The recent arrival of winter weather in Charlottesville has brought interruptions to school, work and business, particularly on the outskirts of town. The snow storm was a reminder that it generally takes longer for snowplows to clear rural backroads and neighborhood streets than it does in the town center, where everything is more concentrated. This […]
The verdict is in from the nation’s biggest kitchen and bathroom expo—kitchen sinks are trending modern. And there’s probably nothing Charlottesville can do about it. According to local designer Amy Hart of Albemarle Cabinet Co., a visit to The Kitchen & Bath Industry Show in early January and her clients’ recent purchases indicate most folks […]
It’s not easy to nearly double the square footage of a house without bulking up its street profile. But that’s just what happened at Mike and Karen Ball’s North Downtown home. Not only did the couple, and their three young children, gain a lot of living space with the renovation/addition designed by Bushman Dreyfus Architects, […]
In this month’s Abode, we talk with homebuilder Noah Bradley about his 40-year career, learn why a homeowner shouldn’t be bound by their lot size, take a look inside an Ivy cottage and more. Here’s what you’ll find inside this issue: Scarpa‘s smart reno for continued success. The new Timberwood Tap House stays warm. Noah […]
When Justin Rood went house-hunting in Charlottesville, he looked really hard. Many dozens of properties into his search, he still hadn’t found just the right place—but not because he was picky. Intending to create a vacation rental in an older house, he needed to find a rare combination of location, character and function to serve […]
If your house sits on a small city lot, it may seem as though there’s little room to expand. After all, city regulations limit how much of your lot may be developed, plus the height of secondary structures relative to your house. But don’t give up hope. One recent project by Alloy Workshop demonstrates that […]
![Chris Coggins, pictured here in his living room, says his favorite spot in his own home is the downstairs bath. “With the marble shower and large rain showerhead, [it’s] the perfect way to relax after a long day of design.” Photo: Amy Jackson](https://www.c-ville.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Chris-Coggins_003-320x170.jpg)
While attending the New York School of Interior Design, designer Chris Coggins embarked on an independent project: review 40 famous houses in 40 days. “I visited significant homes all along the East Coast,” says Coggins, “so I experienced a full range of styles.” But it was Biltmore, the Gilded Age estate in Asheville, North Carolina, […]
There are a few iconic local retailers in Charlottesville, and Amy Gardner’s store, Scarpa, is one of them. The women’s boutique—which started out selling shoes nearly 23 years ago and recently expanded into clothing—has been a mainstay in the north wing of Barracks Road Shopping Center, and in the Charlottesville imagination, as a bastion of […]
If you’re the type of person who’d like to drop five grand on a toilet, you are living in the right age indeed. Toilets have come a long way, and these days features include advanced water-saving flushing systems, hands-free flushing, self-opening and closing lids, self-cleaning bidets, drying wands, heating elements in the seat and foot […]
Previously in this column, we’ve explored a graduate student’s perspective on architecture’s trajectory—one that leverages architects’ unique skill sets to address, through the built environment, uncertainties facing society today. This semester at UVA engaged this topic directly through school-wide discussions facilitated by the biennial Woltz Symposium and design courses. The Woltz Symposium, a two-day event […]
When Noah Bradley was 15, his insurance agent father announced that the two of them would spend their summer building a house by hand, from the ground up. “I believe I swore at that particular stage of my life,” Bradley says, “that I would do anything I could to avoid building houses ever again.” His […]
When Bonnie Bond bought her condo in the Lewis and Clark Building downtown in 2012, she faced an unusual situation. Not only was the two-bedroom unit due for routine updates—the building was built in 1989, and the flooring and cabinetry reflected their age—the condo bore the marks of its previous, and very notable, owner. Artist, […]
Deck the garden with half a dozen stars to ornament the darkest days of winter. In the pared-down landscape between first and last freezes, when contrasts are sharp, displays of flower, form and color take on a significance lost in the lushness of summer. If you don’t already have these beauties in your lineup, add […]
In urban design, decisions about road lanes, sidewalk widths and shade trees affect the rhythm of use in outdoor spaces—transportation and commerce, social activity, traffic, safety, recreation and even public health are determined by these choices. Urban planners have long been using the catchphrase “live, work, play” to describe an idyllic mixture of programming, but […]
Practice makes perfect. It’s an adage for a reason—the more you do something, the more comfortable with it and adept at it you become. That was architect Bob Anderson’s thinking, anyway, when, as an 8-year-old, he saw an illustration of Albrecht Dürer’s wood carving of a rhinoceros from 1515. “I fell in love with it […]
Heated floors are less popular than they used to be, according to local builders, but that doesn’t mean they don’t still have their place. “In this climate it’s not economically real feasible as a primary heat source,” says Wayne Stinnette, vice president of Abrahamse & Company Builders. But “you see a lot of in-floor heating […]
It’s a special opportunity to hear a luminary speak in person, but for Kat Imhoff, president of James Madison’s Montpelier, it’s a shame to hear those words evaporate without being captured in a recording. Like, say, when Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice, spoke to a group of […]
When it comes to designing a room, often the advice is to start with something you love (a rug, a piece of art—anything) and work from there, layering pattern and texture to achieve a dynamic space. But every project is different, says Nina Crawford, and no two clients are the same. “My favorite customer is […]
There are upsides and downsides to having a barn as the starting point for a house. Upside: that great barn shape. In the case of the Red Barn project, on the grounds of Castle Hill Cidery in Keswick, that form makes for an iconic and historic statement in the landscape. Downside: Iconic and historic barns […]
The farm was inspiring, in part because of what wasn’t there anymore. Roxanne Sherbeck and Jon Jackson bought a 19-acre property near Charlottesville in 2010, and as they got to know it, they started to realize that it was dotted with the decomposing stumps and logs of oak trees. The absence of those trees—or the […]
Reclaimed wood has been a hot item for years now. Most people are familiar with the idea of giving old wood, from barns or other sources, new life. Most often, the salvaged stuff ends up as flooring, though cabinetry, furniture and ceilings are also big. But the folks at Mountain Lumber, the Ruckersville company that’s […]
Every new restaurant looks like a factory. Or, so says a recent NPR article. Reclaimed wood, brick walls and exposed beams, the piece asserted, have become so popular in interior design that new furniture is being treated to look weathered, and new apartments are being built loft-style with “factory” windows. Where does this preference for […]
Customers at a small local brewery might enjoy seeing how their lagers and pale ales are actually brewed. That’s what the folks behind Random Row Brewing Co. were betting on when they designed their tasting room on Preston Avenue, which opened in mid-September. Gleaming metal tanks are a major design element in the space, which […]