Author: lee-vanderwerff

Weaving history
www.historicwoolenmills.org/

Here in Charlottesville, we love history. We have to, in order to justify our insistence-beyond-all-reason on the TJ connection. There are other historic sites here, though, as this site about the Woolen Mills area amply proves. With a detailed chronology stretching back to the 1700s and plenty of stories and old photos, this site is like flipping through your great-great-(great?)-grandparents’ scrapbook. The blog portion reads almost like a novel, telling the story of specific families who lived and worked in the neighborhood. To fast-forward a couple hundred years, click on the News page to read up on current zoning issues facing the residents of Woolen Mills.

Life’s a beach
http://dreamhome.blogs.nytimes.com/

Alison Davis and Paul B. Brown are a pair of writers who are building a second home in Florida. In their blog about the process, while they’re obsessing over their new kitchen and a potential $7,000 brand-name range, they also call each other, and themselves, crazy for doing so. The husband and wife team write alternating posts about the perils of building a new home and how they balance the huge project with their jobs and daily lives in New England. It’s an interesting read if you yourself have ever gulped at rising construction costs, waded through decking materials, or felt the impatience of delayed completion deadlines. Or, you know, if you just wish that you were building your second home with a pool and three levels of decks on an island in Florida and want to live vicariously through this surprisingly-not-obnoxious duo.

The source
www.zillow.com

Founded by the guys who started Expedia.com, Zillow is a user-friendly real estate site that takes a grassroots approach to advertising and searching houses for sale. Buyers can search for property in a broad area, or by specific sets of characteristics, from price to square footage to zip code. Once you’ve found homes you like, Zillow gives you a list of comparable homes as well as a Q&A option that lets buyers directly ask sellers specific questions. If you’re not a buyer or a seller, but are curious about how much people would be willing to pay for your current home, Zillow’s "Make Me Move" feature lets you post your house with the magic number that would convince you to bid your perfect 3-bedroom, 2.5-bath farewell. While the insistence on Z-words (Zestimate, Zindex) may get a little zannoying after a while, Zillow’s detailed home postings and helpful discussion boards make it a good first stop for anyone entering the real estate game.

To the dogs
www.chowhound.com

What’s the difference between a foodie and a chowhound? Apparently, foodies eat where they’re told, and are more concerned with being hip than with really finding the best eats. Meanwhile, chow- hounds are always sniffing out good food, no matter what restaurants or neighborhoods are hot, and no matter what Zagat has to say. Guess who’s more welcome at this site, a spunky collection of searchable recipes, food and entertaining articles, and message boards with serious ‘tude. Traveling to a new city for the weekend?  Browse lists of restaurants that Chowhound gives a thumbs-up. Want to make your own pancetta, ginger beer, or veggie burger? Search through recipes organized by course. Dying to know the dish on founding fathers’ whiskey brewing? Check out Chowhound’s "story" section for a wide range of articles. Spending an hour on this site will leave even the snobbiest foodie ready to ditch the Zagat and chow down.