Month: December 2016

Categories
Abode Magazines

Complex forms: Architect Bob Anderson on art and the built environment

Among Bob Anderson's projects is a residential complex overlooking the James River. Photo: Stephen Barling

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.

Bob Anderson. Photo: Amy Jackson
Bob Anderson. Photo: Amy Jackson

“I fell in love with it and decided that I wanted to draw like that,” Anderson says, “so I copied it several times, using a No. 2 pencil.” The artist continued drawing that way until he developed his own style, which in many ways still mimics the forms found in traditional etchings. 

Anderson started Little Rhino for both his drawings and his architectural projects, in homage to Dürer’s carving and in appreciation of the endangered rhinoceros, a cause that became important to Anderson during his childhood in Hawaii. “Since I consider myself today a wildlife conservationist as well as an architect, artist and author, the rhino seemed like a good logo and I felt like the name was fitting.”

We asked Anderson to tell us more about how art affects his architecture, what has the biggest influence on his work and what’s on the board now.

Currently on Anderson's boards is a research center on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. Image: Courtesy Bob Anderson
Currently on Anderson’s boards is a research center on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. Image: Courtesy Bob Anderson

Why architecture?

My father was a retired army colonel and the family had always assumed I would go to West Point. One day an old friend of the family, who had always seemed interested in my drawing ability, told me that he couldn’t imagine me in the army and suggested that I look into architecture. At 17, I visited two architecture schools and as soon as I stuck my head in the door of the first one, I knew that this was what I wanted to do. Looking back, I realize that I had always been fascinated by another family friend’s house that had been carefully built by unemployed ship cabinetmakers during the Depression and, to this day, I still carry the memories of beautifully detailed houses we visited in Hawaii and, what was quite modern at the time, a spectacular country club in a lush garden-like setting in the mountains overlooking Honolulu. I guess the lure of architecture (as well as art) was always in me.

Why did you choose to practice in Virginia?

Chance. My wife and I were married in France and were planning on living and working in New York but came to Charlottesville to visit my mother, who lived here. The head of the French department at UVA met my wife at a party my mother had hosted and offered her a job. The next day, I answered a want ad for an architect in the paper and was hired that afternoon. We never went back to New York.

Anderson recently finished Piedmont Place, a mixed-use building in Crozet. Image: Courtesy Bob Anderson
Anderson recently finished Piedmont Place, a mixed-use building in Crozet. Image: Courtesy Bob Anderson

What was your childhood like, and how did it lead you to design?

I grew up in Hawaii from the age of 4 until I was 9 1/2 and started drawing at 4. My parents drank and argued a lot and drawing was my way of escaping into my own world. I never stopped drawing and am both an artist and an architect today. The drawing was always a key component to architecture for me. Today, with computer-aided drafting (CAD), it has become less of a necessity but, for me—I think of Frank Lloyd Wright, whose drawings were just wonderful; Le Corbusier, who could paint and sculpt; Charles Rennie Mackintosh, a most talented water colorist—drawing, painting, in fact, all art is part of being what I call a truly complete architect. Architects are artists, after all, and architecture is the most complex of the art forms.

A cottage in Charlottesville designed by Anderson utilized the work of many local artisans. Photo: Courtesy Bob Anderson
A cottage in Charlottesville designed by Anderson utilized the work of many local artisans. Photo: Courtesy Bob Anderson

Tell us about your college experience. Was there a standout teacher who had a lasting impact on you?

College was a wild up-and-down ride for me. I was very unsettled emotionally when I started college and had a lot of trouble with any and all figures of authority. There was one associate professor who was just out of grad school. He was a sculptor on the architectural faculty and from day one I felt like he treated me as an equal, or at least with respect. I was able to relate really well to him and to this day consider him the one who got me over all those agonizing, self-created hurdles that seemed to always get in my way. Interestingly, all the teachers whom I remember most were either artists or architectural historians. Some of the architecture profs were okay, but most never really got through to me.

On process: How does it begin?

It’s different with every job. I always like to walk the site with a new client while the client talks about what they are looking for. I never do my initial designs on the computer. I start with free-hand sketches and will often do one or two while on that initial walk around the site.

What inspires you?

Great architecture, art, music and writing. Then there’s nature, of course. The first time I ever visited Wright’s Fallingwater was way back when they had just opened it to the public. At that time, the entire site where it sits was filled with sculptures by some of the early 20th century’s best sculptors. You had architecture, art and nature all beautifully blended together, and when I first stood there and looked at it, a big chill went quivering down my spine.

A residence on the slope of Buck's Elbow Mountain. Photo: David Sagrin
A residence on the slope of Buck’s Elbow Mountain. Photo: David Sagrin

What are you working on now?

Osa Verde, a tropical organic agricultural research and educational center for Osa Conservation on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica, and Piedmont Place, a three-story, mixed-use building in Crozet. Two totally different kinds of projects.

Categories
Abode Magazines

What’s the best way to utilize in-floor heating in a temperate climate like Charlottesville’s?

Heated floors are basically a luxury in a moderate climate like Charlottesville's, and are found mainly in higher-end custom homes.

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 in higher-end custom homes. It may be argued that no heating system provides a greater sense of comfort than radiant heat. In-floor radiant is invisible and clean.”

So if you absolutely must keep your tootsies toasty, remember the following tips to stay budget-friendly.

Don’t turn it on yet

Radiant heat, be it from an old-school radiator or the under-floor systems that first became popular about 15 years ago, takes a while to get going. Where forced air through ductwork can warm you up tout de suite, heat from liquids running through pipes in your subfloor must first warm the surrounding base.

“With a radiant floor, there is a time lag. It’s not instantaneous,” says Jeff Sties, owner of green building firm Sunbiosis. “If you have a system that has already been installed, check your owner’s manual for maintenance [direction], keep it in good working order and wait till you get to that point that you want to have it on all the time. That might be December or January.”

Pick your spots

Different types of flooring are better suited to playing nicely with in-floor radiant heat. Sties says wood floors are dicey—but not out of the question—and masonry-type floors with some thermal mass are best. That means floors like those you’ll find in bathrooms, kitchens, mudrooms and foyers.

“If you have slate or tile, that material will retain heat and radiate it into the space,” Sties says. “Wood is a natural product and while well-sealed, it has moisture, so when you heat that wooden floor, it can shrink and crack.”

Sties says hard wood like oak and engineered wood are best suited to in-floor heating. But make sure you consult manufacturers’ guidelines before going forward, and find a contractor who’s worked with heated wood floors in the past.

Consider the source

Since heated floors are basically a luxury in a moderate climate like Charlottesville’s, there are a couple ways to go about obtaining them. An antifreeze-like liquid running through pipes is most common (and most effective in colder climates), but electric sources like those you’ll find in baseboard radiators are also available.

“Electric resistance heaters are expensive to run and operate,” Sties says, so they’re rarely used to heat homes anymore. But according to Stinnette, electric floor heating is sometimes used in bathrooms or other places where it can be turned on and off for one-time use.

“It’s an inefficient way to heat, but it can augment your comfort when you get out of the tub wet,” he says.

Accept redundancy

If you’re heating a home in a climate like that of central Virginia, you pretty much have to have forced heat. Not only do ducted systems work on call, but they also provide the dehumidification necessary in these parts, according to Sties.

That means if you’re using radiant in-floor heat, you’re going to have to install it as a redundant system—not exactly a cost-effective strategy, most builders agree.

“The systems were very popular 10 to 15 years ago when they first came out,” Sties says. “But redundant systems…get expensive. I don’t have many clients asking for them.”

On top of providing an expensive route to toe-comfort town, there’s one other reason homeowners might opt for radiant heat. The systems can act as an emergency backup in case your main heater goes down. So there you go. Fun and functional.

Categories
Abode Magazines

Immortal words: At Montpelier, a place for ‘We, the people’ to learn—and record

Montpelier's new Claude Moore Hall visually connects to its environment, but some contemporary details help it stand out for a modern era. Photo: Stephen Barling

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 young female leaders at Montpelier’s Center for the Constitution.

“To not be able to sit her down in a recording studio and capture her comments for a podcast or our website was such a tragedy,” says Imhoff. Moments like those were a driving force behind the creation of a new building to house the center, which exists to educate citizens about the Constitution.

Richmond-based architecture firm Bartzen + Ball has completed a number of projects at Montpelier, including the renovation of the carriage barn where the center had been housed until now. Imhoff and her colleagues asked for a new facility where they could “record and distribute video and audio materials,” explains architect Maynard Ball.

What they got is a smart, modern structure that answers that need while also connecting functionally and visually with the carriage barn, known as Lewis Hall. The new Claude Moore Hall sits right next door to the former barn, and the two structures form a courtyard overlooking a pond that once supplied Madison and his family with drinking water and ice.

“One of the things I think is so graceful about this building is how it sits in the natural environment,” says Imhoff. “Maynard was able to slide it in next to the existing building.”

Board-and-batten siding and a barnlike main volume allow Claude Moore Hall to echo its surroundings. “When you look across the pond, you see a series of agricultural buildings, and this building is in that vocabulary,” says Imhoff.

Yet it’s clearly a brand-new structure, with contemporary detailing and lots of glass facing the pond. Painting the hall dark gray, says Ball, makes it “recede into the woodland environment” and differentiates it from the signature green applied to many Montpelier buildings by the duPont family, who owned the property for decades.

At 7,000 square feet, Claude Moore Hall provides classroom space, a reception area, offices and a kitchenette, plus the “cherry on the sundae,” says Imhoff: a recording booth. Reclaimed barn wood from the site is used for wainscoting in the upstairs offices, while the public spaces downstairs use beech paneling to strike a modern note.

One special challenge was the fact that at Montpelier, a construction crew can’t just dig into the ground willy-nilly—that could result in the loss of artifacts that might someday be valuable to archaeologists looking for information about the Madison era. Ball was able to site Claude Moore Hall on the footprint of a former power plant built by the duPonts, on ground that had already been disturbed a century ago.

The new facility will host a variety of events for professionals and the public. It opened in late November.

Categories
Abode Magazines

Got it covered: At home with Nina Crawford

Nina Crawford says her favorite room in her own home is the sunroom. "It's a large room for seating and dining with views of the mountains," she says. Photo: Amy Jackson

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 one that trusts in my judgment and isn’t afraid to take some chances,” Crawford says.

The designer took over local firm MSS Designs in 1998 after graduating from Arcadia Academy and working in the industry for many years in New York. In addition to full design services, the business specializes in window coverings-—blinds, shades, shutters and draperies. We asked Crawford to tell us her dream movie set, her most treasured possession and what she’ll never DIY.—Caite White

Antique or modern?

Neither one. I’m more known for an eclectic style.

City or country?

In my early years, being from New York, I would say city. Since I have relocated to Charlottesville it would be more country.

Which colors do you gravitate toward?

I tend to be very fickle about color. Black and gold are always a go-to. Purple is one of my favorite colors, though I’m not always able to incorporate that in homes.

Which materials or textures do you frequently use in your own home?

I like working within the same color palette and using many textures, like velvet, chenille, tweed or linen.

What is your favorite interior design-related word?

Function.

Does your home look like the one you grew up in?

There are some elements that are similar, but for the most part it’s much different. Each room took on its own feeling based upon artwork from my grandmother. Since my grandmother was a decorator, she, like myself, didn’t spend too much time decorating at home.

What’s one thing that can really transform a room?

Without sounding trite, an interior decorator. They can be really beneficial to the homeowner to help navigate through all the choices and decisions.

Favorite designer?

I can’t say that I have one favorite designer but right now I’m favoring Matthew Williamson (a British fashion designer and bespoke furniture purveyor).

Which design blog, website, TV show or magazine do you peruse religiously?

Architectural Digest.

Design rule you like to break?

Most of them.

What is your most treasured possession?

My grandmother’s artwork. She was a very competent woman and was not afraid to tackle any challenge. Birthday presents were always a little bit of a challenge, so my parents gave her a paint set for her birthday at the age of 55. That’s when she started painting. She continued well into her 80s and had sold several pieces.

What do you wish you could do without?

The computer.

What are you afraid to DIY?

Tilework!

Have you ever had a change of heart about an object or a style?

Not so much a change of heart, but I often have a desire to update.

If you could live in one historical figure’s house, whose would it be?

Versailles.

On what movie set would you like to live?

The Great Gatsby.

If you were reborn as a piece of furniture or an object, what would it be?

A chaise lounge.

What is your first design memory?

Having a continual need to move furniture to create a new space in my room as a child.

Nina Crawford says her favorite room in her own home is the sunroom. “It’s a large room for seating and dining with views of the mountains,” she says.

Categories
Uncategorized

Cottage character: Lots to love at an Ivy country place

The area immediately around the house has obviously received lots of attention from a happy gardener, but carries no whiff of capital-D design. There's a homegrown feel to the perennial beds, stone walls and pea-gravel walks that lead to the main entrance. Photo: John Wade

“The most interesting faces generally oscillate between charm and crookedness,” writes Alain de Botton in his Essays in Love. Replace “crookedness” with “quirkiness,” and you’ll have a fair description of why we’re drawn to this listing in Ivy: It it isn’t intimidatingly perfect. It’s lovely but not bland, and it feels real.

Sited at the end of a narrow gravel drive, the house sits midway up a gentle slope. It has space and trees buffering it on three sides; a privacy fence screens the view of a neighbor on the fourth. This isn’t total isolation, but there are five acres here on which to cavort, with most of that space comprised of parklike lawn.

We can see the property and its environs appealing to a few different kinds of buyers. Those who want space to garden, tinker or otherwise create will appreciate the acreage and the large two-story garage. Those who want convenience, but not a cookie-cutter home, might be attracted to the mixed housing stock in the neighborhood.

(It’s not hard to imagine the recent history of the Ivy area: an old, settled country place that has become home to more and more Charlottesville commuters. Murray Elementary School, right down the road, serves kids from humble cottages as well as from large new homes, and the growth of nearby Crozet provides a lot more of the suburban-style amenities than Ivy has ever seen in the past.)

Those who just want pretty views from the windows will be happy too, as long as they’re up for the maintenance involved in a house and yard this spacious. This is a bigger place than it seems from that modest entrance.

Photo: John Wade
Photo: John Wade

The first-floor master suite isn’t enormous, but it feels pleasantly open because of its many windows, high ceiling and a door that opens onto the deck. But if you turn right from the tile-floored foyer, you’ll find yourself in a space that is more than generous. What to call it? “Living room” doesn’t seem to cover it, since it includes two separate seating areas and a built-in desk. Whatever its name, this is the quirky room that lends the house its character.

The main oddity is simply the fact that a small seating area cozies up to the brick fireplace, but occupies a corner within the much more expansive room. A half-wall and some ceiling details suggest that it’s separate, but really it isn’t, and the remainder of the space would be challenging to furnish in a comfortable way. That’s not to say the job is impossible, just that a simple couch-and-coffee table arrangement probably won’t suffice.

Perhaps a solution lies in the adjoining kitchen, which is the room that most belies this house’s age. Nowadays nobody builds galley kitchens with one measly window that feel more like workplaces than hangout spots. Most buyers are going to be eyeing up ways to make this kitchen more a part of the social action, and stealing space from the huge living room might be a solution. Adding square footage in the corner between the kitchen and the dining room—which is also rather removed—could also do the trick.

If it takes a while to plan the attack, the kitchen will be functional in the meantime, with plenty of storage, inoffensive cabinets and a gas stove. At its far end, it opens onto a useful laundry room.

In the basement are two more bedrooms and a bath; upstairs are a small bedroom and a larger one that’s reached via a storage-rich “between room” lit by skylights. In-laws, recent college grads and little kids might all find use for this zone.

The house’s underlying sense of homey comfort means that most of the details manage to appeal, despite being sometimes odd or dated. Nothing’s perfect, but outside and inside, this house offers a lot to love.

The area immediately around the house has obviously received lots of attention from a happy gardener, but carries no whiff of capital-D design. There’s a homegrown feel to the perennial beds, stone walls and pea-gravel walks that lead to the main entrance.

Property details

Address: 3482 Layton Dr., Charlottesville

MLS#: 548333

Year built: 1975

Bedrooms: 5

Baths: 3.5

Square footage: 2,695

Extras: Garage

List price: $595,000

Categories
Real Estate

Deck the Halls and Sell Your Home

The holidays are here and you just found the perfect job in another city, or you decided you’ve had it with winter and want to move somewhere warmer, or you visited an Open House and found the perfect new home but recognize any offer you make would have to be contingent on the sale of your present one. Whatever your reason, if selling your house is something you want to do this time of year, don’t hesitate to talk to your agent about putting it on the market. Similarly, if your home is already listed and hasn’t sold you may want to leave it on the market. Chances are you’ll be glad you did.

While it may seem counter-intuitive, the holidays are actually a great time to sell your home and if you wait until the spring market, you could be missing a unique opportunity.  Not only is there a lot less competition this time of year, but when your house is tastefully decorated for the holidays with greenery, candles and lights it often looks its very best both inside and out.

And it’s not just your home that looks its annual best.  Chances are your whole neighborhood has its best foot forward with individual homes as well as clubhouses, streets and subdivision entrances decked out in holiday finery.  All of this helps buyer prospects feel at home and may even convince them to make on offer on your house so they can move in and enjoy this special holiday ambiance every single year.

When you list your home, it will, of course, be necessary to make it available for showings, and some sellers worry about the inconvenience if they are expecting house guests or planning a party or two.  Don’t stress.  All of this can be worked out with your agent when your home goes on the market. You can always open it for showings when it is convenient for you, and say no when it is not. 

To List or Not to List
While the fourth quarter is usually not the busiest time of year in real estate, a recent, national, online survey by realtor.com found that 60 percent of the agents “always advise a seller to list their home during the holidays because they believe it is a good time to sell,” and 30 percent sometimes advise their clients to list if they are “highly motivated.” In other words, if you are ready to sell, don’t hesitate to have your home on the market when the holidays come around. 

Locally agents report some very nice numbers for the holiday season.  For example, Byrd Abbott with Roy Wheeler Realty Co. said that a year ago, she had eight homes go under contract in the month of December, a banner month. This year she listed a home on the Friday before Thanksgiving.  It went under contract almost immediately to a cash buyer and closed two weeks later.

The December and January time frames are “very rewarding,” added Len Mailloux with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate III.  He suggests this time of year is a good time for buyers to be out looking at homes, in part, because they are in a “much stronger position” to negotiate a good deal.

The holidays are also a time when there is less building going on.  This is especially good news for sellers since the resale market has had a lot of competition from new construction, which is recovering from the recession and coming on strong. With less building happening during the winter months, though, resale homes are much more likely to sell.  At the same time, buyers who are shopping for real estate during the holidays often need to move now and may not be able to wait for a home to be built.  All of these are reasons why you can win big when you put your home on the market during the holidays.

Holiday Buyers are Serious Buyers
People taking time to look at homes during the holidays are generally serious about buying in the very near future. “These aren’t tire kickers,” Abbott said.  They may need a home before the end of the year for tax reasons, or they may be relocating because they have been transferred or because they are, for other reasons, starting a new job. Regardless, finding a place to live now is a priority for these kinds of buyers.

Phyllis Novotny with Roy Wheeler Realty Co. said that, in her experience, doctors often move July first and February first and the  latter are good candidates to be shopping in November or December.  One example is a couple, both physicians, that she helped purchase a home in November a year ago after they were hired by UVA. 

Another source of November through January buyers are those moving in from out of the country, many of whom don’t celebrate the same holidays that are popular in the US and aren’t deterred by Christmas and New Year’s being right around the corner. Sam DeBord, a Seattle area REALTOR® and writer,  posted  an article at realtor.com explaining that along with improvements in the real estate market in our country there has been an increase in the number of foreign buyers and  “significant upticks in buyer showings and home sales around holiday periods.” 

Still another reason to have your home on the market during the holidays is that most buyers today start their home search online. A combination of vacation days and inclement weather often means buyers have more time to review their options and narrow their choices online before getting out to look at their top choices.  If your home is off the market during this time, these online shoppers will not find it and you will miss out.

The holidays are also a time when people who have gone elsewhere for school or jobs come home to visit and some will decide to stay permanently.  Scott Ward with A. Scott Ward Realty, Inc., said it is not uncommon for these holiday visitors to stop by his office in Scottsville and ask about homes for sale in their price range.  For example, the day before Thanksgiving, a couple from Florida was  back visiting their daughter and walked into his office out of curiosity. Before they knew it, they were out looking at houses.  It is the holidays that brings them home and this in turn awakens their desire to return permanently, which often means buying a house.

Last December Ward worked with a young couple—first time buyers—who were home for the holidays after relocating to Las Vegas.  After looking at some houses they decided to move home to Scottsville, and were one of three families that Ward helped buy a house in December of last year.

Holiday Activities and Decor Help You Sell
One reason to sell your home during the holidays is that you can benefit from the seasonal decor throughout the neighborhood and even the special events that bring people there that, at the same time, subtly encourage them to move in so they can enjoy these festivities year after year. This means if your home is for sale don’t pack away your decorative items to get them out of the way.  Instead, use greenery, candles, lights and even scents of the season to help highlight your home’s best features. 

If you live in a neighborhood with a Home Owners Association, community center, club or restaurant, count on them to decorate in a way that also welcomes residents, visitors and prospective homeowners. Visitors may also be intrigued by the seasonal functions offered in your community such as children’s activities and holiday socials and events.  For example, residents, and their guests at Glenmore in Keswick can enjoy  Christmas Eve by Candlelight at the Glenmore Grill and take their pick of two New Year’s Eve functions, one designed for families. 

Abbott encourages sellers to stay on the market during the holidays and suggests they get seasonal decorations up right after Thanksgiving.  “Honestly most homes look so welcoming during this time,” she said and “usually buyers will not take the time to look during the holidays unless they are serious,” she continued.

Of course it is important to make the best use of holiday decor options. For example, highlight your home’s best features by outlining a bay window, porch or a walkway with lights or welcoming visitors, guests and prospective buyers with a tasteful wreath on the front door or greenery and candles on the mantle.  Even a simple candle in each window adds a welcoming touch not available other times of the year.

It’s important not to overdo the decor, but keep it very tasteful.  Ward suggests sellers take their cue from Colonial Williamsburg where holiday decorating featured  natural elements. He added that sellers need to continue to “live in their house,” when it is on the market, but “live a little neater.”

Mailloux agrees stating that he believes a home that feels lived in “conveys a lot about the house and shows that it is loved.”  In other words, sellers can continue to enjoy their homes even when they are on the market during the holidays.

When preparing your home for sale, don’t overlook the use of seasonal fragrances that can lend a welcoming ambiance. These could be anything from the scent of fresh baked bread or ginger cookies, to the fragrance of fresh evergreens or hot spiced cider.   These scents bring back memories of holidays past encouraging buyers to stay longer in a home and imagine what it will be like living there with their family during next year’s holiday season.

Nancy McCaig with A. Scott Ward Realty, Inc. added that, in her experience, “people dream more during the holidays” and can better picture themselves living in the homes they see when looking during that time.  Adding traditional decor and fragrances just makes it all easier.

Still another reason to have your home on the market during the holidays is that it is, “a festive, happy time of year,” Novotny said, adding that when people are in a good mood, it is a lot easier to negotiate a deal that benefits both parties. 

Of course, holiday sellers face less competition then otherwise since there are fewer homes on the market. If theirs is in good condition and well priced the chances of it selling increase compared to the spring market when there is always lots of competition.  In addition, in the spring, offers may be lower and come from buyers who are not as serious or as likely to negotiate as those out looking during the holidays. 

If you are someone who wants to sell your home, talk to your agent about taking advantage of this unique holiday market.  And while you’re at it, take time to enjoy the chance to decorate for the season, smell familiar fragrances and dream about your next home.  You may even want to join the other buyers and start looking today. 

Celeste Smucker is a writer, blogger and author who lives near Charlottesville

Categories
Real Estate

Make the Most of your Home for Holiday Entertaining

While some homes seem built for entertaining, many aren’t designed that way. Still, you can make the most of what you have starting right at the front door and carrying it throughout your house.

Your home’s entry should be inviting whether you have a sidewalk, a porch, or simply the door from the hall of an apartment or condo. Be sure the approach is tidy, put out a welcome mat, and hang a wreath celebrating Hanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, the New Year, Valentine’s Day, the Fourth of July, a birthday—or any other theme— on the door.

Come on In
Once the door opens, you want guests to step into an entryway rather than abruptly being in the living area. Some homes have a formal foyer which can continue your welcoming theme. On the other hand, your floorplan may not include a separate space.

Nevertheless, you can create a transitional area without major architectural changes. A low shelf or even the back of a large piece of furniture can define your entryway. In one case, a woman created a “wall” by suspending a reclaimed oval window.

Flooring that is different from the main room such as tile, wood, or a complimentary area rug can provide visual separation. Even the ceiling can help define the entryway with paint and wooden molding or a contrasting material such as recycled wood or press-on tin tiles.

If there is no closet, perhaps there is room for an interesting clothes tree or unusual clothes hooks on a wall.

Conversation Areas
Everyone says it: “No matter who the company is, they always congregate in the kitchen.” Often this is because that’s where the beverages and appetizers are, so one way to have people gather in other places is to establish drink stations and hors d’oeuvres in several locations.

Many newer homes have open-concept designs and these are especially conducive to entertaining because guests can interact in small groups while still being part of a larger gathering. If your home is not open, consider ways to make changes.

These are seldom a spur-of-the-moment projects because they often require major renovation, such as the couple who opened a load-bearing wall between the living room and formal dining room with a trio of tall, wide archways or the family who replaced a kitchen wall with a counter including seating on both sides.

Building a flexible seating plan into your main living area is another good way to move people out of the kitchen and one that doesn’t require renovation. Consider ottomans or bench seating that can slide under tables until needed. If you entertain frequently, invest in some attractive chairs that can be folded or stacked for storage.

Set up several conversation areas so guests can have places to sit and chat while still being part of the main group. Have all the seats in a single area at the same level keeping people face to face. If you’re entertaining younger guests, some big pillows on the floor can work well.

Use your imagination. An ottoman or piano bench can provide seating opposite a pair of chairs with a small table in the center for glasses and plates. You might rearrange your usual furniture locations, move some furniture out or even bring some from other rooms.

Nothing is more anti-conversation than a TV screen. While some people put on one of those “background” programs of drifting fish or peaceful forests, it’s better to have the screen out of sight behind a painting or removed to another room. This way, when someone says it’s time for an Important Sports Event, you aren’t put on the spot. (Unless the party is specifically to watch a game, of course.)

Lighting
Lighting is a key to setting the mood for a party. Tiny colored lights add a remarkably festive tone to holiday parties. In addition, you should have multiple light sources to provide relatively soft lighting in every room. One way to do this is to have dimmers on several lights so that you have relatively bright lighting when guests first arrive, then lower it a bit for a more relaxed ambiance later on.

Candles are unfailingly festive, but be sure to use unscented varieties which will not bother guests’ sensitivities or detract from the food you are serving. Be extra careful to place candles in safe places away from traffic areas or spots where they might ignite holiday decorations, a lampshade, or a trailing scarf.

Another sure way to create a pleasant mood is to have music playing even before people arrive. Keep it soft and light and consider varying it between jazz and light classical. Avoid vocals and be careful about two hours of Christmas music this time of year.  Not all of your guests may observe this particular holiday and everyone may well be Muzak-ed out after holiday shopping.

The Little Room
Be sure the bathroom is friendly with good lighting, plenty of TP in an easily found location, and fresh towels. It’s a good plan to provide towels people feel comfortable using rather than exquisitely embroidered bits of fabric on a towel bar or even those decorated paper towels in a holder.

The bottom line is if you’re planning a future remodel, bring entertaining into your planning equation.  Until then, use your imagination to make your home as inviting as possible.

Marilyn Pribus and her husband live in Albemarle County near Charlottesville.

Categories
News

ABC and one agent nixed from Martese Johnson’s suit

Photos and videos of Martese Johnson's bloody arrest went viral. Photo: Bryan Beaubrun

A federal judge ruled that a former UVA student was not falsely arrested during a controversial incident occurring on St. Patrick’s Day last year, and dropped the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control and one of its agents from his $3 million lawsuit December 13.

Videos of Martese Johnson’s bloody arrest went viral after he was denied entrance to Trinity Irish Pub and taken down by nearby ABC officers who thought he flashed a fake ID to the bar’s owner. Though underage, the student had showed his actual ID at the door, incorrectly recited his zip code and was turned away.

In his original suit—filed October 15, 2015, against the ABC, its law enforcement director Shawn Walker, and the three agents involved—Johnson alleges that Agent John Cielakie handcuffed him and placed him in leg shackles after Agents Jared Miller and Thomas Custer tackled him to the ground. Cielakie is the agent dropped from the suit.

“In the instant case, Miller and Custer had already thrown Johnson to the ground before Cielakie intervened,” U.S. District Court Judge Glen Conrad wrote in his opinion. “From the facts as pled, the court believes that a reasonable officer in Agent Cielakie’s position could believe that further handcuffing of the plaintiff was necessary. Accordingly, Agent Cielakie cannot be seen as having used an objectively unreasonable amount of force.”

Cielakie was also involved in an April 2013 incident in which ABC agents surrounded UVA student Elizabeth Daily’s car, punching her windshield and slamming on her windows with their flashlights, because they believed the case of water she was carrying was a case of beer.

In his written order, Judge Conrad dismissed Johnson’s allegation that he was falsely arrested, agreeing that a reasonable ABC agent would believe they had probable cause to arrest him. He also dismissed one count of negligent supervision by law enforcement director Walker, and dropped the ABC entirely from the suit.

Johnson’s four-day trial is scheduled for July.

Categories
Arts

Natalee McReynolds brings pizzazz to Guys and Dolls

Guys and Dolls, starring Natalee McReynolds, opened at Live Arts’ Gibson Theatre on December 9 and runs through January 15. Photo by Martyn Kyle

Brimming with gamblers, gangsters, showgirls and soul-savers, the bustling world of the Broadway classic Guys and Dolls has come to life this season at Live Arts. Based on short stories by Damon Runyon, with music and lyrics written by Frank Loesser, this legendary production debuted in 1951 and won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It left its cinematic mark in 1955, when it was adapted into a film starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine.

The story follows two unlikely duos: a high-stakes gambler and a puritanical missionary, and a crap game manager and a nightclub singer trying to make good. Feeling the heat from the police, Nathan Detroit is trying to find a spot to host his illegal crap game. To complicate matters, his fiancé of 14 years, a showgirl named Miss Adelaide, wants him to go straight and finally tie the knot. Instead, Nathan continues plotting and bets big-roller Sky Masterson that Sky can’t get the “doll” of Nathan’s choosing to go to Havana, Cuba, with him on a date. Sky agrees and Nathan chooses Evangelist Sergeant Sarah Brown of the Save-a-Soul Mission, figuring she would be impossible to convince. In order to sway Sarah, Sky pretends that he wants to reform and promises he will bring a dozen sinners to the mission in exchange for her company in Havana. With the mission dwindling due to lack of participation, Sarah takes Sky up on his offer. What unfolds is a romantic comedy that jets from the underbelly of New York to the nightclubs of Havana and back again.

This rollicking production boasts some of the most famous tunes on Broadway. To tackle the lead role of Sergeant Sarah Brown, Live Arts cast Charlottesville newcomer Natalee McReynolds. McReynolds earned her master’s degree in vocal performance at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. With a background in opera and musical theater, she has performed in major productions such as The Secret Garden and Sweeney Todd, and Guys and Dolls marks McReynolds’ first production in Virginia.

“I tend to play kind of the vanilla characters and [Sarah] certainly fits that mold,” McReynolds says. “And some people would see that as a curse, but I actually like it quite a bit because I can get in there and find the vanilla character and do something to make her spicy, make her a little bit more alive and more human.”

During casting, McReynolds watched YouTube clips of high school productions and parts of the feature film to prep for her callback. Overall, though, she didn’t pay too much attention to other adaptations. She wanted to present her own take on the well-known role.

“I don’t particularly like watching other actresses do the whole role because I don’t want to take any of those things on myself,” says McReynolds. “I’d rather start from scratch and come up with my own kind of material.”

While the characters were written in the 1930s, the music was written in the 1950s, which is when the show takes place. Directed by Ray Nedzel, the Live Arts production of Guys and Dolls aims to stay true to the original, while incorporating an approach that makes sense today.

“There’s a song towards the end in which the two female leads sing ‘Marry the Man Today,’ and typically in productions, they sing that song basically to say, ‘Well, what else can we do but just get married?’” McReynolds says. “So [Ray] twisted that song to mean more like, not ‘We have nothing better to do,’ but, ‘You know what? We’re in control of this situation and they need us and we’re going to marry them because we love them.’ …We’ve been flexible on certain aspects that might come across as negative if they were presented in 2016.”

This intimate production makes use of the theater’s thrust stage, meaning the audience is seated around three sides, not just out front. While specific details about the set remain under wraps (you’ll have to buy a ticket for the full effect), it’s clear that the set was a central component to the overall vision of the performance.

“There was a lot of thought and a lot of energy and a lot of time put into the set,” says McReynolds. “Otherwise, we keep the stage pretty bare. We use chairs to suggest a bench or we’ll use a table, but there aren’t any big set pieces.”

This method is driven by Live Arts’ philosophy that the actors guide the narrative.

“There are minimal props,” McReynolds says. “We don’t mime anything. If we have coffee, we’re drinking out of coffee cups, but it’s not elaborate by any means. It’s very stripped down to the actors telling the story.”

Categories
Arts

Manchester by the Sea sails on love and loss

Casey Affleck and Lucas Hedges star in Kenneth Lonergan’s powerful, Oscar-ready drama, Manchester by the Sea. Courtesy of Roadside Attractions

Tragedy and comedy are, in fact, bedfellows when both are taken very seriously, and rarely is this relationship captured as well as it is in Manchester by the Sea. Writer-director Kenneth Lonergan’s meditation on love, loss and moving on strikes this balance with ease, and it’s a masterpiece in its own right for its emotional depth, stylistic restraint and masterful navigation of a story that might have veered into cloying or mawkish territory in lesser hands.

Manchester by the Sea follows the story of Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck), who comes home to the North Shore of Massachusetts after the sudden death of his brother, Joe (Kyle Chandler), to look after Joe’s teenage son, Patrick (Lucas Hedges). Until then, Lee had been eking out a living as a janitor in Quincy, a suburb south of Boston and about as far away as a person can get from Manchester while remaining in culturally familiar territory. Between getting yelled at by tenants and fixing problems beyond his job description, he also resists friendly advances yet picks fights with strangers. We initially know little about Lee’s story, except that he has suffered a great loss and that the last place in the world he wants to be is back in Manchester, let alone taking custody of a 16-year-old he had no hand in raising.

Manchester by the Sea
R, 137 minutes
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX, Violet Crown Cinema

Lonergan is keenly aware of the link between location and memory, telling much of Lee’s story through flashback when it is most emotionally relevant and not a moment sooner. The names of many Massachusetts towns appear frequently, but not as a play for local credibility. Audiences won’t need a map to make sense of the emotional geography—Quincy is the place Lee went to escape his problems, Essex is the neighboring town that may as well be on another planet for its economic differences. Manchester is the place where no one forgets the past, which is great for Patrick, a hockey star with a local band and two girlfriends, but a nightmare for Lee.

Lonergan also pays very close attention to the ways people react to the things they can and cannot control. When the film opens, we see Lee in a series of situations where he has no choice but to suffer the abuse of his tenants. Later that night, he turns down an obvious advance from a woman in a bar because responding would mean opening up to someone—an unpredictable undertaking—while he has no problem fighting strangers because that situation follows a predetermined pattern. When Lee is given custody of Patrick, his first decision is to bring him back south to live in Boston, thereby uprooting his entire life. Any requests that might make Lee vulnerable are refused, but he has no problem being Patrick’s chauffeur, no matter how inconvenient. And as we learn the truth of why Lee left, we learn the underlying reason for his fear of powerlessness and resistance to leaving anything to chance.

Manchester by the Sea is a thoughtful, intelligent film with excellent performances and characters you will want to spend as much time with as Lonergan allows. It is funny in expected places and is easily one of the best films of the year, if not the decade.

Playing this week

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213
Allied, Almost Christmas, Arrival, Doctor Strange, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Hacksaw Ridge, Incarnate, Miss Sloane, Moana, Nocturnal Animals, Office Christmas Party, Trolls

Violet Crown Cinema
200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000
Allied, Arrival, Doctor Strange, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Loving, A Man Called Ove, Moonlight, Moana, Office Christmas Party