Penny Shuster started playing the drums in fifth grade, with the snare in her school band. But she made the switch to a drum set last year, when she started at St. Anne’s-Belfield School, because it afforded her more opportunities to play different kinds of music. “Plus,” Shuster says, “it’s cooler.” She takes lessons at […]
Penny Shuster started playing the drums in fifth grade, with the snare in her school band. But she made the switch to a drum set last year, when she started at St. Anne’s-Belfield School, because it afforded her more opportunities to play different kinds of music. “Plus,” Shuster says, “it’s cooler.” She takes lessons at […]
Families looking for a private school education for their children will find an abundance of options in the Charlottesville area. Each school fills a particular niche and parents can find a myriad of alternatives to choose from. We have asked each school to summarize what they offer to give you a sense of the different […]
As families send their youngsters off to school each morning, they want to know their children are spending the day in a safe place. They count on schools to provide this secure environment, so we checked with one of our regional school districts to learn more. Here are three things you should expect your children’s […]
In this issue, you’ll find a an artist-architect, a symmetrical Fluvanna pool, Vinegar Hill’s second act and more. Here’s what’s inside: Jessie Chapman‘s visual approach. Vinegar Hill’s second life in film. Why your home might benefit from a portico. Michelle Adams‘ design influences. A pool we love! A city home in need of reconfiguration. […]
This place looks nothing like a hay barn. Yet there was a time, at some point in the early 20th century, when the Somerset farmhouse now belonging to David and Sissy Perdue was in fact used to store hay. Built in the 1880s as a two-over-two home for a family of chicken farmers, the house […]
The weekend home of a Washington, D.C., couple sits not quite in the middle of their 76-acre property north of Charlottesville. They didn’t choose the most lofty site for their cottage, but instead gravitated toward a spot that snuggles into a treeline and offers a broad, rolling view of fields and woods. “This was our […]
In a way, one might say Jessie Chapman is getting back to basics. While many architects have gotten out of the practice of sketching their designs as the use of computers becomes more prevalent (and more time-effective), she prefers to put pen to paper. She says it helps her see more carefully. “When you draw […]
When Vinegar Hill Theatre closed its doors in 2013 after 37 years of showing independent films, many cinephiles in Charlottesville mourned its loss. So when the downtown building became the home of Light House Studio in May 2015, says Light House’s Brooks Wellmon, “There was a ton of community interest in preserving the theater.” Light […]
A second-generation interior designer, Michelle Willis Adams grew up “assisting” her mother, who had a design business in New York and Rappahannock, Virginia. She can remember sitting at her mother’s clients’ kitchen tables, “listening to them discuss fabrics and furniture arrangements,” she says. “I also remember browsing many antiques shops and going to auctions with […]
You want a porch. But you’re afraid of commitment. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life with a whole deck hanging off the front of your house? Getting cold feet is understandable. Perhaps a portico is more your speed. “Generally I think of a portico as purely shelter for a doorway, […]