You bought your house in 2021 with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 2.5 percent interest. You sure were proud of yourself as you watched interest rates skyrocket over the past two years. Now, you’d like to move. But with that honey of a mortgage, you start thinking. Maybe you want to rent out your existing […]
You bought your house in 2021 with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 2.5 percent interest. You sure were proud of yourself as you watched interest rates skyrocket over the past two years. Now, you’d like to move. But with that honey of a mortgage, you start thinking. Maybe you want to rent out your existing […]
While a home’s public-facing (and public-gathering) rooms, like kitchens and dining areas, often call for more staid or timeless design, a powder bath—or even an ensuite—is the perfect opportunity to show a little personality. These three luxe loos (and their surprising wallpapers!) nailed the assignment. Welcome to the jungle This powder room off the home’s […]
Building and designing your dream home is usually a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Hours upon hours are spent researching and deciding on every detail, from where to store the KitchenAid to the right shade of white for inside the coat closet. If you’re lucky, you move in and everything is just as magical as you imagined. More […]
The renovation of Keswick Hall gave new owners Molly and Robert Hardie a chance to rethink every aspect of the luxury hotel, including moving the resort’s spa from the members-only clubhouse to its own building. The result is a reimagined facility with more service rooms, a more private setting, easier access for hotel guests and […]
For a lot of us home-decor lovers, the bones of a house are sometimes the least exciting part. We give some thought to what windows will get the best light, and how we want the kitchen to flow, but it’s the finishing touches—patterns, colors, furniture—that make designing a house fun. Crozet couple Bob and Bev […]
Dorothy Batten has traveled to some of the world’s most iconic places: the Galapagos Islands, Africa, New Zealand, and Indonesia. And everywhere she found that wildlife, ecosystems, and ways of life were endangered. But she’s taken to heart the dictum to start with your own backyard. Batten is turning Oakencroft Farm and Vineyard in Albemarle […]
How do you create a new house? Do you restore, renovate, update (or demolish) an existing structure? Does the lot determine where the house has to go (as in, not in the stream bed or the septic field)? Is there a street, a sewer hookup, a close neighbor, or a cell tower you have to […]
Bar carts are fine for some, but if you’re a true home host, it’s worth considering finding a spot in your space for a proper wet bar. These three—carved out of a corner, tucked into a hallway—provide plenty of inspiration. Smooth transition Located in what architect Peter LaBau calls the “knuckle” of a Madison County […]
The Treehouse at Williams Creek couldn’t be more aptly named. As the driveway winds up the secluded 10-acre Afton property, it passes a creek before delivering you to the hideaway on the hill. What appears from the exterior as a modest dwelling expands into a luxurious 3,200-square-foot space the moment you walk through the front […]
Jeanne Ward has traveled the world. As a child, she grew up “all over the United States,” and as an international consultant, she lived for 15 years in Kenya and went wherever the job took her: East Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia. But a friend’s suggestion, serendipity, and the pandemic brought her to a […]