Designer Ann Nicholson admits she borrows inspiration from unlikely places—Edgemont, a historic Albemarle residence possibly designed by Thomas Jefferson; a pool house in the Hamptons belonging to designer Tory Burch. But the pool at Lowfields Farm in Fluvanna, where she resides with her husband? That was all her. Installed by Charlottesville Aquatics, the double lap pool respects Nicholson’s design aversions (“I intensely dislike things that aren’t symmetrical,” she says). Accordingly, two sets of stairs balance each side and lead to the stylish (yet uniform) poolhouse, with views of the 250-acre property beyond.
Home sweet home: Cottage please!
Moving is stressful. Moving to an old place that needs a gut renovation is more stressful. Fighting with your spouse every step of the way? That’s a major test. Jason Becton and Patrick Evans, owners of the beloved MarieBette Café & Bakery, were at odds about their new place. “Jason wanted
Building trust: For a Belmont farmhouse makeover, a couple gives their friends carte blanche
Enlisting your best friends to design and manage the renovation of your home can be a risky endeavor, particularly when you encourage them to exercise creative freedom in designing what you hope will become your dream house. If you don’t like their work, can the friendship survive? That was the
The DIY backyard: How to install a home landscape that’ll make you proud
We have all seen the perfectly groomed gardens on TV house-flipping shows and in magazines, including this one. Pinterest is a slideshow of landscapes that are intended to inspire creativity but often just lead to feelings of inadequacy. It’s as if these picture-perfect settings were chia
Glass act: A local winery’s new tasting room is all bottled up
The empty bottles were piling up at Free Union’s Glass House Winery. The recycling service that co-owners Jeff and Michelle Saunders relied on for years had begun hauling the glass to a landfill, which the environmentally conscious couple couldn’t tolerate. At the same time, the winery was
Knock, knock: Lyndsey Brown is at your door, which may end up on Instagram
The door photography craze can be traced to 1970, when a New York ad exec created a colorful collage of 36 arched Georgian townhouse doorways he shot while on a project in Dublin. As the story goes, the adman showed the assemblage to the head of the Irish tourism office in Manhattan, who
Landmark maker: Architect Stanhope Johnson’s local legacy
Stanhope Spencer Johnson doesn’t pop to the top of the list for most architectural historians, but the Lynchburg-based designer was remarkably prolific in his seven-decade career, and some of his better work—including two buildings on the National Register of Historic Places—can be found in
Sense and the city: A Charlottesville developer chooses preservation with a retro-modern twist
The concept of urban placemaking surfaced in the 1960s, when writer and activist Jane Jacobs successfully led the fight to block a planned highway through New York’s Greenwich Village, and urban planner William “Holly” Whyte began the Street Life Project, documenting how built environments
Natural high: A mountaintop home in Albemarle lets the outdoors in
The couple was living in Boston when they started looking for an architect to build their house on a mountaintop in Albemarle County. It would have to be a unique design, one that meshed with their reverence for nature and rigorous commitment to personal fitness (he’s a serious hiker and
A family home: The couple retired near Keswick, but the kids are always welcome
After meeting in college, the couple got married and pursued their respective careers—she as a librarian and he as a patent attorney—living for many years in Delaware. About two years ago, when the time came for them to retire, there was little question they’d end up near Keswick, specifically,
Back to nature: A graphic artist creates a great escape in Nelson County
The graphic artist, web designer, and bookbinder worked in Charlottesville for many years, running her own business. She shifted gears, taking a full-time job at a non-profit. But after a while, she wanted to get back to being her own boss, and to find a way to spend more time in the country,
Modern makeover: A hidden midcentury masterpiece gets a major update
On a quiet street in Charlottesville sits a not-too-eyecatching house, its plain brick façade all but obscured by a screen of trees. Yet this is far from an ordinary rancher. In fact, it serves as a connection to a wider, more cosmopolitan world, and to an optimistic time in architectural
Hyperlocal: At Pippin Hill, the produce is just outside the kitchen door
Chef Ian Rynecki and gardener Diane Burns modestly refer to their creation at Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards as a kitchen garden, but the result of their collaboration is nothing less than the ideal template for farm-to-table cooking. Before making his way to Albemarle County in 2017, Rynecki
Heart of the townhome: A bright kitchen anchors a modern rowhouse
The Charlottesville woman grew up in California wine country—St. Helena, to be precise. Her home, where she lived until she was 16, had a farmhouse feel: open, airy, and not fussy in the least. It was a place for family and friends to gather and literally see one another, without too many walls
Local turf: An Orange County farm for ready-made lawns
Ever wonder where those Yodels-like rolls of grass come from that you’ve seen stacked on pallets or laid out in front of a newly built home? From a sod farm, of course. Growing and harvesting sod is a practice that thrives mainly out of sight (and out of mind). But in Orange County, Andy and
Wonder wall: An expansive pine façade melds beauty and functionality
There’s an air of mystery about the renovated third-floor apartment on the Downtown Mall. A wall of rough-sawn reclaimed white oak treated with bleaching oil runs nearly the entire length of the main room, interrupted only by the rectangular opening that accommodates the black-glass stovetop,
Break it down: Panorama Paydirt makes “black gold” from city leaves
Compost isn’t a glamorous business, but then again—if it helps you hang onto a big, beautiful piece of land in Albemarle County—maybe it is. The 20-or-so acres that Steve Murray uses to produce compost and mulch at Panorama Paydirt, near Earlysville, have been one way to keep the 850-acre farm
Roof with a view: Well, it’s actually the third floor, but outside the glass doors the scene is all sky and mountains
An interesting housing experiment called Lochlyn Hill is taking shape about two miles east of the Downtown Mall, on the Charlottesville-Albemarle line by Pen Park. Five custom builders currently have a stake in the development, which the promotional material is careful to describe as a
Jefferson’s other home: Poplar Forest gave the president what Monticello couldn’t—peace
Monticello was a busy place in Thomas Jefferson’s time, just as it is now. And just as Jefferson’s second home, Poplar Forest, provided him with a much-needed retreat, the meticulously restored property today offers visitors a peaceful haven to gain a different view of the third president’s
Ready, set, grow! A quick guide to starting vegetables and flowers from seed
Starting plants from seed may not be the easiest, or even the most economical, way to supply your garden. It requires investing not only a lot of time, but also money for seeds, potting soil, flats, cell packs, thermometers, those cute little markers, and perhaps heat mats, a cold frame, or
Grand garage: A grungy space gets a lush upgrade
A garage is often a dank, dusty place, cluttered and cobwebby, smelling of gasoline and grass clippings. It’s the last place most homeowners would choose to create a bright, inviting space that could host, say, a wedding party—but a Farmington couple did that and more, with a contemporary