Libraries are the repositories not only of books, but of feelings. There’s the love of a good read, of course, but bookworms harbor other associations with libraries, too: discovery, solitude and the satisfaction of working hard. When architect Bruce Wardell and his colleagues were asked to design a library addition for a Charlottesville homeowner, they […]
Caroline Minsky opened The Artful Lodger with her husband, Christopher, in 2003, in a 1,100-square-foot space on Seminole Trail. Thirteen years later, the business has grown in size and scope, covering nearly 6,000 square feet of retail space downtown. We asked her to tell us what she thinks can transform a room and how a […]
If you think “groundbreaking”—as in the physical act—might be one of the more thrilling words in our language, you might need to get in the market for land. Selecting a site where you can build anew, on whichever hilltop you like best, is a welcome adventure. But, like all adventures, it has its share of […]
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards saw a red door and wanted it painted black. But if the Stones had the kind of options that are available today, who knows? Maybe they’d have wanted a six-panel, deep purple door with sidelights, a dark bronze weather strip and a composite adjustable sill. “When we order a door, […]
While cleaning the office of Madison House, where he was associate director from 1997-2001, former mayor Dave Norris found an old postcard of Madison Hall in the discard pile. “I thought [it] was a cool old knick-knack and saved it,” he says. Over time, he accumulated more postcards of UVA and, later, Charlottesville. The collection […]
This month’s issue of Abode is on stands now. Here’s what you’ll find inside. And, below, find a digital copy of the magazine. Waterstreet Studio’s Bill Mauzy on the intersection of photography and architecture. A fully loaded octagonal house. A Q&A with designer Wendi Smith. The latest in home security technology. This month’s featured house: […]
Tom Davidson and Marilyn Mars love to laugh, and their house shows it. When they moved to Nelson County from Florida, they sought a modern dwelling, commissioning Marilyn’s brother Randall Mars, a McLean-based architect, to design it. Though clean lines attracted them, Marilyn says, this house—full of colorful, detailed art and objects—is anything but minimal. […]
Wendi Smith has been in the design business for more than 20 years, beginning with commercial design work in New York City—from the Chase Bank trading floor to a standardizing two floors for Citibank in the MetLife Building on Park Avenue. “I have done everything from a brand new, 17,000-square-foot space to just helping first-time […]
There’s an enduring appeal to the idea of a compact dwelling that can go up fast—it’s been expressed in everything from the teepee to the mobile home. In the zeitgeist of the moment, it’s the phrase “tiny house” that holds currency. Down in Amherst County, sculptor Craig Pleasants has created his own version of the […]
You’re away from home on a business trip. Your cell phone buzzes in your pocket. It’s an alert from your home security app. There’s been a breach in one of your living room windows. Your phone rings. It’s your home security monitoring company. They’ve detected the breach and will send a police officer unless you […]
Bill Mauzy has been a Virginia resident all his life. As he says, it’s a wonderful place “to make art and gardens,” which, as a landscape architect with Waterstreet Studio and a photographer, is exactly what he does. “I’ve come to consider myself more as an artist who practices landscape architecture than a landscape architect […]
Faux wood has, in the past, been a splinter in the discerning consumer’s eye. But new products and improvements on standbys are changing that, according to local floor purveyors and homebuilders. From wood-look tile to luxury vinyl, floor treatments are treating high-end homeowners to options that were never before possible. “If they love everything about […]
Alvaro Anspach and Alberto Namnum are passionate about vegetables. Eat mostly fresh veggies and fruits, they believe, and you’ll soon feel more energetic and focused. How are they spreading the gospel? From the pulpit of their restaurant, Roots Natural Kitchen, where they serve salads and grain bowls packed with avocados, broccoli and other super-healthy ingredients. […]
Before he turned 6 years old, architect Jeff Dreyfus had his career mapped out. “I played all day with a suitcase full of Legos and drew house plans,” says the co-founder of Bushman Dreyfus Architects. “That was it. I never thought of doing anything else.” But, as he tells it, the town in southern Louisiana […]
What’s the difference between grand and grandiose? Anyone trying to make the distinction would do well to take Clouds Hill Farm as an example. Impressive in size, it’s nonetheless laid-back, not caring too much what we think of it—which is, somehow, a key to its appeal. Here are the facts: On 35 acres in Ivy […]
When Kristen Kaylor and her family moved into their new house off Rio Road last November, they didn’t get to make too many choices. The home was a spec house built by Bramante Homes, and much of the kitchen design had already been completed by Amy Hart of Albemarle Cabinet Co. Fortunately, Hart had been careful […]
When designer and innkeeper Candace DeLoach moved to Charlottesville from New York City in 1992, she immediately went to work, opening an antiques shop and interior design business with her brother, Michael, and the Eighteen Seventeen Historic Bed & Breakfast located on Court Square. When she acquired a second building in 1999, she opened The […]
Robin and Craig Ellis were searching for the perfect name for their Keswick property when they took a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. A sign directed their gaze across a ravine to a scree field—a place where fragments of rock covered a slope. These pieces, the remnants of a large boulder, are called “talus”: […]
Whether for style or practicality, bathroom design is no place to fall short. This month, we’ve chosen 14 of our favorite local lavatories that get it right. By Shea Gibbs, Erika Howsare and Caite White Let there be light When Elizabeth Birdsall hired Formwork Design to transform her Western Albemarle house, she asked for a […]
Thomas Jefferson hated stairs. Not personally. Architecturally. A design nut who conceptualized Monticello and parts of the Virginia State Capitol, Jefferson disdained the space stairs took up. According to the Monticello Foundation, he favored narrow, steep stairs with tight turns so the hulking masses wouldn’t rob him of space for more exciting design features. These […]
As an interior architect, Jennifer Greenhalgh of local design firm Jackson + Park oversees multiple aspects of a home renovation project—from its structural design to its décor. Accordingly, the word “design” takes on a few different meanings as she approaches a new client; she and partner Kelly Carwile may be reinvisioning a room’s entire layout […]
One can sometimes forget that Charlottesville is a river town, but Alexandria Searls keeps the Rivanna firmly in mind. As director of the Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center, she’s helped influence the choice of its location (overlooking the river in Darden Towe Park) and its mission (educating visitors, especially kids, about boatbuilding and nature-based aspects […]
This is a full circle kind of story. A couple of years ago, on this very page, we got some advice from local contractor Troy Yancey about renovating an Earlysville ranch house that was then on the market. Troy recommended opening some walls to improve flow, adding a fourth bedroom and a few other fixes. […]