Sarah Owen and Andrew Sherogan are the latest in a very, very long line of people to occupy their house. Once a kitchen or cook’s house on a 1,020-acre plantation owned by the uncle of Meriwether Lewis, “The Farm” was built as early as the 1730s—some say it’s the oldest house in Charlottesville—and has a lively history including the brief imprisonment of Daniel Boone. (In present-day terms, it’s found on 12th Street NE). It’s the kind of house that residents have almost a duty to share, and the current occupants are sanguine about visitors. “I’ll come out in the morning and find people reading the plaque,” says Owen, referring to the historical marker on one of the two original brick walls.
The history of Charlottesville hovers around Sarah Owen’s and Andrew Sherogan’s table—itself made from salvaged wood.
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Also, it’s a killer house. Inside, a hodgepodge of gorgeous details—exposed brick painted white, hardwood floors, fireplaces—is pulled together by the couple’s serene good taste and appetite for remaking old stuff into furniture and décor. Their dining room, they say, is where they congregate with guests of the invited variety, who often spill out through a quartet of doors onto the old stone patio.
Being artists, Owen and Sherogan inevitably put their stamp on their living space, even when it’s rented as this one is. “Andrew ducks through most of the doorways,” says Owen of her 6’6" mate, “but it seems a small price to pay.”
Sarah: “[The corner cupboard for dishes] was all built in, who knows when. Andrew made the tables and the bench. The side table is made from barn boards and fence posts Andrew salvaged from a barn in Scottsville.”
Andrew: “The [dining] table is from old floor joists; they’re heart pine wood. We like to find objects and make projects out of them.”
Sarah: “Our style is making do with what you’ve got and that works here better than other places…The mirror frame I made from old trim, and the sconces I poured out of concrete from rubber molds I found. I did the portraits of us, and Andrew made the landscapes…[The room] was painted baby blue and I did a color wash on it.”
Andrew: “It’s one of my favorite things in the house—this color…If we have a party this [table] is a buffet; if it’s a dinner party we fit as many as we can accommodate.”
Sarah: “We have fit how many?”
Andrew: “Ten.”
Sarah: “It’s tight but cosy. We really do use this room quite a lot for entertaining and just for ourselves. It’s also really great for both of us if we have projects that need a big tabletop. Sometimes our studio is too much of a mess.”
Andrew: “This might have been a bedroom [originally]. The fireplace doesn’t work, unfortunately…I don’t know what you’d call these doors. Drafty?”
Sarah: “People ask me if it’s haunted, but if there are spirits here, they’re friendly. And shy.”
Andrew: “It’s funny thinking about the growth of Charlottesville. This is such a small pocket in the community but was at one point as far as the eye could see.”
What’s your favorite spot at home? Tell us about it at abode@c-ville.com.
