It’s easy to say that occupying a pavilion in UVA’s Academical Village is akin to living in a museum. Which is true: The 10 pavilions, 54 student rooms, Rotunda, and surrounding grounds—in their totality, a UNESCO World Heritage Site—are dripping with significance. Every brick, every timeworn doorstep, and every garden bench is documented and preserved. […]
Here’s a fairly well-kept secret about Charlottesville: If you walk uninvited into one of the gardens just off UVA’s Lawn, in the Academical Village, you will not be breaking any rules. They are open to the public. You wouldn’t necessarily know this, because the gardens are surrounded by Thomas Jefferson’s famous serpentine walls; the design […]
Back in the winter of 2012, the Mayan calendar supposedly predicted the end of the world. That didn’t happen, but big changes were about to come to one little farmhouse in Crozet. After years of neglect, it was totally obscured from view by vegetation. “You needed a hedge trimmer to get to the front door,” […]
Some houses hit the market in already-beautiful condition. Still, there’s always room for improvement. Ned Ormsby of Lithic Construction gave us his expert opinion on how to take a lovely Belmont house to the next level. 333 Monticello Rd. $480,000 MLS# 515229 This is a solid brick house built in 1920 in a great location […]
We asked Weston Construction’s Todd Buck to choose a home currently for sale and make some recommendations on the best way to update it. He found one off Rio Road worthy of a second look. 2317 Greenbrier Dr. $268,900 MLS# 517391 There’s a lot of potential in this 1950s brick rancher. A well cared for […]
Usually, when tackling a kitchen renovation, homeowners and contractors assume that the first step is to gut the old kitchen. But not always. Last year, Todd Buck and his team at Weston Construction completed a kitchen redo that left nearly all the existing cabinetry in place—and yet completely updated the space. The house, built in 2005 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 […]
After a prolonged wet winter, there will be mud. In the long run, this is a good thing, as steady moisture nurtures roots and flower buds for what should be a spectacular show this spring. Many tasks await as gardeners make their first stirrings, but beware trudging about in the muck too soon. Digging or […]
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 […]