Ruth Chiari and Phil Simon wanted a modest single-family home close to amenities when they moved to Charlottesville. But with nothing on the market befitting the couple, they shifted focus to a single-bedroom apartment—with plenty of clever renovations.
“I wanted something that gave me a feeling of space and light,” Chiari says. “We were also looking to downsize and travel, and we wanted to live someplace where we felt there was some culture and restaurants.”
Chiari and Simon moved to Charlottesville from Fairfax, Virginia, where they’d been in a four-bedroom home. After giving up on their hopes of a single-family dwelling, they rented a condo in the Belmont Lofts. They decided the apartment complex might just work for them long-term. The condos checked a critical box: It was one of the only such complexes the couple could find with outdoor green space.
So when a ground-floor Belmont Lofts unit came up for sale, Chiari and Simon went to have a look.
Built around the turn of the millennium, the conveniently-situated Belmont Lofts might not be “lofts” in the conventional sense. The term traditionally refers to converted light industrial spaces—large, open, studio-type rooms with towering ceilings and exposed ductwork. When Chiari and Simon first walked into the condo that would become their home, they found some exposed ductwork, but also odd angles, low bulkheads, and lots of nonfunctional areas.
Still, they had a vision, so the pair moved forward. They interviewed several architects who might help make the place their own. They decided Brian Tuskey best understood what they were after.
Working closely with Chiari and with Simon’s support, Tuskey set out to transform the nonfunctional spaces in the couple’s newly purchased unit, removing bulkheads, shifting ductwork and piping where possible, and replacing dated details with modern amenities. Storage was particularly critical for Chiari and Simon.
“Brian suggested things that we hadn’t thought of that might work for us,” Simon says. “Talking through everything, we all understood that while we’re not interested in acquiring a lot more stuff, we do have things we have carefully curated, and we wanted to make sure we had places that were safe and climate-controlled.”
The result of the extensive reno was a space with higher ceilings, white walls accented by Chiari’s art collection, white cabinets with quartz and walnut, two updated bathrooms with glass showers, a sound-controlled media room, and storage beyond the couple’s imagination. Around nearly the entirety of the 1,100-square-foot space, and flush to the newly vaulted ceilings, are those highly functional quartz-and-walnut white cabinets. “I call it my attic,” Chiari says. “Everyone comes in and can’t believe the space we have.”
According to Tuskey, the neutral color and design scheme throughout was intended to exploit the apartment’s southern exposure. The two redone bathrooms continue the materials palette, and Carrara marble and white tile were also added.
Tuskey says the project did have its limitations. Budget constraints kept him from being able to change the apartment’s layout substantially. And because the condo is on Belmont Lofts’ ground floor, the building code set certain accessibility guidelines. The existing hardwood floors needed work and could’ve been replaced; instead, Tuskey and his team repaired them as needed.
To satisfy Simon’s love of music, as well as the couple’s desire for calming areas and privacy, the renovation included large, custom steel-and-glass pocket doors, which the homeowners can close to divide the space or create a guest suite. The doors are fitted with clear, laminated glass that effectively block sound transmission but not light, while drapes offer privacy and illumination control.
“Ruth pushed me,” Tuskey says. “Their vision was a nice, clean, bright palette. I wanted the general aesthetic to feel light and bright. That’s how they like to live.”
Chiari and Simon say the updated space is the perfect combination of their needs. When they’re not accessing their garden terrace directly from their functional front door, the condo allows them a comfortable space to enjoy their cherished things while feeling the openness of a space well connected to the outdoors.
“We were able to breathe new life into the unit,” Tuskey says. “Some of the units there are caught in that ’90s style, when some things were kind of thrown together. In this case, it felt like it needed some new life.”