December 2010: Compound interest
The word “compound” has some strange connotations, but it can mean nothing more than a collection of structures united by a common language. Such is the case at Chris and Kara McLane Burke’s three-part home on the Mechums River in western Albemarle. One of the names the Burkes have for their property is “Three Bridges,” [...]
December ABODE brings on the green (and red)
Repurposed furniture, home energy scores, green reads, and mighty mighty solar power!
Feeling like a turkey
Can peppers-and-eggs sandwiches make up for the gas that will get us to Florida?
Charlottesville may have a record breaking tree
Ever heard of the Black Haw Viburnum? We may have the biggest one in the country.
Storing up a winter food supply
I’d love to improve our haphazard approach to keeping apples, potatoes, squash and so forth.
CSA season ends in a burst of brassicas
Though pickups have ended, the season will live on in the form of stored squash and a lot of good memories.
November ABODE takes stock for winter
Compare CFLs to LEDs, get wise to winter farmer’s markets, and so much more.
Boy, do these bugs stink
It’s as though something biblical – and sometimes panic-worthy – is happening.
Drowning in leafy greens; please send recipe
The kale, collards, bok choy and lettuce are filling my fridge and challenging my creativity.
Walking the Rockfish Valley Trail
A trail system laces the valley just south of Nellysford–and it’s not on public land.
October 2010: Labor of love
The terrace is one of the thoroughly modern touches on Jobes’ house. Railings are constructed from boat canvas on pipe rails and a shadecloth-and-trellis system overhead blocks 80 percent of the sunlight. Every renovation project hits a snag sooner or later. But Bill Jobes had a problem with his house on King Street that could [...]
Chicken update: Part one
A lot has happened since I last posted, including a new baby and a lost hen.
September 2010: Bright moves
Some people decorate their houses because it needs to be done. Others truly relish the task. Beryl Solla and James Yates are in the latter camp. “People ask me, in terms of art, what I’m doing, and the thing I’m most interested in doing as an artist is in my house—building stuff, changing stuff,” says [...]
August 2010: For the birds
“Everything’s a work in progress,” says Leni Sorensen about the home and acreage she shares with her husband Kip in White Hall. Transplants (as of 1982) from South Dakota, the couple have long had their hands in rural pursuits, from growing vegetables to raising pigs and cows. Kip, a master carpenter, is building them [...]
August 2010: Modernism comes of age
“The shade of Jefferson broods over Charlottesville. Misunderstood, embalmed by little minds in static thought, the revolutionist must turn forever in an angry grave. The grandeur of his University looks down at sycophants who ape his cornices at puny scale…and strive forever to repeat the form without the soul. To follow in his footsteps means [...]
Gift bags, cheap decor, and other baby needs
Where possible, we’ve found ways to avoid the big-box route.
Throwing together a local meal
Deep into summer, the meals have a certain effortless spontaneity that I love.
Taking a warning on water from the West
The most eye-opening piece in the current Orion is an account of impending disaster on the Colorado River.