This month’s Abode is historic—peek inside a 19th-century farmhouse, explore an updated 1850s James River estate, find out the best way to preserve wood detailing in your home and more. Here’s what you’ll find inside: A Lewis Mountain home evolves in phases. When to restore or replace. A new Bundoran show home. A 300-acre James […]
In a county like Albemarle, where vigorous growth routinely fills in open space with new homes, it’s reassuring to know there are still places where the opposite has happened. Wilhoit Mill Farm, near Earlysville, is one of those bucolic spots: a onetime rural village that’s less populated now than it was in the past. That’s […]
The solidity of the wide brick house off Garth Road is broken in just one place: Look in the front door, and your gaze can travel all the way through the back of the house to the distant mountains. It’s a moment in which the landscape asserts itself, thanks to the placement of a large […]
Here’s one for the dreamers: Monticola, a nearly 300-acre estate on the James River, is for sale. If you’ve never heard of Monticola, you’re not alone. Despite its rich history, it claims little fame and has never really been a public place. Now, spiffed up for a turn on the market, it’s ready for a […]
Jeff Dreyfus and Bob Headrick have always loved their house. It is a special place—very progressive when it was built in 1933, predating by decades most other local examples of modern architecture. Its International Style design is bold and crisp, built with geometric planes of white accented by black. Yet by 2002, when the couple […]
Every year since 2009, the Shelter for Help in Emergency has hosted its Design House event, taking a local home that’s on the market and transforming it with the assistance of some of Charlottesville’s best interior designers, landscape designers and local vendors. Proceeds from tours of the home benefit the nonprofit, which provides safe environments […]
What might have been Thomas Jefferson’s original vision for the Monticello rooftop railings is almost restored. Years ago, when the balustrade on TJ’s mountaintop home rotted away, it was replaced with a new design. Last year, working from paintings, sketches and notes, architectural firm Mesick Cohen Wilson Baker Architects was able to re-create the original […]
Breakfast, they say, is the most important meal of the day. But we’d wager that whoever said that had never had brunch. If they had, they’d know there are few things finer than waking up on Saturday morning only to meet friends at table in the cool spring air and hunker down for an hour […]
Virginia’s wine identity orbits around Viognier, Cabernet Franc and Bordeaux-style blends. Increasingly, however, winemakers are pushing the boundaries of possibility and bottling some unique wines. Part of the new fascination with experimentation, says winemaker Jake Busching, is driven by a desire to learn more about getting well-suited grapes planted on the right sites and learning […]
The only thing better than one dessert? A whole assortment of desserts. Grit recently added cakes, brûlées and tarts to the coffee shop’s menu of small plates. Currently only available at the Stonefield location (and only on weekends), the bite-sized selection will pair with the restaurant’s heavily curated beer, wine and cocktail program. “We’re focused on […]