Charlottesville, where she works with her brother, Zach Snider, at […]
With a weekend house, showiness is not the point. Take, for example, the big island in the kitchen/dining room of Danny and Katie MacNelly’s Scottsville getaway. Deceptively simple, it provides workspace, eating space, and enough extra room for a puzzle in progress. It’s a focal point, but its materials are not luxurious. “We talked about […]
It’s a long way from London to the woods of northern Albemarle County. Paul and Ginger Ferrell lived in the British capital for 24 years, and as they eyed retirement from across the pond, they zeroed in on Charlottesville as the perfect place to relocate. When asked if they considered living in town, they laughed. […]
Meredith Mercer had luck on her side when she bought her house on Hessian Road in 2006. After living in various cities around the world, none with any land to speak of, she was ready to have a garden—and this house came with more than half an acre to play with. And though it had […]
For certain buyers, there’s nothing more romantic than a big old farmhouse on a fair piece of land. Throw in a view and some large shade trees, and some people really get stars in their eyes. Tack “swimming pool” on to the above description and you might even elicit a swoon. Edge Hill, a 56-acre […]