Get Your House Ready for Winter

By Marilyn Pribus – Hard to believe, but some trees are actually starting to lose their leaves for winter. You should be thinking about getting ready, too.  Here are some pointers to prep your property for cold weather. Don’t wait for winter storm warnings. Outdoors Inspect the outside of your property, looking for cracks in […]

Commercial Real Estate Continues Impressive Growth

By Celeste M. Smucker– Commercial real estate  is still a hot commodity in both Charlottesville and the Shenandoah Valley.  Agents report the phone is ringing and they are cautiously optimistic that the upward trend will continue.  A recent article in Forbes magazine expressed similar confidence in the national market stating: “the industry is expected to […]

Taste of the Mountains: Celebrating Madison

By Ken Wilson– Taste of the Mountains Main Street Festival is what’s it’s called, but there are so many different tastes to try as you stroll down Main in the beautiful and historic town of Madison. You could start with the barbeque from Pig ‘N Steak, real pit-cooked, hickory smoked pork and ham the locals […]

Staunton Music Festival: Small City, Big Deal

By Ken Wilson – It’s a lotta music for a little city, but then the Staunton Music Festival is no local secret or merely local affair. With a hashtag #RethinkClassical and everything from a period-instrument performance of Handel’s rarely-heard operatic masterpiece Hercules to a concert performance of Kurt Weill’s “sung ballet” The Seven Deadly Sins, […]

The Shenandoah Valley’s  Lively Cultural Life

By Ken Wilson – There is peace in the valley if that’s what you want—and plenty to keep you occupied when you don’t. Just “over the mountain” from Albemarle County is the storied Shenandoah Valley with all that lush countryside, and all those country places. Once so richly farmed it was dubbed “the breadbasket of […]

Find The Right House For Your Pets

By Marilyn Pribus – Formally known as “companion animals,” the more popular term has long been simply “pets” and lots of folks have them. Recent figures from Statista—a website with thousands of statistics—show that millions of Americans share their homes with creatures. The most numerous household pets are actually fish, but since aquariums don’t much […]