A stone house looks very permanent from the outside, but big changes can occur within. Though the Rugby neighborhood house that Hyam Hosny and Eric Spooner bought in 2009 was stately—and its location couldn’t be beat—it needed to be brought into the modern era. “The kitchen was a servants’ kitchen,” said Hosny, relating that the […]
A house that’s been standing since before the Civil War can demand a lot of attention from its owner. Such was the case with Matt and Tricia Lucas’ home, a Free Union gem that, despite its ample size, had just one bathroom when the couple bought it about a decade ago. In fact, the home was […]
Local architect Dave Ackerman (of architecture firm Wolf Ackerman Design) graduated from both Princeton and the University of Virginia, co-founded Formwork Design and spent 11 years as an adjunct faculty member at UVA teaching architectural design—but his interest in architecture began long before any of that. “When I was 10 or 11, I would draw […]
Hate to break it to you, but that tin roof on your love shack is rusted. Time for a replacement. What are your options? Bruce Martin, an estimator and project coordinator for Charlottesville’s Blue Ridge Roofing, said metal roofs, created by paneling together solid sheets at junctions called “standing seams,” are actually quite popular in […]
After working at Crème de la Crème for the past nine years, store manager Winifred Wegmann noticed something: “I came to realize how much pleasure I take from helping people find something new for their home that brings them joy.” In March, she set out on her own, opening pour la maison in Townside Shopping […]
The new Northside Library, on Rio Road, says anything but “Shhhh.” From the outside, it’s positively jaunty, with aqua-blue and goldenrod-yellow accents dressing up the brick exterior, and surprising diagonals playing against the verticals of corrugated metal. One’s eyes travel to the tall entranceway and the single word, spelled in midcentury-style metal letters, on the […]
To hear Keith Scott tell it, the house his client started with was almost worse than no house at all. “It was one of those early-’80s, quasi-farmhouse suburban houses that lack any charm or interest,” he said. “My client was really debating a tear-down.” So why had she bought it? The major reason was that […]
Not so long ago, the best wine was European, and good American wine was Californian. Period. Virginia oenophiles knew that Thomas Jefferson had tried and failed to make a drinkable beverage from Old World vines on Virginia soil, and if the Renaissance man of Monticello couldn’t do it, it obviously couldn’t be done. End of […]
If you regularly run out of money before the month is over, it’s time to consider some economies. Here are concrete ideas to help stretch your money farther. First, build an emergency fund—enough to cover three months expenses to start and building to six months. Then if an emergency strikes, you’ll have funds to cover […]
When Norma Rafferty’s father passed away, it made sense for her and her husband, Bob, to have a modest apartment addition for her mother built onto their home. A few calls showed neighborhood zoning and homeowner regulations allowed it if various permits were granted. They hired an architect to design an addition to fit well […]