A slice above

“You can do irrefutably impossible things with the right amount of planning and support from intelligent and hardworking people and pizza,” says writer Scott Gimple. Rockpile Construction’s masterpiece pizza oven is a testament to that assertion.   The team at Rockpile had just completed a custom-built home in Albemarle County when the clients approached owner […]

Two for one

Jennifer and Wil VanLoh had reached the stage in life where they were thinking about having a vacation home, a small retreat, someplace different from their home in Houston. Their daughter Mary was headed off to UVA, in a charming college town right next to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Wouldn’t it be nice to have […]

Festing on your laurels

You wasted your summer streaming Netflix. That’s okay. The area’s fall fests are just what you need—they’ll get you outside, where you’ll enjoy some crisp air and boost your vitamin D for the winter months. Here’s a look at 11 autumn events that are sure to keep you going until the temps plummet. Charlottesville-Albemarle Black […]

What makes Sally run?

“I’ve lived in both very red and very blue places,” says Sally Hudson. “But I never felt my vote really mattered—until 2016.” Donald Trump’s election spurred Hudson into politics—and to being elected the first woman to represent Charlottesville in the Virginia House of Delegates. Public service came naturally to Hudson. Her father had a law […]

Piecing it together

Down the street from the medieval cathedral at the stony heart of Valladolid, Spain, sits the Millennium Dome, a geodesic igloo made out of neon-edged hexagons that slot together like jigsaw puzzle pieces. Inside the dome, thousands more jigsaw puzzle pieces wait in sealed boxes. Contestants from 40 different countries sit at white tables, poised […]

Reinventing the strings section

Two years ago, Brian Lindgren got hit by a car. He broke several bones, but the most important was his left pinky. Lindgren is a violist. He needs his left pinky.  This was the summer of 2020, the height of the pandemic shutdown. Musicians were already struggling. Lindgren was heading into the final year of […]

Myth busters

For such a small city, Charlottesville sure has an insane amount of celebrity connections. Ask any townie and you’ll hear so many conflicting tales it can be hard to sort fact from fiction. Take the late playwright Sam Shepard, who lived in Scottsville with Jessica Lange in the mid-’80s. Rumor has it he did his […]

Talking on air

John Freeman has found his home in the booth.  The career play-by-play announcer and UVA grad returned to Charlottesville to become the “voice of the Cavaliers” for the men’s football and basketball teams last November. He’d been the primary commentator for several university sports—lacrosse and even some men’s basketball—years ago, but he’d never spoken for […]

Pumpkin spiced

Late last summer, four Crozet-based friends found themselves discussing the upcoming fall season—prepping for a new school year, planning autumnal activities, and cozying up their home décor. For Alexis Macias, Kristen Craig, Kathleen Ross, and Marilyn Speight, the latter always starts with the porch.  “We had seen on Instagram a mom out of Texas who […]

In the round

Is it just us, or are cookies the ultimate treat? They can be sweet, they can be savory, or they can be simple enough to dunk (or daintily dip, pinky up!) in a cup of English breakfast. You can serve them at parties, you can pack them in a kid’s lunch, you can pile them […]