December 2010: Your kids

 Problem: Welcoming a baby into a small apartment From the northeastern window of the Sparling family’s fifth-floor Charlottesville apartment in the 90-year-old Altamont Circle building, you can see rooftops, steeples and the gray-blue edge of the mountains. The approximately 750-square-foot space is home to 7-month-old Arlie Pearl, her parents and two medium-sized dogs. What this […]

December 2010: Compound interest

 The word “compound” has some strange connotations, but it can mean nothing more than a collection of structures united by a common language. Such is the case at Chris and Kara McLane Burke’s three-part home on the Mechums River in western Albemarle. One of the names the Burkes have for their property is “Three Bridges,” […]

December 2010: Real Estate

 It seems like only yesterday that losing your job and missing a bunch of mortgage payments meant you were one step closer to homelessness. Not anymore.   Likely beginning this month, homeowners who have experienced a substantial loss of income due to layoffs and cut-backs, as well as those who’ve suffered a medical condition, and […]

December 2010: Rental Rescue

 With Jack Frost nipping at your nose and the hustle and bustle of the holiday season upon us, the need for home as a comfortable, cozy escape is at the top of our wish list. We tend to focus a lot of our time, energy, and resources on communal spaces—those that are most seen and […]

December 2010: Downtown state of mind

 When Roulhac Toledano took over the vacant warehouse by the Downtown Mall nearly 30 years ago, she found abandoned tools, remnants of chicken coops (the site was once the Albemarle Grocery Co.), and a whole lot of pigeons. Armed with her experience as an architectural historian, artist, and former antique collector, Toledano also saw the […]

Winter 2010: Using her words

 On a rainy Tuesday morning, a group of five students—one man and four women, all of varying ages—stand on pieces of paper littered across the floor of Speak! Language Center’s main classroom. The papers signify different locales, like la discoteca, la stazione and il bar, and the students are meant to hop from one to […]

Winter 2010: Picks

Feed a fever Don’t get stuck sneezing through flu season. Stock up on nutritional (and yummy!) ingredients that will stave off sickness. The Toliver House’s Donna Sharer, who handles the menu at the women-run Gordonsville restaurant, provided these recipes:   To make these recipes vegetarian, simply replace the chicken broth with veggie and eliminate the […]

Winter 2010: Far afield

Julia Thomas wears a yellow and black plaid coat from Glad Rags ($56, 1923 Commonwealth Dr., 979-1816); a Rag + Bone Somerset dress from Elsie Garden ($408, 109 S. First St., 979-2888); black tights from Gap ($12.50, Fashion Square Mall, 973-5026); black rhinestone earrings from Bittersweet ($24, 106 E. Main St., 977-5977) and Pink Studio […]

Winter 2010: Accessories

From left: 19th century Victorian pendant in gold vermeil over silver from The Jeweler’s Eye ($450, 201 E. Main St. #C, 979-5919); lapis pendant necklace by Marraccini Designs from Angelo ($1,200, 220 E. Main St., 971-9256); personalized monogram necklace from The Engraving Shop ($145, 209 Second St. SW, 295-6108); Midas necklace by Dori Csengeri ($285) […]

Winter 2010: Check her bag

 If you ask Sasha Farmer, organization equals success. The Montague, Miller & Co. realtor—best in town according to C-VILLE’s 2010 readers’ poll—has had her most successful year ever. How’d she do it? Streamlining. “I basically eliminated paper,” she says.  We took a peek in her gadget-heavy purse for ideas.—Caite White The bag: Farmer says she […]