Five years ago, Cale Elementary School principal Lisa Jones instituted a Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools program for her incoming class of kindergarteners and rising first- and second-graders. For three years, offerings featured typical FLES programming—that is, 120 minutes a week of instruction in Spanish. However, as Jones saw it, that wasn’t enough. “By […]
As winter sets in caves offer surprisingly balmy family adventures. With temperatures hovering around 53 degrees, a subterranean visit provides hours of active outdoor fun sans the cold. From paved walking tours to rigorous guided explorations through wild caverns, the following resources will help you take advantage of the region’s many spelunking opportunities. Luray Caverns […]
Most teenagers have pretty predictable birthday wish lists … video games, iTunes cards, maybe money to use toward buying a car. Charlottesville’s Ashton Ryan is different. He wants coats. Lots and lots of coats. It all started six years ago, just before his 12th birthday. “I saw a kid in school without a coat and […]
As a professional designer, Kathy Heiner is familiar with all the twists and turns of the renovation process. So, when it came time to redo the kitchen in the Bellair house she’s shared with her sons since 2012, she appreciated having the luxury of time to think about what she wanted. “Lori Randle and I […]
Perched high in the surrounding mountains of Crozet is the stunning and solitudinous modern home of Rod and Maggie Walker. Located in Albemarle County and overlooking the Sugar Hollow Reservoir, the 1,500-acre property is accessed by way of a lengthy country road that, after winding through forested hills and over single-lane bridges, arrives at the […]
The cabin sits on a steep Albemarle mountainside under a tall forest canopy. It was built in West Virginia, probably in the early 1800s; it was moved here in the 1970s, reconstructed and updated with basic conveniences like plumbing. Its owners used it only a few weeks per year as a vacation spot. Then, on […]
Home locking technology hadn’t changed much for more than a century—until a few years ago. The advent of the smart home gave folks the ability to take their front door security, and locks in general, out of the dark ages. Keyless entry houses are still buttoned up with the standard pin tumblers invented in the […]
Design trends come and go. And, sometimes, they come back again. Take, for instance, wall murals. Interior designer Karena Akhavein says she’s been getting more and more requests for 21st century versions from clients of her Gordonsville studio, Pebble Hill Design. “In grand Virginia estates, it was the tradition to use pictorial wallpaper in the […]
The house would be a surprise to any visitor. Just a few minutes outside Lynchburg proper, a leafy suburban road leads to a quiet gravel driveway curving through trees. At the end of it is a stunning, open site with a far-reaching view of the mountains. It’s quite unexpected, and the new house that perches […]
When tackling a renovation project, sometimes it’s hard to see what’s right in front of your face. Especially when it’s a wall. “People tend to put Band-Aids on things without looking at the overall effect,” says interior designer Wendi Smith, “so I try to take a step back.” Asked recently to spruce up an unattractive […]