December ABODE: Your Kitchen

SECRET INGREDIENT Turn up your collards Warmth becomes a fond memory as December arrives, scattering the last of autumn’s dried leaves and pinching any remaining greenery with frost. Each colder night leaves fewer and fewer plants standing their ground, and the winter solstice (December 22 this year) offers just 9.5 hours of daylight! It takes […]

December ABODE: Your Kids

GROWING ROOM How to be the cool uncle Challenge: Prepping an adults-only space for young visitors Mark Farmwald’s loft apartment acts as his bachelor pad, commercial photography and film studio, gallery of sorts, and office. Lighting equipment, rolls of paper and glossy prints populate the vast 1,400-square-foot space. The décor incorporates quintessential modern design (marble-top […]

December ABODE: Mix it up

The Coleman-Tharpe house is a standout in its postwar neighborhood. (Photos by Andrea Hubbell) In a way, Charlottesville’s full of houses like the Tharpe-Coleman place off Cherry Avenue. It’s boxy, modest, and surrounded by similar neighbors, all built for working-class families in the mid-1950s. In another way, this house is one of a kind. After all, the neighbors tend […]

December ABODE: Real Estate

GET REAL Location, location, education Having kids changes everything—including what’s important when you’re buying a house. Suddenly, a walk-in closet matters less than which school the neighborhood kids attend. According to Charlottesville-based Realtor Erin Garcia, of Loring Woodriff Real Estate Associates, school district is in the top five determining factors for families purchasing homes. When […]

December ABODE: Do It Yourself

RENTAL RESCUE Hey, workaholic After working late one evening, I realized how much time we truly spend at work. With the end of the semester drawing near and daylight savings time a distant memory, I find myself seeing more of my office than my home. As renters and homeowners alike, we spend a lot of […]

December ABODE: Meaningful mix

Meaningful mix Pairing heirlooms with “modern flare” When local graphic designer Stephanie Fishwick conceptualized how to decorate the living room of the charming cottage-style home she shares with her husband James, her initial thought was minimal, modern, and spare. But considering that she’s inherited beautiful antique furniture, she decided that incorporating all of their meaningful […]

Useful gifts for the wine enthusiast

I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it every year: Just because someone loves wine doesn’t mean that she wants a wine gadget as a gift…or a cork doormat or a light-up wine bottle Christmas tree topper or a Rudolph bottle stopper, for that matter. The ideal gift for the wine lover is […]

A trio of local chefs cook up a wish list for the holiday

We asked three Charlottesville chefs what culinary books, goodies, and gadgets they hope to see under the tree this holiday. Here’s some gift-giving inspiration for the top chefs on your list.—Meredith Barnes, Tami Keaveny, and Megan Headley (Photo by Cramer Photo) Christian Kelly Executive chef of Maya on goodies: 1. Lard from super-fatty Ossabaw hogs […]

We Are Star Children cuts a live album in Lovingston

Between the two sets that We Are Star Children played at Rapunzel’s Coffee and Books last Saturday night, frontman Gene Osborn gave a shout-out to the band-member moms in attendance, and then announced that if it was O.K. with the rest of us, his band was going to sing a few more songs about sex […]