Cars rush along a busy street near downtown Charlottesville, bowing day lilies that cluster beside the driveway of Chad and Rebecca Morgan’s early 20th-century home. But when you stand in the heart of the kitchen—a straight shot from the sidewalk through the front door and down the hallway—you could be a million miles from anywhere. […]
Cars rush along a busy street near downtown Charlottesville, bowing day lilies that cluster beside the driveway of Chad and Rebecca Morgan’s early 20th-century home. But when you stand in the heart of the kitchen—a straight shot from the sidewalk through the front door and down the hallway—you could be a million miles from anywhere. […]
In the heart of Earlysville sits a fine brick ranch at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in the Earlysville Heights neighborhood. Fifteen minutes from Charlottesville and five minutes to Hollymead Town Center, this home currently features three bedrooms and one-and-a-half baths. We asked Troy Yancey of Teal Construction to give us his contractor’s expertise […]
Central Virginia is paradise compared to the parched, burning lands of California, Texas, Nevada, and Oklahoma. Here on the verdant side of the great river, our groundwater is replenished and streams run high, but everybody has to worry about water in the 21st century. The click-click-click of irrigation heads keeping time for twilit suburban idylls […]
There is a long out of print volume published by Princeton Architectural Press in 1992. Its spare black and white pages brought together a seminal collection of 18 highly individualized and speculative or research driven houses designed entirely by what was then the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Architecture. Now 22 years […]
Fred Wolf grew up as one of six children in a modest Buffalo, New York house, where, when he wasn’t sketching, he was inventing and building. In high school, he discovered architecture, and he hasn’t looked back since. In addition to reminiscing about his childhood, the Wolf Ackerman partner told us about architecture school at […]
Stedman House designer Kori Messinger talked to us about designing a room at age 10, the color red, and being authentic to yourself while breaking the rules. Have you ever had a change of heart about an object or style? Of course! As our household has grown with four kids and lots of animals, so […]
They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Surely, this means the eyes are pretty darn crucial. But what about windows? “Why is a window important? There are lots of reasons,” said Mark Wingerd, architectural salesperson for Charlottesville-based, high-end windows purveyor Gaston & Wyatt. “For one, it’s the only piece of your house […]
Ask orchestra conductor Larry Alan Smith about the continent to the south of us, and he’ll tell you about rhythm and color. South American music can be “mournful and soulful,” Smith says, but by and large “it’s very perky, very bright, very sunny.” Smith’s frequent conducting stints in Brazil in the 80s and 90s engendered […]
Negotiating and agreeing on the price for a new home may seem like the final step of a long process. In fact, it’s just the beginning of maneuvering through the long list of closing costs. These costs and payments are typically organized by a settlement company and paid to lenders and other third parties involved […]
Like George M. Cohan, composer of such patriotic favorites as Grand Old Flag and Yankee Doodle Dandy, Charlottesville’s Hiromi Johnson was born on the Fourth of July. Well, sort of. Cohan’s birthday was actually July 3rd, and Johnson calls Independence Day her second birthday. “That day,” she says with deep feeling, “is my birthday of […]