Bistro chic: A Downtown Colonial gets a modern kitchen for the ages
If you own a house in a historic district, it turns out that implementing any kind of renovation project is tricky business. Mark and Caroline Shaffrey knew this when, in 1997, they decided to buy their 1902 Colonial in Downtown Charlottesville. And it meant waiting to make any changes to the space until they were [...]
To top it off: Three designers share their coffee table styling secrets
Coffee tables. We all have them. But many of us don’t exactly know what to do with them. Or at least, how to make them functional and artfully styled. What kinds of things belong on a coffee table? How should they be arranged? Matters of scale, practicality, and sentiment all come into question when attempting [...]
To the trade: Furniture restorer Michael Keith is into details
Do you respect wood? Michael Keith does. A master of old-world craftsmanship, Keith is a furniture maker and restorer of the highest mark. Passionate about the details and intent on preserving the original integrity of antiques, his is an art based upon labored hours in his workshop/studio. Your first exposure to old-world craftsmanship occurred when [...]
Clean and polished: Form meets function in an updated ranch kitchen
For Beth and Michael Wertheim, Charlottesville’s real estate website CAAR is an all-too-tempting destination. Since moving here in 2002, the couple has lived in four different houses, and are now on their fifth. “We actually never thought we would get into renovating or flipping houses so much. Each time we moved we thought, ‘Well this [...]
Designed to inspire: Heather Halsey and Derek Sieg’s cultivated cottage
Heather Halsey and Derek Sieg are equally aesthetically minded people. She’s the Charlottesville editor of The Scout Guide, and he’s a filmmaker. It’s been a whirlwind of a relationship. After a year of dating, they got engaged, although Heather claims “I knew about two weeks in that this was it!” They are getting married this [...]
In an age of granite countertops, Tommy and Kemp Hill serve breakfast off heart pine wood
Living in a farmhouse that dates back to 1860 is not for everyone. “It can get pretty cold. Our home isn’t known for its insulation,” admitted Kemp Hill. But she, along with her husband Tommy and their four children, wouldn’t have it any other way. After all, weather permitting, there’s almost always a fire burning. [...]
Two artists and a designer create their perfect live/work spaces
For the creative woman, the lines between work and life are often blurred. Inspiration can strike at any moment, and having a space nearby that’s conducive to realizing a vision can be crucial. Being surrounded by objects, treasures, natural curiosities and sentimental items can provide an extra spark when you need one. But navigating a [...]
Designer Sandy Muraca sees the big picture at home
For interior designer Sandy Muraca, updating her foyer last winter so that it reflected her love of vintage art and antiques was vital. “While it’s not a space or room that you would sit and have coffee with a friend, it is a space where you come home, a space where you greet family and [...]
Playroom with a view: Emili Hays’ inspired take on the family hangout
It’s clear that Emili Hays has a natural ability to envision a house’s potential, as she walks through her Locust Avenue home, explaining every detail of what she’s changed since buying it in 2009. “Honestly, we walked in and I wanted to walk right back out, but I just knew it had potential. So we [...]
Object of my affection: the wedding chapel
“This painting was a wedding present from my husband’s uncle and aunt, who commissioned it for us. The church shown is Chapel of the Cross, the church in Chapel Hill where we were married. The church is so special to us, aside from the fact that we were married there: We actually met each other [...]
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June ABODE: Tracey Love’s pared-down Greenwood retreat
(Photo by Andrea Hubbell) A year ago, Tracey Love and her boyfriend, Bridge, decided to buy a Greenwood farmhouse that was built in 1925. “It was a lifestyle change for sure; it was a commitment. Friends that drive out treat it as if it’s so remote, so rural—when in fact I’m five minutes from Crozet, [...]
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June ABODE: History’s happy side: In Staunton, restoring a Queen Anne landmark
An L-shaped bar defines the kitchen, once a family parlor. (Photo by Andrea Hubbell) Many house buyers might shy away from a place known to neighbors as “The Cat House.” Especially if the nickname derived from the fact that more than 100 felines had lived there. “As soon as you walked up on the front [...]