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Whether sprawled across a faded carpet with headphones plugged into a record player or folded into a chair in front of a row of speakers, everyone needs a space for music appreciation. And while Len Jaffe and his partner Ginny Gubser are no different, their listening venue—the living room of their Forest Lakes home, where they have hosted the Barking Cherry House Concert series since September of 2005—carries a tune better than most concert halls in town.
Jaffe invites musician friends to prop their guitars alongside his fireplace, perch themselves on long-legged bar seats between the two picture windows peering out across his amber deck—where you can find some members of the audience sipping Gubser’s iced tea or a Blue Moon beer during warmer months—and play delicate, dawdling folk songs that could make Garrison Keillor wax nostalgic. Strains of music arc towards the cream-colored cathedral ceiling and then rebound to the far reaches of the house, luring a few listeners from the spread of desserts ever-present in Jaffe’s dining room, then circles through to the joined kitchen, where Jaffe looks on as neighbors and friends listen in. For information about upcoming performances in the Barking Cherry House Concert series, e-mail sngwrtr525@hotmail.com.
‘‘Let me give you the genesis: We were up there in Northern Virginia, 100 miles away from family, and we thought ‘You know, what we do up here, we could probably do down there.’ So we decided to look around. Ginny had seen this house when she came down during the summer of 2004. Lo and behold, here we are.
“The first thing that caught my eye was the cathedral ceiling. Once we got settled in, we took a look at the room and said ‘Hey, we could get 30 to 40 people in here. It might be a little snug, but it wouldn’t be horrible.’
“Crowds generally run in the 15 to 20 person range. We might not see the same people every show, but we’ve developed a core. We can pull out enough chairs to seat 25, and we can put people on the stairs. When we get to about 30, we start running out of seats.
“For larger crowds, we’ve had them sit on the balcony. It hasn’t really changed how we’ve done it, but we’ve had to get creative. Bill Staines [a veteran of “A Prairie Home Companion” who lured one listener from Harrisonburg for his set in March] filled the room up. And we set up the dining room with food so that folks can get a snack.
“I don’t know if there’s any truth to it or not, but it seems to us that, the older you get, the more difficult it is to make friends. Most of the people that are very near and dear to us are 110, 120 miles away. So we’re trying to open up our house, share the music, and meet people who may feel similarly—not only about music, but about what’s going on in town. And we’re having a blast doing it.
“I’m working on the spring 2008 schedule now; I’ve got a surprise I’m not quite ready to spring yet.”
What’s your favorite spot at home? Tell us all about it at abode@c-ville.com.
