R•Home July/August 2011

READERS´ FAVORITES 2011 58 C a teg

or ie s

J U L / A U G 2 011

The

Hot List

Our top 10 ing most intrigu local finds

$3.95

RHOMEMAG.COM

Urban Views in Manchester | Teen Dream Room Green Rooftops & Living Walls | Chill the Wine What’s Your Gardening Personality?

Private Residence Richmond, Virginia

For over 50 years, the Hendrick family has honored their commitment to quality work and client satisfaction.

Call 804 288 7247 for more information or visit our design studio and showroom.

6412 Horsepen Road Richmond, Virginia See our portfolio at CustomKitchensInc.net

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5/15/11 7:09 PM 5/16/11 8:51:46 AM

Richmond’s Choice for Over 60 Years

We can help with all of your interior window treatment needs.

Whether you are interested in Plantation Shutters, 2” wood blinds, shades or draperies, we have the right window treatment for you.

We can help you update a room, or finish an entire house.

Come by our showroom, or call for an appointment today.

(804) 288-2819 | 6011 W. Broad St., Richmond, VA 23230 | www.mannkidwell.com Showroom Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00AM - 5:00PM | After-hours appointments by request

We’ve been known for doing quality work at a fair price for over 60 years.

Before

After

And we’re being recognized for it: Recipient of the NWFA Community Service Award

Voted Best Flooring Selection by Richmond Magazine readers

Voted Favorite Flooring Refinisher by R Home readers in 2010 & 2011

American Heart Association’s Start! Fit-Friendly Company Award

Thank you Richmond for voting us # 1 two years in a row!

Over three generations, the Costen family has been steadfast in our committment to exceptional service and selection. That promise built our reputation, and our business. Through the years, we’ve had the pleasure of being invited into thousands of Richmond homes and businesses and we’ve had the honor of receiving many awards. Come see for yourself why Costen Floors is No. 1.

9840 MAYLAND DRIVE (BETWEEN GASKINS & PEMBERTON) COSTENFLOORS.COM | 804-527-2929

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5/31/11 4:25:11 PM

PEOPLE ALWAYS ASK US, “WHO ARE THOSE KIDS ON YOUR

REFRIGERATOR? ”

“WE SAY,“THEY’RE OUR BROTHER

AND SISTER.

”

- GRANT & ANNA, RICHMOND, VA

“ When we first picked our kids from the ChildFund site, they seemed so different from us. James lived in Uganda. And Nagveni was all the way in India. But as we shared letters and pictures, we saw that even though we lived in different worlds, we had a lot in common.

We saw what a difference our sponsorship made. Less than $1 a day provided them food, medical care, and even their schooling.

It’s been three years, and we no longer think of James and Nagveni as ‘kids we sponsor.’

We think of them as family.”

Make a difference. Become a ChildFund sponsor now.

Call 800-610-9013 or visit childfund.org

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2821 Emerywood Parkway, Richmond VA 23294

6/20/11 11:47:32 AM

West End Antique Mall

IN OUR 21ST YEAR

53,000 SQ. FT • 250 DEALERS • 45 DAY LAYAWAY • DELIVERY • 24 HOUR HOLDS • 72 HOUR RETURNS Conveniently located near the intersection of Staples Mill Rd. and W. Broad St. West End Antiques Mall 2004 Staples Mill Rd. Richmond, VA 23230 Building 1: 804-359-1600 Building 2: 804-359-8842 Hours Monday - Saturday: 10am - 6pm Sunday: Noon - 6pm Check us out online at

www.westendantiquemall.com

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6/17/11 2:56:17 PM

the

V iew

© Charles Robins

Protect Your Fur nishings & Keep

Reduces Fading, Heat and Glare Protect your furniture, floors and draperies BEFORE you notice the damage from the sun’s harmful rays.

Blocks out 99% of harmful UV rays – the principle cause of fading • Eliminates harsh glare & hot spots Manufacturers’ Lifetime Warranty • Installed by staff professionals • Locally owned

Serving Central Virginia Since 1982 Member of IWFA/

Licensed Class A Virginia Contractor

7921 West Broad St. • (804) 935-7100 • www.solarfilmva.com

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5/14/08 11:51:31 AM

SLAB Warehouse & Showroom Open Mon.-Fri. 8:30AM-5PM, Sat. by Appt.

Fabricators and Installers of Quality Natural Stone Products

 Free Estimates  Licensed & Insured  Digital Templating  Custom Fabrication  Professional Installation  All Work Performed by Company Employees  Residential  Commercial  Hospitality AlphaStone.fp.0711.indd 1

www.alphastone.us

1901 Dabney Rd.  Richmond, VA 23230 Phone (804) 622-2068  Fax (804) 622-2069

6/17/11 4:26:13 PM

Contents

jul/aug 2011 D E PA R T M E N T S

80

41

17

The Goods

20

The Hunt

24

At Home

26

Favorites

30

Harry’s History

80 84

features 34

NEW LIFE

A renovated house in the Fan proves that you don’t have to give up architectural charm to take advantage of new, green technology.

41

THE HOT LIST

56

READERS’ FAVORITES

Your picks for the most interesting, most creative and most reliable folks you turn to when it comes to your home

WIDE-OPEN SPACES

Neil and Jamie Gregory fi nd echoes of Chicago in a Manchester loft.

Teenage design I like a man in a tool belt.

The art and design of Coloratura

A Ginter Park anchor

Occasions

Stork Alley shows off its gardens.

Calendar

Five ways to get out and beat the heat

86

Q&A

88

The Back Page

Landscape designer Julie Moir Messervy helps find your gardening personality.

A grab bag of websites, books and products

Plus: Resource Listings on Page 76

Ten cool things that we think you should know about

48

Cool off with wine.

RE A DE

R S´ FA V

O R IT E S

2 011

58 Categories

JUL/A

ABOUT THE COVER: Todd Wright photo

U G 2 011

A striking jade wall defi nes Neil Gregory’s studio, where she designs original letterpress stationery for her business, Shuford Prints. The antique “stationery” sign was a Christmas gift from her husband’s mother.

The

Hott Lis

10

top Our triguing t in mos finds local

n Dream

Room

Tee ester | Wine in ManchWalls | Chill the Views Living y?

Urban sonalit ftops & Per Roo dening Green Your Gar What’s

L e f t : A s h D a n i e l p h o t o ; r i g h t : Ja y P a u l p h o t o

rhomemag.com

7

R I C H M O N D

H O W

H O M E

&

G A R D E N

R I C H M O N D

L I V E S

from the publishers of richmond magazine President/Publisher Richard Malkman Editor-in-chief Susan Winiecki MANAGING editor Brandon Fox senior editors H O Andrews, W R I CTina HM OND LIVES Kate Eshleman Contributing Writers Deborah Rider Allen, Courtney Crane Dauer, Chris Dovi, Maureen Egan, Jessica Ronky Haddad, Katherine Houstoun, Susan Howson, Sara Jackson, Harry Kollatz Jr., Megan Marconyak, Kris Spisak

R I C H M O N D

H O M E

&

G A R D E N

CREATIVE Director Steve Hedberg managing art Director V. Lee Aulick Contributing Photographers Greg Bethmann, Ash RDaniel, I V Paul, E S H O W I C HBeth M OFurgurson, N D L Jay Jeff Saxman, Mike Shield, Sarah Walor, Todd Wright CONTRIBUTING Stylist Courtney Crane Dauer Contributing illustrator Bob Scott Sales Director Rich Malkman SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Scott Bunce, Steve Coffield, Martha Hebert, Kelly McCauley AD PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Laura Ashley-Duszak AD GRAPHIC DESIGNER Rebecca Boarman

Marketing and circulation director Vivian Oswald

Vice President/Controller Elisa Malkman bookkeeper Ellen Tishman office coordinator Devin Grimsley

Editorial & Advertising Offices 2201 W. Broad St., Suite 105 Richmond, Virginia 23220 Telephone 804-355-0111 Main Fax 804-355-5442 Editorial and Art Fax 804-355-8939 E-mail editor@rhomemag.com Subscription Rate: $14 per one year (6 issues R•Home and 12 issues Richmond Magazine).

Single copy price is $3.95. Allow 4 to 6 weeks to begin delivery.

R•Home, published bimonthly; Richmond Magazine, published monthly; and Richmond Surroundings Magazine are products of Target Communications Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part of any text, photograph or illustration without written permission from the publisher is prohibited.

THANK YOU, Richmond, for voting us BEST FENCES and to our employees for helping us make it happen.

8

www.minorsfences.com

(804) 752-0096

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5/31/11 4:23:37 PM

32ND YEAR TARGET

COMMUNICATIONS INC.

M E M B E R

THANK YOU FOR VOTING US A READER'S FAVORITE! RICHMOND'S HEADQUARTERS FOR CHIC LIGHTING & RUGS Bath & Vanity Lighting • Wall Sconces • Ceiling Lights • Chandeliers • Table Lamps • Floor Lamps Pendants & Lanterns • Outdoor Lighting • Swing Arm Wall Lamps • Antique Rugs

4924 West Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23230 804.288.6515

Open Mon-Thurs 10-5:30, Fri-Sat 10-5

Visit www.ShadesofLight.com to shop our entire collection of Lighting, Rugs & Furniture

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Visit our Decorating Outlet for fabulous prices on Discontinued and Clearance Lighting, Rugs, Lampshades and Furniture.

Our Outlet was also voted a Reader’s Favorite. Come see why! 9912 Midlothian Turnpike, Richmond, VA 804.320.3695

6/7/11 12:00 PM 6/7/11 12:09:32 PM

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6/13/11 2:15:23 PM

Your closet can look like this too.

We’ll work within your budget - to get you exactly what you want.

Closet Factory builds real, custom organization solutions. We make any storage solution work better for you by starting with an idea no one else does: that every person uses their closet differently. That is why Closet Factory Designers start from scratch and don’t build or install a thing until they see how you live and what you need.

CALL TODAY FOR YOUR FREE CONSULTATION 804.447.8335 • CLOSET FACTORY - RICHMOND

TAKE TIME TO LEARN MORE: VISIT WWW.CLOSETFACTORY.COM/RICHMOND AND WWW.MURPHYBEDLIFESTYLES.COM CUSTOM CLOSETS | CUSTOM HOME OFFICE | WALL UNITS & ENTERTAINMENT CENTERS FAMILY ROOM | KIDS’ CLOSETS | LAUNDRY ROOM | GARAGE ORGANIZERS

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6/1/11 4:46:41 PM

Editor’s Letter

W

Favorite Things

e’ve all had bad experiences when making EXTRAS changes to our home, but how often do you hear glowing stories of jobs gone right?

We asked you, our readers, to tell us whom you turned to when, say, you needed to fix your bathtub, to buy a new refrigerator or anything else that might have to do with your home. And you voted in record numbers this year — starting on Page 50, you’ll find the results of that survey and also you’ll have a handy guide to the vendors and service people your fellow R•HOME readers rely on.

Of course, we’re an opinionated bunch here at R•HOME, so we wanted to share some of the newest and coolest things that we’ve noticed this year. You can clean it green with River City Cleaners, a cleaning service that not only uses environmentally friendly products but travels almost exclusively by bike to reduce the carbon footprint of their business. We were impressed with Deanna King’s dining-room table in our last issue (“Green Acres,” May/June 2011) and found out that it was custom-made

by Van Jester Woodworks. They produce a lot of custom furniture using reclaimed materials, and the rustic/ industrial look they specialize in is a trend that we’re seeing everywhere.

TREE HUGGER It’s a style that looks great in the You’ve got to go where the shot all-neutral, single-color palettes that is when you’re a photographer, but Mike Shield probably didn’t we’ve also observed. Sometimes an anticipate that he’d entire house will be decorated have to hang 50 feet in in just one neutral hue. At the the air to get it. Shield other end of the spectrum, Want to read had to put his trust in more? Go to we’ve also seen bold designs Scott Turner of True Timber and his treethat contrast a single bright RHOME climbing equipment blue or green against a palette MAG.COM to get a shot of Turner of black and white. high above the James We were invited to take shown on Page 65. a look at Neil and Jamie Gregory’s loft in Manchester, a diverse mix of vintage industrial details, famTHE HUNT ily antiques and streamlined modern Impressed with a friend’s footpieces. Although Jamie is a native ball sanctuary? Amazed by your brother’s single-minded obsession Richmonder, the couple met in Chicago with video games and the ameniand wanted to find the same urban vibe here. With a view of the river and ties needed to play for hours at a a gallery across the street, Manchester turned out to be just the right mix. time? Email us your nominations Neil, a graphic designer and owner of Shuford Prints, says, “I grew up seefor best man cave in Richmond at thehunt@rhomemag.com or send ing movies with artists’ lofts, and this is exactly what I pictured.” a message via Twitter by following Enjoy a few of our — and your — favorite things throughout this is@RHomeMagazine. sue’s pages. Hopefully, you’ll find more than a few new ones that will become reliable standbys in no time.

Microsoft Tags 101 Follow these simple instructions, and content marked with a Microsoft “Tag” can be viewed on your smartphone.

BRANDON FOX brandonf@rhomemag.com

1 Visit gettag.mobi on your smartphone’s Web browser. (For iPhones, you can also search “microsoft tag” in the app store.)

2 Download the free mobile app.

3 Open the app and carefully scan the tag with your phone’s camera. Once the app recognizes the tag, it will take you to the bonus content.

Get the free mobile app at

http:/ / gettag.mobi

12

j u l - a u g 2 011

Right: Sandra Pelouze photo

now open in Charlottesville

Most

Fabri c

$1 .9 s 9/yd 2 o r Les

s!

Richmond’s TRUE

discount

FABRIC STORE 106 S. Robinson St. Richmond, VA 23220 At the corner of Cary & Robinson behind Acacia (804) 888-UFAB

www.ufabstore.com

• • • • •

thousands of remnants @ $2.99/yd most fabric less than $9.99/yd custom re-upholstery, headboards & pillows large selection of outdoor fabrics new arrivals weekly

In Fabric

In Upholstery

Brands we carry and can order from: Kravet, P/Kaufmann, Waverly, Braemore, Covington, Robert Allen.. and many more.

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s ,!.$3#!0% $%3)'. "5),$ s ,!.$3#!0% -!.!'%-%.4

)4 3 !,, 9/52 02/0%249 .%%$3

www.StoneEarthAndWater.com

Contributors

Photographer Mike Shield got out of his

comfort zone for this month’s issue while suspended 50 feet in the air shooting a few photos of Scott Turner at True Timber. “The first few minutes were interesting — you’re hanging by a single rope — but Scott gave me a few pointers, and got me to trust the gear so I could concentrate on shooting. Once I got into it, it was fantastic ... but don’t try this at home, kids!�

Sara Waldrop Jackson is a veteran

# / . 4 ! # 4 5 3 4 / $ !9 4 / 3 4 ! 2 4 9 / 5 2 0 2 / * % # 4 804 598 3645 or emailus@StoneEarthAndWater.com

www.KathyCorbetInteriors.com

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3/21/11 4:24:31 PM

A kitchen remodeling project this winter gave writer Jessica Ronky Haddad a new appreciation for all the details that make a house a home. Now that she has put her house back together, she can look to others for inspiration for her next home improvement project. In this issue, she explores Neil and Jamie Gregory’s funky loft in the city’s Manchester area, an assignment that has gotten her wishing her home had more natural light.

.

804.310.2597 14

business, technology and health-care editor. In 20 years as an award-winning reporter and editor, Jackson has broken stories about infant kidnappings (and other security lapses) at U.S. hospitals, emerging health-care technologies for smart phones, Medicare mistakes that cost U.S. businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, and even one on the joys of the professional croquet circuit (yes, there is one).

Bob Scott has been living and illustrating in Richmond since 1990.

When he’s not creating art at his computer, he can be found playing tennis at Byrd Park, scouring flea markets for retro treasures or exploring other artistic pursuits. Just having finished writing and illustrating a children’s book, Scott is seeking a publisher. More of his artwork can be seen at bobscottart.com.

j u l - a u g 2 011 KathyCorbet.1\3b.RH0711.indd 1

6/9/11 10:25:50 AM

2010 Recipient of 3 Excellence in Remodeling Awards by the Home Builders Association of Richmond 12536 Patterson Avenue Richmond, VA 23238 804-784-0012 Richmond 434-973-2600 Charlottesville

www.LaneBuilt.com

DESIGN/BUILD: ADDITIONS s KITCHENS s BATHS s SUNROOMS MASTER SUITES s ATTIC AND BASEMENT s OUTDOOR LIVING SPACES LaneHomes.1\2h.0711rh.indd 1

5/26/11 10:53:09 AM

Buy it once. Love it for a lifetime.

Mid-Summer Store Clearance Great Deals Storewide

2W8I +WUXIVa¼[ ÅVM Y]ITQ\a KI[]IT N]ZVQ\]ZM Q[ IT_Ia[ \PM JM[\ TWVO \MZU LMKQ[QWV aW] KIV UISM _PMV LMKWZI\QVO aW]Z W]\LWWZ TQ^QVO IZMI[ *]\ \PMZM IZM \QUM[ _PMV J]aQVO KIV UISM M^MV UWZM [MV[M ;I^M VW_ L]ZQVO \PQ[ [XMKQIT [I^QVO[ M^MV\ IVL I[ \PM aMIZ[ OW Ja _Q\P MIKP KWUXTQUMV\ aW] ZMKQM^M WV aW]Z M`Y]Q[Q\M [MV[M WN \I[\M aW] KIV KWUXTQUMV\ aW]Z XMZNMK\ [MV[M WN \QUQVO I[ _MTT 8711 W. Broad (Just west of Parham) Richmond, VA

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(804) 747-9700

since 1945 | www.brownjordan.com

M-F 9:30-6; Sat. 9:30-5

JoPa Company

Custom Pools Casual Furniture

www.jopa.com

6/10/11 12:43:19 PM

Control the Sun

Enhance the View!

SUN BLOCK 804-379-4123

INC.

Est. 1992

Celebrating Over 19 Years as Richmond’s PLATINUM Vista Window Film Dealer!

Whether your concerns are saving on the high cost of heating and cooling, protecting your furnishings, fabrics, and draperies from premature fading or ultraviolet ray protection for your family, Vista Window Film is the clear answer!

Virtually undetectable, Vista Window Film is professionally applied to the interior of your existing glass. Vista comes with scratch resistant coating and a life-time warranty from the manufacturer. Follow the leader in sun control!

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6/16/11 11:14:30 AM

The Goods

1

2

5

3

4 6

Chilled Wine Wine IT ’ S S U M M ERT I M E. IT ’ S H OT. A R E YO U R E A DY TO S IT B ACK A N D S I P S O M E W I N E?  By Courtney Crane Dauer

1 Olivia Riegel giraffe bottle stopper, $54

from Janet Brown Interiors

Je f f S a x m a n p h o t o

2 Abercrombie & Fitch England 1930s picnic basket, $60 from

Sheppard Street Antiques

3 Orange polkadot wine glass,

$16 from Party Plus

4 Dransfield and Ross needlepoint coaster, $30 for set of four from Van Der Wolks

5 Woven jacquard towel, $28 from

Yves Delorme

6 Chilewich Dahlia placemats, $8 each

from Sur La Table

rhomemag.com

17

The Goods

Chilled Wine cont’d



Black damask wine chiller, $35 from



Picnic Gift orange wine purse, $40 from Verve

The French Boutique





True Fabrications Wine Globe bottle top aerator, $25

from Private Stock Cigar & Wine & Company



BoBo Intriguing Objects City Sconce made with reclaimed French oak wine barrel staves,

Hanford buffet,

$480 from World Market

$360 from Williams & Sherrill

Stake out a good time with divine wine goblets and furnishings.







Godiva Glass, a local Etsy shop

$68 from the VMFA Shop

from Macy’s

Hand-etched peacock wine glasses, two for $24 from

Hand-blown wine goblet by Minh Martin,

Charter Club Clink wine glasses, two for $40

•Wine glass stakes, $7 each from Izzie’s Consigning with Grace

18

j u l - a u g 2 011

A ll photos but middle row: Katie Brown photos

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Buy the world’s most beautiful floorcovering at WHOLESALE PRICES. (We won’t tell)

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At ProSource, our trade professionals — only Showroom displays the largest selection of virtually every type of brand name flooring — over 25,000 flooring choices organized by style, color and price point so it’s easy to make your selections.

Our customers also enjoy the absolute lowest prices anywhere. We GUARANTEE it! So when it’s time to buy exotic hardwood, natural stone, porcelain tile, carpet, laminate, or even cork flooring: take advantage of our wholesale prices at ProSource. Ask your builder, designer or installer for a free pass to Wholesale Floorcovering. We won’t tell.

Visit our ProSource showrooms: ProSource of Richmond 2836 E Parham Road Richmond, VA 23228 804-264-9565 fax 804-264-9566

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8/12/10 12:26 PM

8/16/10 8:49:00 PM

The Hunt



The blue walls and pink accents in Claire’s room came from a color palette she created while playing design-your-room computer games like The Sims.

From Virtual to Reality THE BEST TEEN-DESIGNED ROOM IN RICHMOND  By Kris Spisak

20

j u l - a u g 2 011

T

hirteen-year-old Claire Casalaspi has been toying with color, pattern and furniture arrangement for years. It all began with computer games.

With recently divorced parents, one brother at the University of Virginia and another brother heading there in the fall, Claire was given a rare opportunity for a teenage designer when she and her mom, Gail Richmond, moved into their new house. Her mother said she could pick any bedroom for her own. “I told her, ‘I bought this house for you,’ ” says Richmond. “Let’s make it yours.”

Claire decided on the biggest room in the house, a bedroom over the garage with a dormer window and slanted ceilings. This room was 

Beth Furg urson photos

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The Hunt

From Virtual to Reality cont’d



Pink and blue continues in the rocks of Jacklyn the goldfish’s bowl, accentuated by vibrant splashes of yellow, green and orange.

at least 25 percent larger than the master bedroom, which after some deliberation, she passed on.

The family moved in late May, and Claire’s new room was the first one to get attention. Even as boxes sat in other parts of the house, new paint, furniture and accents transformed the empty room.

From the white ceiling to the turquoise paint on the walls, to the colored rocks in the goldfish’s bowl, every hue was selected carefully. The posters on the walls were thoughtfully chosen. “She knew exactly what she wanted. There was never any question,” Richmond says. “It was always going to be Ashton Kutcher and the aliens from Toy Story.”

Bright pink carries throughout the room, contrasting with the deep blues on her reading lamp, bulletin-board ribbons holding up pictures of friends and multiple desk knick knacks. Pink also weaves its way through the new zebra striped comforter, floor lamp, giant bean-bag chair and DVD player.

“In the design-my-room games (like The Sims), I used to always set up my room like that — pink and turquoise, with zebra stripes and a really cool desk. That’s how I thought of [it],” says Claire.

“I’m sure it would be different if we used a professional designer, but we tried to do it on a budget,” her mother says, noting the pieces in the room from Target, as well as a dresser that was her own as a child.

But Claire didn’t seem to mind the restrictions at all.

“The only thing that my Sims room had that this room doesn’t is a pool in the middle,” Claire says with a smile.



The turquoise hue of the walls was inspired by a cake frosting color that Claire had fallen in love with. Each complementary accent piece was chosen around that specific shade.

Next issue’s Hunt:

The Best Man Cave in Richmond Send in your nominations or nominate yourself today! Email TheHunt@ rhomemag.com or direct message us on Twitter @RHomeMagazine.



Long white curtains add to the tropical feel of the bright room.

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P.S. Thank you for all of your teen bedroom nominations!



There’s a place for dolls, given to Claire by her grandmother, even in a teenager’s room.

Beth Furg urson photos

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5/20/11 2:15:22 PM

At Home

Ode/Owed to Handymen MARRYING THE HELP  By Maureen Egan

T

hey say you marry your father, but that’s just gross. I married a guy who, like my father when he was alive, really knows how to make the most of his leisure time. He actually makes things.

My husband is more comfortable in a grungy Tshirt in his workshop than in a golf shirt on a golf course. My kind of guy.

My father was a tinkerer more than a tradesman. On vacation at the family beach house, he was very happy wearing shorts with paint on them and a disgusting-looking undershirt as long as he had a few tools and an idea. Once he hit upon a task that he understood — wallpapering or replacing the ropes on the weights of our stubborn old windows — he’d tackle it methodically. Not one of his children has sought to take on those kinds of chores; we prefer to note the peeling wallpaper and complain that the windows don’t work, and then think we’ve accomplished something.

But I always liked that my father was willing to get his hands, clothes and loafers dirty, and surely that influenced my choice of husband. I married the guy who built my bunk-bed platform in college. It was as rock-solid as he always has been, though the platform’s height didn’t conform to common sense or the fi re code. (We survived.)

I’m an independent sort, but I do like having a man around the house.

Ed, who right about now is particularly grateful that he has a different last name from mine, is the sort of guy who jumps at the chance to build someone else’s screened porch, looks forward to tiling other people’s bathroom floors and tries to talk friends into rebuilding their sunrooms. (That

for granted. He happily messes with drywall, cabinets and tile, and fi xes what’s broken — when he’s not at work doing his real job. His handiwork is evident in just about every room in our house. I’d also like to note that we’ve had disagreements in just about every room in our house. There might be a connection.

I have an unfortunate tendency to pop into his workshop, after he has read and researched and drawn schematics and made multiple trips to multiple hardware stores and hefted lumber and wrestled with quandaries for weeks, and then say things like, “Why’d you pick that color stain?”

He says he does B+ work, but it looks A-OK to me.

(I’d say no job is beneath him, but he’d rather replace a toilet than clean one.) Good Enough Construction Company is what we call it — which has much higher standards than the company my father founded: It’s Better Than It Was* Construction.

Though he has conquered plenty of home-improvement tasks on his own, Ed likes having a man around the house, too, if that man is an electrician, plumber, tree trimmer or carpenter. His ego can handle paying other people to do some work, and he likes worker guys’ company.

But once we hire someone to install windows or the like, it’s more efficient to schedule the job when Ed isn’t around. If he’s here when the workers are, the job will take twice as long because he spends so much time following them around asking questions. Not in an “I don’t trust you” sort of way. Not at all. More in an “I want to be like you when I grow up” kind of way. One day he’s going to stow away in someone’s truck and never come back. Knock on wood he’ll fi nish my coffee table fi rst.

Ed is the sort of guy who jumps at the chance to build someone else’s screened porch ... and tries to talk friends into rebuilding their sunrooms. offer expires soon.) He would much rather stay home Monday morning and crawl around our attic with the electricians trying to untangle our home’s circuitous wiring than go to his actual place of work.

He’s a thoughtful, humble handyman (the best kind), understated and multitalented. In our many years and homes together, Ed has built tables, desks, a futon frame, a cedar chest, at least 10 bookcases, Adirondack chairs, walls and outbuildings, all still well-loved, well-used and taken

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*We’re not entirely sure of that.

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Favorites

THEIR FAVES

1

Art All Around

Roseberry bought several of this Newport News artist’s folkart pieces after meeting him in person. They love the way that Johnson depicts faces in his art.

C O L O R A T U R A’ S R O B W O M A C K A N D C AT H E R I N E R O S E B E R R Y T R A N S F O R M T H E PA S T  By Megan Marconyak

When Rob Womack and Catherine Roseberry, the artists behind the one-of-a-kind painted furniture of Coloratura, decided to buy their 1830s farmhouse 20 years ago, they knew they were committing to major renovations. “It was unique and very old — we felt like we had to do it justice,” Roseberry says.

Luckily, Womack and Roseberry are art and restoration experts. For the past 28 years, they’ve used antique furniture as a canvas for their original art. The couple selects welldesigned pieces of furniture from the past that 

1

ANDERSON JOHNSON PAINTINGS Womack and

2

FIREPLACE Womack wasn’t able to preserve the original black paint, so he repainted the fireplace and then distressed it to mimic the original.

3

COLORATURA COFFEE TABLE Womack and

Roseberry often put finished pieces in their home until they sell them. They like how the modernist styling of the 1950s coffee table that Womack painted contrasts with the 19th-century feel of the rest of the room.

2

3



Rob Womack and Catherine Roseberry

“We are connected to everything through art history or our history or our family history,”  CATHERINE ROSEBERRY

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S a r a h Wa l o r p h o t o s

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Favorites

Art All Around



cont’d

Clay Bust Roseberry and Womack found this piece

the first time they visited one of their favorite shops, Squashapenny Junction in Doswell. “We both looked at it and said, ‘1930s,’ ” Womack says. “It was probably made as a prep piece for a bronze.”

 can’t be restored to their original state, carefully researches the period when they were made and uses the information that they find as inspiration to turn each one into a work of art.

They apply the attention to detail found in their work to the items in their home as well. “We are connected to everything through art history or our history or our family history,” Roseberry says. Rather than focusing on matching the décor to the house’s architecture, they have filled their home with items they love from a variety of eras, making for a creative, meaningful style.



Elie Nadelman Plaque This horse plaque is a piece by major American sculptor Elie Nadelman, who worked from the early 1900s through the 1950s. The couple found it at Ouroboros Art Pottery and African Arts owned by Sylvia Regelson at Antique Village in Mechanicsville. Regelson’s shop is one of their favorite places to look for art and antiques.

Linvel Barker Cat

The couple used to be involved with the Folk Art Society of America.

When Womack saw Barker’s work, he wrote to him and asked him to make a sculpture: “I think it’s really elegant,” he says of the cat.

Grain-Finished Doors

Since moving in, Womack has carefully removed layers of paint and restored three of the house’s original pine doors to reflect their original finish, meant to resemble tiger maple. Each one took hours to complete. He also carefully stripped away layers of paint on the doorframes to reveal the original soft-gray milk paint: “It’s a really beautiful color.”

Beth Jasper Bird-Rattle Sculpture

Much of the art in the couple’s home was made by artist friends.

One evening when Womack and Roseberry were at the Jaspers’ house sculpting with clay, Beth Jasper made the bird. After she glazed and fired it, she gave it to them as a gift.

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S a r a h Wa l o r p h o t o s

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Harry's History



The “Anchorage” in Ginter Park

Neighborhood Anchor T h e h o u s e at 3 5 0 8 S e m i n a r y A v e .  By Harry Kollatz Jr.

T

he present resident of 3508 Seminary Ave., Ales Rowe, doesn’t know why the left entrance column of her house is carved with the name “Anchorage.” She laughs, “Maybe it’s because whoever lives here doesn’t ever want to leave.”

The house on Seminary Avenue is approximately 5,000 square feet with 17 rooms (including two enclosed porches) on three floors. The uppermost floor is a separate apartment, built, Rowe says, for a past resident’s daughter. “[The house] seems to have been added onto as they went along,” Rowe says. The house has had but four owners, including Rowe, since its circa-1915 construction.

The first resident was civil engineer T. Crawford Redd. At that time, the house was numbered 622 Seminary and was one of the first built on the avenue. During the street’s 1920s expansion, the earlier houses were renumbered.

Redd and his brother formed a civil-engineering and surveying company and maintained offices at various downtown locations. Upon Redd’s death at age 82 in October 1940, the

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“widely known Richmond engineer” was eulogized by the Richmond News Leader.

“Mr. Redd’s father [James T. Redd] began surveying in 1855,” the writer recalled. “Those were the days of lines set by ‘a certain sycamore tree’ or the ‘big rock in the meadow.’ ” Redd apprenticed under his father and was for many years the warden of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, which his father co-founded. “Picturesque and vital,” the editorialist remembered of Redd, “he was an institution in himself.” His valuable plats, maps and surveys are in the Library of Virginia.

Redd moved from Seminary Avenue in the mid-1920s, and the next residents of the home were Frank V. Fowlkes and his family. The city directories’ residential index consistently lists him as “Dr.,” but in the personal name section, he and son Francis are variously listed as traveling salesmen or representatives, though a few times in the mid-1930s, the senior Fowlkes is listed as “physician.” A daughter, Eliza V. Fowlkes, was a clerk stenographer at the Life Insurance Company of Virginia. Frank seems to have died somewhere between 1937 and 1938.

The next year, the Riley family moved in — Charles L., manager of the Glens Falls Indemnity Co.; a son, Charles Russell; and at least two daughters, Florence and Virginia.

Florence worked in sales at the downtown Berry-Burke clothiers, while Virginia was an artist and designer for Thalhimers, Richmond Art Company and La Vogue.

Charles Russell Riley was the first chief of surgery at St. Mary’s Hospital and on its founding medical staff in 1966. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1936. During World War II, he was a surgeon assigned to the Ninth Armored Division.

In a 2001 Times-Dispatch obituary (written by Richmond magazine contributor Chris Dovi), Riley, 83 when he died, was described as “witness to terrible suffering, [and] he was affected by his wartime experience throughout his life.”

The elder Riley remained with Glen Falls Indemnity until his death sometime between late 1956 and early 1957. The Rowes purchased the house in 1963. Ales Rowe, a wife, mother and actress, plans to move on to a more manageable space in the near future.

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New Life Nature shapes architecture in the Fan  By Brandon Fox

When Patrick Farley of Watershed Architects first saw the house on Grove Avenue, it had been hollowed out by a fire that involved two other buildings as well. “I could have heard the sirens from my office when it happened, it was so close” he says. It was perfect, Farley thought, for a project he’d been thinking about.

“We’d been looking for a project that would be on the LEED-certified Platinum track,” he says. “This one merged with my interest in the rehabilitation of old buildings, but since this building was literally open to the sky, it ended up being more like new construction.

We started with a shell and breathed new life into it.” Watershed nicknamed the project “The Phoenix.”

Not long after Watershed acquired the property, Farley met Dr. Susan Miller and Dr. Ken Kendler, who were looking for a house with integrated green systems. “The timing was uncanny,” says Farley. “We knew we needed a particular kind of buyer.” Miller and Kendler, a perfect match for the project Watershed had begun, purchased the house and the real work started.

Beth Furg urson photo

The footprint of an urban space is small. Bringing living systems into and on top of this Fan townhouse seemed like a logical choice in a neighborhood where the houses hem each other in, making it difficult to maximize what little of the outdoors exists.

A key part was the installation of both a green roof and a living wall that stretches from the first floor to the ceiling of the second in the dining area. “I focused on healthful building — I tried to incorporate design that actually facilitates a healthier lifestyle [for those] in the building,” Farley says.

“It’s a restorative approach to building,” he adds. “We’re making [the roof] a real place, a habitat for birds, butterflies.” It’s a building philosophy based on biophilia, an idea originating with German psychologist Erich Fromm and popularized of Edmund O. Wilson in his book by the same name. It suggests that people have an innate affinity for nature — we choose to surround ourselves with plants and animals because it’s a biological impulse that’s fundamentally good for us psychologically. By employing 

rhomemag.com

35

“It’s a restorative approach to building.

We’re making [the roof] a real place, a habitat for birds, butterflies.”  PATRICK FARLEY



Ice Plants, sedum varieties and Little Blue stem grass were planted on the roof because they require minimal care.



The door to the rooftop garden is conveniently located next to Susan Miller’s home office.

green-building practices, Farley not only helps instead of harming the environment, he concretely affects the good health of a home’s owners.

Scotty Guinn Dilworth of SG Designs was brought on board to design the wall and the roof, along with contractor Greg Long, president of Capitol Greenroofs, to install it. Dilworth says, “I had been exposed to rooftop gardens and living walls in Los Angeles [when I lived there], but this was my first opportunity to design and manage the installation of both of these great features.”

“It was a learning experience for us,” says Farley. “[Watershed] had to overcome the trepidation of not having done it before as we went ahead.”

Dilworth chose tropical houseplants for the living wall and mostly succulents for the roof. “I had to determine what would work with the various levels of light, humidity and temperatures in [and on top of] Scotty Guinn Dilworth the house,” she says, “it of SG Designs was a bit of a scientific experiment.” Succulents were chosen to go on the The living rooftop because they wall brings the need little care — just outdoors inside, sunlight and a modest making the house amount of water. itself a healthier Three-inch plugs place to live. containing the plants for the living wall were installed in a vertical planter system by Elevated Landscape Technologies. The plants “nest together to form a seamless living wall. You waterproof the wall behind them,” says Dilworth. A drip-

 

tubing irrigation system is integrated throughout. “The water runs through the tubes, into the tank [located in the basement] and back up again to the drip lines along the panels,” Dilworth explains.

On top of the house, Farley designed the support structure of the green roof to hold any amount of weight. “It’s way beyond code — it’s over-engineered to hold anything.” The construction steps were careful and deliberate: The roof was first reinforced, then lined with insulation, topped with waterproofing layers, and only then was the plant system put in place. “We used a vegetated mat approach,” says Farley. “It’s pre-grown in a nursery — you lay it down as you do a carpet.”

Each project — the wall and the roof — took six months to complete. Maintenance will be minimal, Dilworth says, involving just the occasional replacement of a plant and the typical kind of care you might give a houseplant, “[pulling] out dead leaves, deadheading any flowers or cutting back plants that are getting too large.” Although there are more green roofs being built in Richmond, the Miller/Kendler house may be the first in Virginia to have a residential living wall (the rest have been confined to commercial spaces).

“It was a very collaborative effort,” says Farley. “A lot of what we do [at Watershed] is spread the knowledge of biophilia building practices.” By stretching the typical boundaries between inside and outside, the project can become, he says, “a direct, literal bringing of nature into the building.”

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Browse Browse 45,000 45,000 square square feet feet ofdealers! of Antiques Antiques 45,000 45,000 sq. sq. ft. ft. and and 300+ 300+ dealers! furnished furnished byby over over 400 400 dealers dealers Handicap Handicap accessible, accessible, clean, clean, organized organized and and climate climate controlled controlled Handicap Handicap accessible, accessible, clean,clean,

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12/15/09 12/15/09 5/23/11 7:56:39 9:34:32 7:56:39 PM AM PM

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6/3/11 10:42:52 AM

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Our annual list of the top 10 innovators who are within our orbit in 2011.

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By Courtney Crane Dauer, Brandon Fox, Katherine Houstoun, Susan Howson, Kris Spisak and Susan Winiecki

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Both Dominion Harvest (dominionharvest.com) and Arganica Farm Club (arganica.com) deliver produce from local sustainable farms to your doorstep, allowing you to eat local even if you can’t make it to the farmers market. And Fall Line Farms provides convenient pick-up sites throughout the city for their farmers-market products (flf.luluslocalfood.com).

Grocery service Relay Foods (relayfoods.com) offers products from local bakers, farmers and mom-and-pop stores, as well as traditional staples like Smuckers jam and Wheaties, combining the farmers market and grocery store into a one-stop online shopping experience — at the same cost of buying all of the items at the supermarket.

“It’s a convenience tool ... you can get shopping done in a few minutes,” Relay Foods founder Zach Buckner says. “We’re allowing people to buy local food, but we’re also flipping the retail equation and allowing little guys to compete against big box stores.”

And for a quick, hot meal, Quickness RVA (quicknessrva. com) delivers food by bicycle from six local restaurants, including Alamo BBQ in Church Hill and Lamplighter Roasting Company in the Fan, within a defined radius. —KH

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CONVENIENCE HAS BECOME KING IN RICHMOND, AS LOCAL FOOD DELIVERY OPTIONS POP UP THROUGHOUT THE CITY.

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Through the 3-year-old Space of Her Own (SOHO) program, preteen girls from Gilpin Court transform their rooms into places where studying, reading or inspiration can flow unimpeded. SOHO is an art-based mentoring program that’s a joint venture between the Visual Arts Center of Richmond, ART 180 and the Friends Association for Children.

“SOHO’s most transformational outcomes are more than pretty bedrooms,” says Sally Kemp, director of community outreach at the Visual Arts Center. “The girls grow in confidence and belief in their ability to express themselves through art and in their own bright futures.”

Tereja, one of the girls who participated in SOHO, says,”Making things with my mentor is fun because she’s so patient. SOHO has taught me how to let people into my heart.”

Kemp is planning for year four right now, and if you’d like more information about how you can help, call 353-0094 or e-mail sallykemp@ visarts.org. —BF

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CAN DESIGN CHANGE YOUR LIFE? OR DOES THE ACT OF CREATING A SPACE FOR YOURSELF EMPOWER AND TRANSFORM?

Top left: Edith R idderhof photo; bottom left: photo courtesy Relay Foods; right: Ash Daniel photo

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MAKE IT UNIQUE

“WE’VE GOT ODDBALL LOCKED UP,” says co-owner Bill Fields of Van Jester Woodworks (vanjesterwoodworks.com).

Although Fields says “oddball,” what he really means is custom-made. There’s been an uptick in custom-made items lately, and a lot of it has to do with recycled and reusable materials.

Not the kind of recyclables you put out on the curb, but beautiful old wood and machinery pulled from factories and other buildings about to be torn down. Van Jester (co-owned by Zach Jester, seen above) has even taken period woodworking equipment and refurbished it to use when working with that antique wood.

Recently, the company tore down the old water tower in Hopewell and was hired to make a table out some of that Hopewell cypress for a beach cottage. Outdoor furniture from places like the Pottery Barn will last a couple of years, says Fields. “That [cypress] table we made can stay outside and be around for the next 100 years.”—BF

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TWO ENTREPRENEURS WITH NATIONAL RETAILING EXPERIENCE HAVE EXPANDED THEIR PRODUCT LINES.

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Ceramicist Dana Gibson (seen here) started in three-dimensional design with vases and now has gone flat, designing her first collection of fabrics, which are specifically for pillows (danagibson.com). “I’ve always wanted to do wallpaper and fabrics,” she says. Gibson paints her designs on fabric, upholsters the prototype on a piece of furniture she sells at Grove Avenue’s The Rue, and then has her fabric designs printed in North Carolina.

Decorative painter Sunny Goode (sunnyspaint.com) developed a line of stencils and wall glazes in 2001. She added self-adhesive stencils, but a line of home goods has been in the back of her mind. You’ll now find mirrors based on her starburst stencil in her shop. “It was just a natural progression into home furnishings,” Goode says. “It was an easy transition.” —SW

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IN EARLY NOVEMBER, WHILE JOHN RYLAND’S WIFE, BETSY, WAS OUT OF TOWN, HE WAS OUT IN THE GARAGE, BUILDING A MOTORCYCLE.

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He had just started cleaning up when he saw something in the extra parts on the floor. From a rotor and shock absorber, he fashioned a lamp. When Betsy came home and saw the finished piece, she knew he was onto something.

“The lamp didn’t scream ‘biker,’ ” she says. “It had such an industrial look and a vintage look since the parts were from the ’60s, ’70s and early ’80s. It had a past life, a story.” Betsy, who is a jewelry maker, put the lamp on her Etsy site, and it sold quickly.

Fast forward to spring 2011. John was laid off from his full-time advertising job; his bike-building business, Classified Moto (classfied moto.com), became a full-time gig, and he was featured on CNN. Lamp orders came pouring in, along with tales of others who have recreated their lives after losing a job.

The Rylands have 65 lamps on order and plans to open a motorcycle gallery and café. “People do still love a story,” Betsy says, “and they still love hand-crafted things.” —SW

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Left and top right: Ash Daniel photos; bottom right Franck Boston photo

WE’RE INTRIGUED BY TWO EXTREME PALETTE TRENDS IN 2011. One brings neutrals to a whole new level, and the other surprises with zaps of potent color.

We’re seeing one-color rooms, where walls, trim and ceilings share a single hue, coupled with the same-color furnishings and fabrics. Neutral schemes are nothing new, but it’s the all-over color that makes it different. “There’s freshness to one-color rooms,” says Lili O’Brien, an interior designer and co-owner of O’Brien & Muse. “They heighten the impact of textures and proportions. Materials take on a greater importance that’s very modern.”

Another trend is to use flashes of one striking color — sapphire to turquoise, and lately greens — in muted or all black-and-white schemes.

Bold shots of color amp up the drama and grant spaces fashion-forward honors.

“Blue is stronger than ever,” says Martin Rubenstein of Martin Interiors. Strong color can radiate from art, glass, pillows, throws, “items that are easy to change,” he adds. “Bright accessories can finish a room superbly.” —CCD

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THINK BEYOND THE PATIO AND MAKE YOUR OUTDOOR SPACE AN EXTENSION OF YOUR HOME. Outdoor “rooms” might be the hot new trend in landscape design, but Beth Burrell of Giving Tree says, “The practice of having outdoor rooms or garden rooms dates back to 16thcentury English and European garden design. The use of space has changed over time as our living spaces certainly are more limited, but the concept continues to be the same.”

Low walls, arbors and trellises can all demarcate one space from another, as well as the variety of plants you choose. They become the “walls” of your outdoor room, and for Burrell, containers are essential as well.

“Containers do so much to bring the garden into the space. Not wimpy containers, but sizable 22-inch diameter and up. You don’t add a tiny end table to a couch and chair setting — likewise containers need to be in scale with their outdoor counterparts of tables, chairs [or] grills,” says Burrell. —BF

Eva Clarke, Ember Hummel, Christine Delano and Elli Sparks

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Not on a rural farmstead, however, but in neighborhoods across the city.

Elli Sparks offers classes on turning fresh, raw milk into kefir and yogurt through her business, What’s Cooking Richmond, as well as classes about other traditional food preparations (whatscooking richmond.blogspot.com).

“It’s the way our great-great grandmothers ate,” Sparks says, “food that is fresh from the field and garden, properly prepared to bring out the most nutrients.”

Virginia law prohibits the sale of raw, unpasteurized milk, so customers buy cow shares and pay for boarding fees in exchange for weekly milk rations from farms like Avery’s Branch Farms (averysbranchfarms.com), Faith Farms (faithfarmfoods.blogspot.com) and Stillwaters Farm (434-392-6049). Raw goat milk is available from Sullivan’s Pond Farms (sullivanspond.com) and Huguenot Hundred Acres (home.comcast.net/~huguenot.hundred.acres/site/?/home/).

You’ll find plenty of nutrients in Richmond’s backyard chicken coops, where laying hens are taking up roost, despite regulations that make most of them illegal. Many local foodies and families are willing to risk fines for their omega-3-rich eggs, while the Chickunz advocacy group works to change the laws that restrict them (facebook.com/chickunz). —KH

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OLD IS NEW AGAIN AS RICHMONDERS RETURN TO TRADITIONAL WAYS OF EATING — DRINKING RAW MILK, RAISING THEIR OWN CHICKENS OR FERMENTING THEIR FOODS.

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Top: Barry Fitzgera ld photo; bottom: Ash Daniel photo

Herminda Cortes, Jen Jackson and Rebekah Hollins

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JEN JACKSON AND HER CREW AT RIVER CITY CLEANING DON’T JUST CLEAN THE HOUSES OF BUSY RICHMONDERS. They reduce carbon emissions, keep

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harmful chemicals out of our water and provide their clients with spotless, healthy homes.

What’s more, they do it all without relying on gasoline by traveling to and from cleaning gigs entirely by bicycle. “Many companies are going green these days — we like to go the extra mile!” says Jackson, who only breaks out the car keys in the most dire weather conditions (no, that doesn’t include rain).

Between their bikes and the nontoxic, biodegradable products they use, RCC (rivercitycleaning.net) has prevented approximately 7,000 pounds of CO 2 from being released into the atmosphere since its founding in 2008. That’s as much as about 1,800 elm trees could process in the same amount of time. And the future looks even cleaner.

“Our goal is to continue to help people relax and enjoy their lives with a clean conscience about the health of the human, plant, animal and ecological communities in which we live,” says Jackson. —SH

FROM ITS OPENING IN FEBRUARY TO ITS DRAMATIC, JAM-PACKED THREE-DAY CLOSING IN MAY, THE VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS’ PICASSO SHOW WAS ONE OF THE HOTTEST EXHIBITIONS ON THE EAST COAST. Sales in the museum’s Picasso shop were smokin’ too. “Our top sellers were most definitely postcards and magnets,” says Michael Guajardo, manager of the VMFA shop (vmfa.museum). “It seems as if every visitor bought one.” With attendance figures reaching nearly 230,000 — and magnets priced at $3.95 and $6.95 — museum merchandise is big business.

Many of the specialty products offered were made in Europe, including the popular off-white bisque mugs and bowls featuring ink-hued graphics from the artist’s La Taurimaquaia 3, 1957. These came from the Museu Picasso Barcelona. “Prints were strong sellers as well,” Guajardo says. Wooden dove candle holders made in India by Roost ($50 for the larger size) are still available.

Hands down, though, the memento of choice was the exhibition’s definitive hardcover catalog, $60. Two hundred and seventy-two pages long and ripe with evocative images, it has a permanent place on coffee tables throughout the city and beyond. —CCD

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S PA C E S NEIL AND JAMIE GREGORY BRING CHICAGO HOME.

BY JESSICA RONKY HADDAD / PHOTOS BY TODD WRIGHT

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A funky mix of old and new, high and low, gives Neil and Jamie Gregory’s Manchester loft a cool, bohemian vibe.

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I g rew up seei ng mov ies with ar tists ’ lof ts an d th is is ex ac tly wh at I pi ct ur ed .

Gr eg or y -H om eo wn er Ne il

Jamie Gregory indulges his passion for vintage vinyl with a new retro-style record player that blends seamlessly with the loft’s mottled plaster walls.

Every morning, Neil and Jamie Gregory get up as the sun rises above the James River. With the light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows of their Manchester loft, there’s no way to avoid the wake-up call, but they don’t mind. An early start gives them time to enjoy a leisurely walk along the flood wall with Lt. Dan, the couple’s Llewellyn spaniel.

The newly married couple moved to Richmond from Chicago in January, returning to Jamie’s hometown. They wanted to live in an urban environment similar to that of their beloved Chicago and looked at scores of properties before finding a 1,500square-foot industrial loft at Warehouse 201. “We saw other lofts that were really just apartments with one wall of exposed brick,” Neil says. “But this is what I’ve always thought of as a true loft — a real artists’ space. We were surprised to find this in Richmond.”

Formerly a coffee warehouse for the Cheek Neal Coffee Company (which eventually became Maxwell House), Warehouse 201 was built circa 1920 and converted to residential lofts in the early 2000s. Joseph

F. Yates, Architects designed each space to highlight the building’s industrial qualities. The lofts feature huge windows, soaring ceilings, concrete floors, exposed mechanical systems, and walls of exposed brick and crumbling plaster intentionally left unrepaired.

“I grew up seeing movies with artists’ lofts and this is exactly what I pictured,” says Neil, a graphic designer with her own stationery business, Shuford Prints. “I love how open it is and how much light there is.” As soon as they saw the space, the Gregorys knew it offered plenty of room to both live and work.

With the help of Jamie’s mother, interior designer Suellen Gregory, the couple tackled dual design dilemmas: how to divide the wide-open space into designated areas and how to merge their individual belongings.

With the guidance of Suellen’s expert eye, however, the process was easier

The Gregorys have furnished their loft with traditional family pieces mixed with modern accessories. In the main living area, a wing chair is juxtaposed with an arc lamp and Lucite ottoman and table.

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With help from Jamie’s mother, interior designer Suellen Gregory, the Gregorys successfully divided 1,500 square feet of open space into smaller living areas. “Jamie’s corner” features a comfortable chair for reading and listening to music and is adorned with sentimental items — a skull the couple purchased on their honeymoon in Santa Fe, and a collection of whimsical tobacco jars owned

by Jamie’s grandfather.

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Neil Gregory uses a letterpress from 1865 to print all of her stationery. “I love the tactile quality of letterpress stationery,” she says.

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The re is not a ton of stor age so we’v e pare d ou r be lo ng in gs do wn to th e es se nt ia ls.

-N ei l Gr eg or y

than expected.

It helped that both Neil and Jamie came to the marriage with lots of family pieces. An Oriental rug that once belonged to Jamie’s grandfather defines the loft’s main living area.

Neil’s grandmother’s Oriental rug defines the dining area, which features a funky combination of painted picnic table, apple-green upholstered bench and three metal bistro chairs. Somehow, it all works together and defines the loft’s bohemian vibe. The mottled plaster walls and stained floor amplify the dishabille, giving it a timeless, romantic quality.

While living in Chicago, the Gregorys developed a passion for architecture and modern design. As a married couple, they have added contemporary pieces to their mix of traditional furniture. A sleek arc floor lamp was a wedding gift from the owners of Shades of Light, Gregory family friends. A Lucite table and ottoman were hand-me-downs from Jamie’s mother, and Neil’s utilitarian studio furniture is from Ikea.

Her art studio dominates the wall

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opposite the main living area. A giant, vintage “stationery” sign hangs above a staggered arrangement of shelves that hold a color-spectrum of books, small works of art and decorative accessories. Neil’s 1865 letterpress sits in a corner of the studio, a relic of a simpler time. She uses it to print all of her stationery. “I love the tactile quality of letterpress stationery,” she says. “Anyone can print something digitally nowadays. This is special.”

Locally, Quirk Gallery on Broad Street sells her cards and stationery.

Living in an open space (the couple’s bedroom is located behind the loft’s only partition) has its challenges. “There is not a ton of storage so we’ve pared our belongings down to the essentials,” Neil says. “We can’t have as much clutter because you see everything.” Not long after moving in, they realized that they needed more workspace in the galley kitchen.

With the help of Jamie’s mother, they added a large island that divides the space nicely and provides muchneeded counter space and storage.

Soon, the couple will face another challenge — where to put a baby. Neil is expecting the couple’s first child this summer. “We will have to rethink things when we set up the nursery,” Neil says. “All of our friends have perfect, Pottery Barn nurseries. We get to be creative.” 



At the suggestion of Suellen Gregory, the couple added the butcher-bock topped island to the kitchen, providing extra storage space and an informal spot to gather.

The sleeping area is partially hidden by the loft’s only wall.

The dining area features mismatched pieces that work perfectly in the artsy space. The loft’s huge windows provide abundant light.

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The 2011 You told us exactly which local businesses you rely on when it comes to your home. The best plumber, the best HVAC company and even the best folks to wash your windows until they’re sparkling clean — all of your votes were counted once and counted again (and again) to find the winners of our 2011 Reader’s Favorites Survey. Whether you’re shopping for a bargain or you’re ready to drop some serious change, all of your favorites are represented here.

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FAVORITE ANTIQUES

Alexander’s Antiques

9131 Midlothian Turnpike, 674-4206, alexandersantiques.com

Every Thursday morning, Alexander’s Antiques opens its doors to the public to preview the items for that night’s auction. More than 700 fine antiques and decorative items are featured each week, making Alexander’s the largest gallery-type auction on the East Coast. Owners Keith and Barbara Ann Smith’s auctions have acquired a reputation for exceptional finds.

2ND: Gate’s Antiques 3RD: West End Antiques

FAVORITE PLACE TO BUY APPLIANCES

Appliance Solutions

2611 Buford Road, 272-3276; 5418 Lakeside Ave., 266-7621; 9071 W. Broad St., 270-4973, appliance solutionsva.com

Mark Pace

FAVORITE OUTDOOR FURNITURE

JoPa Company

8711 W. Broad St., 747-9700, jopa.com

The 22,000-square-foot showroom lets you see, touch and try before you buy. “You don’t want to buy furniture that you’ve never sat on,” says Mark Pace, co-owner of JoPa Company. The store has everything from garden stools to complete outdoor living rooms in wicker, cast and extruded aluminum, wrought iron and wood, many with Sunbrella fabric that has an indoor look, but outdoor durability.

During a time when high-efficiency appliances are in demand, Appliance Solutions’ experienced staff strives to meet each customer’s needs to lower energy cost. “Fifty percent of what we sell are washers and dryers and other laundry appliances, and the other 50 percent are kitchen appliances,” says owner Jack Francisco. He comes by his knowledge and expertise naturally — the Francisco family used to own Lakeside Appliance.

2ND: Custom Kitchens 3RD: Cline Contract Sales

2ND: Summer Classics 3RD: Bon Air Better Living Products

FAVORITE MODERN FURNITURE

LaDifférence

125 S. 14th St., 648-6210; 2436 Old Brick Road, Glen Allen, 360-8102, ladiff.com

“We believe in and support modern design,” says LaDifférence co-owner Sarah Paxton. The store specializes in comfortable, livable modern furniture and is one of the largest contemporary and modern furniture stores on the East Coast. LaDiff focuses on styles that stand out from all the other traditional furniture stores in town. In response to its increased customer base, the company opened a new store in Short Pump last year.

2ND: Ruth & Ollie 3RD: (tie) Designs in Wood, Metro Modern

Ja y P a u l p h o t o

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FAVORITE BARGAIN FINDS

FAVORITE FABRIC

Goodwill

Various locations around Richmond, goodwill.org

Although there might be more than 2,500 stores globally, Second Debut in Carytown, in a boutique setting, is the cream of the Goodwill crop in Richmond. Looking for a real bargain? On South Side, the warehouse outlet sells goods by the pound, sometimes for less than a dollar. More than 1,000 items are put on the floor of each local Goodwill store every day, and the proceeds help those in need with job training and career services.

2ND: Impulse 3RD: (tie) Fantastic Thrift, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet

FAVORITE HARDWARE STORE

Pleasants Hardware

Various locations around Richmond, pleasantshardware.com

“I think it’s our people who make us so popular,” says James Hatcher, president. “We offer a level of customer engagement that you can’t find at other stores. Our people know their customers by name so it feels more like shopping with friends and family.”

The midtown location has more than 30,000 different items and many specialty items specific to Richmond’s older homes.

2ND: Ace Hardware 3RD: Harper Hardware

Williams & Sherrill

2003 Huguenot Road, 320-1730, williams andsherrill.com

What began as a small fabric and wallpaper store in 1990 has become a design destination on the East Coast. “We have about 4,000 bolts of fabric in our store.

And we also carry all of the high-end designer lines, like Scalamandré, Kravet, Robert Allen and Designers Guild,” says co-owner Patrick Williams. “If you’re coming to us to find a fabric, surely we can find it for you.”

Whether customers are looking for fabric, design services, custom window treatment or more, Williams & Sherrill has got them covered.

2ND: U-Fab 3RD: Hancock Fabric

James Hatcher

FAVORITE BED LINENS

Yves Delorme

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with polyester thread woven in to up the count. The store offers

9200 Stony Point Parkway, 320-7521, yvesdelorme.com

French-handmade, 100-percent-

FAVORITE EXOTIC FURNITURE

LaDifférence

course, we go to High Point twice a year, and New York too,” says co-owner Sarah

Egyptian-cotton linens. “We have

125 S. 14th St., 648-6210, ladiff.com

A comfortable bed is a great

customers who have had our

Walk into LaDifférence, and you’ll

from everywhere.”

way to end a long day. Com-

sheets for 20 years — so they’re

immediately be overwhelmed by

2ND: World Market

fort, quality and value are all

well worth the investment,” says

the bold colors, sleek lines and

3RD: These Four Walls

important to consider when

manager Richard Stone.

vibrant personality defined by its

purchasing linens, and although

2ND: Williams & Sherrill

name. “We travel to different furni-

a high thread count is sup-

ture shows all around the country

posed to ensure comfort, Yves

and the world … Cologne, Milan,

Delorme doesn’t take shortcuts

Guangzhou, Shenzhen and, of

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Paxton. “Inspiration comes

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cont’d FAVORITE COUNTERTOPS

Alpha Stone Solutions

1901 Dabney Road, 622-2068, alphastone.us

Sourcing local, domestic and international vendors, and with more than 200 slabs on hand from granite, marble and onyx, as well as environmentally friendly materials like IceStone, Alpha Stone Solutions is a locally owned business on a mission to fulfill its customers’ every countertop need. Whether preparing a house for sale or updating a tired kitchen, “we don’t just go in, do a job, walk away and forget about it,” says Greg Pacheco, director of sales and operations. “We give a one-year warranty on our installs.”

2ND: Charles Luck 3RD: Custom Kitchens

Sam Jordan and Scott Shafer

FAVORITE CABINETS (TIE)

Designs in Wood LLC 3410 W. Leigh St., 517-1414, search Designs in Wood on Facebook

Designs in Wood, owned by Sam Jordan, combines extensive, hands-on woodworking experience with solid advice about cabinetry choices. In business for 54 years, Jordan can make, order and install any cabinet you might need.

“Everything we do, we build ourselves,” he says.

Custom Kitchens

6412 Horsepen Road, 288 7247, customkitchensinc.net

Cabinets go far beyond just the kitchen walls at Custom Kitchens. From bathrooms, craft rooms and outdoor kitchens to built-in bookcases in any room of the house, Custom Kitchens has been designing and renovating Richmond’s rooms since 1957. “We try to put the best quality out there,” says custom kitchen designer Richard Hendrick, whose father started the business.

2ND: Karsten Cabinets 3RD: (tie) Colonial Carpet One, Wood & Tile Works Inc.

FAVORITE FLOORING

Costen Floors

good about us. We are very

FAVORITE FRAMER

And with more than 1,200

family-oriented and upbeat, and

Ben Franklin

9840 Mayland Drive, 527-2929

when a customer walks in the

Various locations

choices are almost endless.

door they feel that.”

costenfloors.com

2ND: (tie) Carpetland,

around Richmond, bf-crafts.com

Ball says.

In the largest showroom in the

Flooring America, Powhatan

It takes almost a year to complete

2ND: Frame Nation

area, you can find exotic woods,

Flooring

the training offered to Ben Franklin

3RD: Commonwealth Framing,

laminates and carpet of every

3RD: (tie) Old Dominion Floor

framers. “The level of training they

Frame of Mind

imaginable kind. “We cover the

Co., Colonial Carpet One

have to go through is substantial,”

gamut from the best of the best

Floor & Home

says Jeff Ball, director of framing

to the least expensive,” says

operations. The average custom

Ralph Costen. “The public feels

framing job takes about 17 days.

Mike Shield photo

moldings and 1,000 mats, the “We can frame anything,”



rhomemag.com

59

FAVORITE GARDENING TOOLS AND SUPPLIES (TIE)

Strange’s Florists

garden every year. “We have a much broader selection, better quality goods, and we are

Various locations throughout Richmond, stranges.com

able to provide a lot more

Got a green thumb? Strange’s

and CEO William J. Gouldin, Jr.

customer service [than the big box stores],” says President

garden centers are constantly expanding their goods and services, offering new products to liven and enhance any

The Great Big Greenhouse & Meadows Farms Nurseries 2051 Huguenot Road, 320-1317, greatbiggreenhouse.com Last year the Great Big Green-

a beat. Every size of pot, every kind of fertilizer and all of the tools you’ll need to turn your yard into a serene green setting or a riot of colorful flowers can be found right here.

2ND: Pleasants Hardware

house was sold to Meadows Farms Nurseries, and the 35-

FAVORITE OUTLET MERCHANDISE (TIE)

FAVORITE LIGHTING FIXTURES

The Decorating Outlet 

Shades of Light

4924 W. Broad St., 2886515, shadesoflight.com

9912 Midlothian Turnpike, 320-3695, shadesoflight.com

A closeout center for Shades of Light’s online business, the majority of items are up to 75 percent off. “Most everything we have is one-of-a-kind, so if it’s here today, it is gone tomorrow,” says Jean Campbell, store manager. While there’s always lighting and rugs, one week you might find a wrought-iron crown centerpiece and the next week wood-and-wrought-iron pillar candle holders.

year-old business hasn’t missed

Jean Campbell

Williamsburg Premium Outlets

“Our mission is to thrill the customer with unique products and superior expertise and incomparable service,” says CEO Ashton Harrison.

From antique lighting to custom designs, Shades of Light also offers a huge in-stock selection of lampshades. Popular pendant lighting can be made in-store, and kits are available for less than $50. They specialize in the unique, and they buy in volume to pass their savings to the customer.

2ND: (tie) Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery, Ruth & Ollie

5715-62A Richmond Road, Williamsburg, 565-0702, premiumoutlets.com Savvy shoppers can save 25 percent to 65 percent at 135 designer and namebrand outlet stores. Find home-design brands like Le Creuset, Harry & David, Williamsburg Wicker & Rattan and Carolina Furniture. “Save even more by signing up for the VIP Shopper Club for free access to the VIP Lounge, coupons and e-mail updates on upcoming sales and events,” says marketing representative Chelsea Auffarth.

2ND: Foremost Sales

cont’d

FAVORITE PLANTS

The Great Big Greenhouse & Meadows Farms Nurseries 2051 Huguenot Road, 320-1317, greatbiggreenhouse.com

Whether you’re looking for orchids from Hawaii, tropical plants from Florida or native Virginia plants, you can find them here. “I think we have built a reputation of having the best and widest selection in central Virginia when it comes to plant material,” says Doug Hensel, assistant general manager. From locally grown to plants from all over the United States, the store literally has thousands.

2ND: Strange’s Florists 3RD: Sneed’s Nursery

60

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Ja y P a u l p h o t o

FAVORITE RUGS

Capel Rugs

FAVORITE WALLPAPER

design service. “We just make it easy for the consumer,” says

3995 Deep Rock Road, 290-8800, capeldealers.com

regional manager Marie Hayden.

Since the 1990s, Capel Rugs has

Williams & Sherrill

also have designers on hand to help you with your choices and point out a few more that might have escaped your notice

make sure the rug works.”

2003 Huguenot Road, 320-1730, williamsandsherrill.com

shown Richmonders just how a

2ND: Hirsch Oriental Rugs

Williams & Sherrill has book after

2ND: Virginia Paint & Design

truly great rug can be the es-

3RD: Colonial Carpet One,

book containing thousands of

Center

sential finishing touch. They offer

Green Front Furniture

wallpaper samples for you to

“We’re easy to shop, and we’ll work with you right in your home to

an enormous variety of domestic

peruse. Do you find that prospect

and imported rugs as well as free

daunting? Fortunately, they

while you were debating stripes or floral.



FAVORITE PAINT

The Virginia Paint & Design Center

FAVORITE CONSIGNMENT FURNITURE

Izzie’s Consignment with Grace

Six locations around Richmond, virginiapaintcompany.com

Whatever paint you need, you’ll find it at Virginia Paint & Design, with more than 20 lines of Benjamin Moore products. The most popular and top-of-the-line home paint is Aura. “It’s made from the very best raw materials, it’s easy to apply, in most cases it is self-priming and it has very good color-hide coverage,” says assistant manager Emmett Reese. “It also is an easy-maintenance paint with scrubability.”

14300 Midlothian Turnpike, 378-5005, izziesconsignments.com

Named after co-owner Diana Ragsdale’s mother, Izzie’s opened in January 2010, and this new shop has been gaining attention.

“We have a very eclectic mix, a little bit of everything. We have antique, mid-century modern and newer pieces,” says Izzie’s co-owner Jill Hendricks.

“We try to be very picky about what we take in — not your everyday leftovers.” Izzie’s is staged with a designer’s eye and stocked with striking and unusual items.

2ND: Impulse 3RD: Consignment Connection

Jack Burke

FAVORITE TRADITIONAL FURNITURE

Leo Burke

3108 W. Cary St., 358-5773, leoburke.com

Although Leo Burke does specialize in offering a wide variety of classic furnishings, owner Jack Burke attributes its longstanding success to a team of committed personnel, some of whom have been working for the company for 40 years. “There’s a degree of knowledge and continuity there that you just don’t find anymore.”

2ND: Posh 3RD: Virginia Wayside

T o p : G r e g B e t h m a n n p h o t o ; B o t t o m : Ja y P a u l p h o t o

rhomemag.com

61

FAVORITE ART GALLERY

Chasen Galleries

3554 W. Cary St., 204-1048, chasengalleries.com

FAVORITE WINDOWS AND DOORS

On the western edge of Carytown, Chasen Galleries is known for its diverse display of paintings, sculptures and glass art. “We are solicited every day from artists all over the world,” says gallery owner Andrew Chasen, “and we select those that we feel have something different to offer, that we think our clients will like and that provide a level of quality that is superior.”

Siewers Lumber & Millwork

1901 Ellen Road, 3582103, siewers.com

2ND: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts 3RD: Quirk Gallery

Andrew Chasen

FAVORITE TILE

Morris Tile

2280 Dabney Road, 353-4427, morristile.net

The Morris family’s business has come a long way since 1953, now boasting 7,500 square feet of showroom space dedicated to stone, glass, ceramic and porcelain tile. Though Morris Tile’s eight locations extend from throughout Virginia to Maryland, store manager Bob Shelly takes special pride in winning a local award. “As residents of the Richmond area, we are very proud and grateful that our community has given us this type of recognition.”

2ND: Best Tile 3RD: Mosaic Tile

FAVORITE CABINETRY INSTALLER (TIE)

Moser Originals LLC

62

who focused on furniture design, and Brad studied sculpture

Kitchens ETC

Run by the third and fourth generation of the Siewers family, the company sells windows, doors and molding, offers custom millwork and stocks just about any kind of lumber that you might need. Michael Siewers says, “Customers know that the buck stops here, that there’s a person behind the name.”

Because the family’s been in the business for so long (Siewers celebrated its 127th birthday this past May), they can provide the kind of indepth knowledge about Richmond’s historic architecture that makes the restoration and renovation of old houses a whole lot more manageable.

2ND: Elite Window Solutions 3RD: (tie) Apple Door Systems, Richmond Window Corp.

the finishing touches they offer.

Custom concrete countertops are

Customers get a finished product

Chase City, (434) 321-3422, kitchensetcva.com

937-1692, 6290-i Old Warwick Road, moseroriginals.com

that’s unique and creative. “We’re

Carmela and Anthony Wengraitis

fects to her designs. “The cabinet

a custom shop,” Chris says. “We

aren’t kidding about that ETC in

side really feeds my need for de-

match exactly what [customers]

their name. Though Carmela

tail — I love space planning,” says

Chris Moser and his brother, Brad,

want. Where the others stop is

focuses on designing the perfect

Carmela, and when she needs a

bring an artist’s eye to cabinetry

where we pick up.”

kitchen or bath for her clients, she

break, “I go play in the mud.”

design. Chris is a Virginia Com-

and her husband have gotten

monwealth University graduate

pretty heavy-duty in some of

2ND: Custom Kitchens 3RD: Designs in Wood

j u l - a u g 2 011

at James Madison University.

a specialty, adding durability and some pretty amazing special ef-

Mike Shield photo

FAVORITE BASEMENT WATERPROOFING COMPANY

B-Dry System of Richmond 10453 Design Road, Ashland, 767-3151, bdry.com

With franchises throughout the eastern half of the United States, B-Dry is known for its patented, unique waterproofing methods. B-Dry of Richmond services most of the state with the quality work and effective products for which the company has been known since 1958. Recently, B-Dry has partnered with Blue Canyon Healthy Home System to tackle the air quality of basements and crawl spaces, ensuring that every customer’s living space is a safe one.

2ND: JES Basement Systems

Hugh Joyce

FAVORITE HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING CONTRACTOR

James River Air Conditioning 1905 Westmoreland St., 441-9257, jamesriverair.com

Hugh A. Joyce, owner of James River Air Conditioning since 2008, runs the company his father built with a simple philosophy: You can save money by more efficiently reinstalling pre-existing equipment. “We were trying to save energy when saving energy wasn’t cool,” he jokes before turning serious about what has become his passion. “Our goal is to always do what we say we’re going to do, and in our business, that just doesn’t always happen.”

2ND: Midlothian Mechanical 3RD: Comfort Systems, Inc.

FAVORITE APPLIANCE REPAIR

Residential Appliance Specialists 225 Granite Spring Road, 276-1914

Owner David Kirtly started Residential Appliance Specialists 25 years ago with the goal of repairing any and all appliances for Richmond homeowners. Kirtly believes the company’s success is based on an ever-adapting skill set. Over the years, its repertoire has expanded to include the enormously popular luxury brands that more of his customers are installing in their homes.

2ND: Appliance Solutions

cont’d

CARPET AND RUG CLEANER

Chem-Dry of Richmond

ful contaminants from carpets.

“It’s a deeper clean,” says office

FAVORITE CLOSET INSTALLER

Closet Factory

Rockville, 675-7791, cleanmoresavemore.com

clean for what you see as well as what you can’t see, and we

8162-C Elm Drive, Mechanicsville, 559-0001, closetfactory.com

The largest independently owned

clean for your health, to help your

Ryan and Tessa Mueller pur-

Chem-Dry franchise in the area,

family breathe easier.”

chased Richmond’s Closet

Chem-Dry of Richmond uses an

2ND: Mercer Rug Cleansing

Factory, in 1999 as a design studio

all-natural, green-certified solu-

3RD: (tie) Molly Maid, Stanley

and production workshop. They

tion with heated cleaning and

Steemer

specialize in complete customiza-

rotary extraction to remove harm-

Greg Bethmann photo

manager Darin Franck. “We

ences, no matter the age or style of the home. “When we’re done,” says Ryan Mueller, “it will look like it

3RD: Closet Tailors

came with the house.”

2ND: Method ORG



tion to the homeowner’s prefer-

rhomemag.com

63

FAVORITE EXTERMINATORS

Hickman’s Termite & Pest Control

years of experience in Central Vir-

FAVORITE FLOORING

the mid-century, hardwood was

ginia, Hickman’s offers a variety of

REFINISHERS

standard in all houses and build-

services, including termite, rodent,

Costen Floors Inc.

ings, and that experience with wooden flooring provides a rock-

Plus, on their website, they have

9840 Mayland Drive, 527-2929, costen.brandsource.biz

and mold and fungi treatments,

2907 Hungary Spring Road, 282-8957, hickmanstermite.com

as well as real estate inspections. a cool virtual bug center, so you

Costen Floors has been in Rich-

to their original glory.

After spending endless hours

can identify any creepy crawlies

mond since 1948 and that means

2ND: (tie) Jet Services, Wood

perfecting your home, the last

you might find in your house.

some of the floors they might have

Floor Specialists

thing you want are nasty things

2ND: Loyal Termite and Pest

installed in the past could be the

destroying it. With more than 50

Control

floors they’re refinishing today. In

solid foundation to knowing what you can do to get your floors back

FAVORITE DECORATIVE PAINTER

Art to Di For

5400 Santa Monica Drive, Mechanicsville, 559-5670, arttodifor.com

If you want a little flair in your home but lack the skill and artistic ability, artist Diane Williams can find a way to make your residence or business beautiful and one-of-a-kind. Williams works with decorative wall finishes, murals, architectural accents and more. Ceiling finishes are her favorite because, she says, they make the most impact. Her work reflects her customers’ individual personalities and styles.

2ND: Melanie Palma Designs 3RD: Erika Vaden

Ralph Costen Jr.

FAVORITE FLOORING INSTALLER (TIE)

 Costen Floors Inc.

9840 Mayland Drive, 527-2929, costen.brandsource.biz

If a house is built from the bottom up, quality flooring is crucial. For more than 60 years, homeowners have come to Costen Floors to install new floors. Co-owned by Ralph Costen Jr., the company specializes in natural hardwood, carpeting and ceramic tile professionally installed and adapted to your budget.

Paradise Carpet Service

109 Richland Road, Petersburg, 861-4175

Everett Tompkins started Paradise Carpet Service 40 years ago. Sons Chad and Greg work in the family business, and the company installs carpeting, hardwood, laminate, engineered flooring and more. They’re committed to keeping up with a changing industry and attend seminars and classes as new products become available. “We can install just about everything there is on the market,” says Tompkins.

2ND: (tie) Carpet America, Colonial Carpet, Hawk’s Renovations

64

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cont’d

FAVORITE FENCE BUILDERS

Minor’s Fences Inc.

12152 Washington Highway, Ashland, 752-0096, minors fences.com

Your fence may the first thing that visitors and guests see when they come to your home, so quality is key. President Minor Hairfield has been in the industry for 32 years, providing custom-built fences; his company offers lumber treated for 100 percent ground contact.

Minor’s Fences also helps customers protect new fences and refurbish old ones by providing sealing options.

Greg Bethmann photo

FAVORITE ELECTRICIAN

Genesis Electrical Services

says. “There are so many good contractors in Richmond. We

FAVORITE GLASS INSTALLER

More than Glass

than 25 years. The company works with everything from storefronts to room dividers to custom-

2ND: (tie) J.G. Yaylor Electical,

8195 Walnut Grove Road, Mechanicsville, 741-3947, morethanglass.biz

always put the customers and

9601 Dayton Road, Suite 205, 912-3665, genesiselectricalva.com

their needs first.”

Innotricity, David LaJoie

Sometimes it’s what you can’t see

Binswanger, Clover Glass,

Having been in business for only

3RD: Family Electric

(or what you can see through)

Complete Interior

four years, owner Craig Ellwanger

that makes all the difference.

Package, Stained

couldn’t be more pleased with

More Than Glass has been

Glass Creations

this year’s survey results. “It’s an

adding distinction to Richmond

honor to be recognized,” he

homes and businesses for more

made accents.

2ND: (tie) AC Glass,



FAVORITE GENERAL CONTRACTOR

Old South Construction Services

4438 Thorncroft Drive, Glen Allen, 332-4798, oldsouth construction.net

While climbing to the top, George Hunt, owner of Old South Construction, has spent some serious time digging around in the bottom. “I’m taking a crawlspace in the Fan, and I’m turning it into a full basement,” Turner says. “I’m digging it out by hand, with 5-gallon buckets.” It’s the sort of work, Turner notes, that puts him above — and below — his competition.

2ND: (tie) Home Masons, Ridgeline Construction 3RD: D.E. Nunnally

Scott Turner

FAVORITE TREE CARE SERVICE

True Timber T Tree Services, Inc. 6834 Old Westham Road, 218-8733, truetimber.net

Don’t be shocked if you find Scott Turner talking to the tree you’ve asked him to remove or trim. “I hold the tree in high esteem,” Turner says; he shares his love of trees with many of his clients’ children Get free app at through his other business, Riverside gettag.mobi See pg. 8 for info Outfitters, which operates a summer tree-climbing camp. “That business allows us to get kids in nature and away from the computer screen,” says Turner. scan it

2ND: Davey’s 3RD: Bartlett Tree Experts

Mike Shield photo

rhomemag.com

65

Favorite Chimney Sweep and Repair

Neat Sweep Chimney Services

5513 Hull Street Road, 232-2100, neatsweep.net

Frank Kaestner, owner of Neat Sweep, puts a lot of store in longevity, and he believes his customers do, too. “At this point, we service the grandparents, the parents and now the children. We’re the same people who were there last year and the year before,” he says about his chimney sweeping business, which has been an area standby since 1979.

Henry Clifford

Frank Kaestner

Favorite home-media sales and installation (tie)

Livewire

4900 W. Clay St., 379-0900, getlivewire.com

“We are home technology made simple,” says Henry Clifford, owner of the company created through the recent merger of Home Media and Livewire. He says the strategic marriage has brought together technician teams with different skills so that now his company offers the total package. Clifford’s employees are all about making technology feel less like a NASA command and control center. “We really pride ourselves in being the guys who make the technology behave.”

ABEC Electronics

13114 Midlothian Turnpike, Midlothian, 594-7020, abecelec.com

Tell John Hair, manager of ABEC Electronics, that you just bought a new television, and he may ask you why. “Any TV is repairable,” Hair says, estimating that only 20 percent of the old sets brought to his shop actually can’t be fixed.

“We’re pretty much in the disposable era,” he says. But then again, “with the economy the way it is, you can’t just go out and buy one when it breaks.”

2nd: Moseley Electronics

Favorite furniture

50th anniversary. “It’s good to

repair and refinishing

know that our quality of work has

Gates Antiques

Favorite gutter cleaners

Mind in the Gutter

your mind in the gutter?”) was too good to resist. So they made it their moniker. “It was so

2nd: Woods Refinishing

1811 Huguenot Road, Suite 208, Midlothian, 378-3246,

and Restoration

mindinthegutter.com

name like that, he says, reputa-

Ask Ethan Powers the original

tion becomes even

Jay Gates, the second-genera-

name of his business, and you

more important.

tion owner of Gates Antiques, has

get a long pause. “Uh, Gutter

2nd: All About Gutters,

always said, “If I wouldn’t put it in

Solutions was the original name,”

Doug Ayers, Quality Window

my home, I wouldn’t expect you

he says. But then a line in one

Cleaning

to.” This year marks his business’s

of their advertisements (“Is

12700 Old Buckingham Road, Midlothian, 7948472, gatesantiques.com

66

cont’d

j u l - a u g 2 011

continued to grow,” Gates says.

catchy,” Powers says. But with a



Top: Mi ke Shield photo; bottom: Greg Bethmann photo

WHAT’S YOUR STYLE? Colonial, Provincial, Classic, Contemporary . . . more furniture than any one store can properly display.

So we have eight shops, together on one campus.

It’s the only way we can show this variety, this quality, and this many fine examples from the world’s best manufacturers.

WHAT’S YOUR PLEASURE? Come browse, take your time – you may need it.

If you like, experienced specialists are here to show and advise. There’s so much to see; furniture, carpets, gifts, and accessories, representing more than 400 leading names.

WHAT’S IT WORTH? This is custom furniture of unique quality, but you still get 30% to 60% off the suggested price.

Come, spend a pleasant time in Williamsburg visiting The Shops at Carolina Furniture and create the home of your dreams.

Delivering Furniture Worldwide Since 1975 5425 Richmond Rd. (Rt. 60) Williamsburg, VA 23188 1/4 mile east of Prime Outlets Mall

(757) 565-3000 (800) 582-8916

Phone: VA Toll-free:

Monday-Thursday & Saturday 9am to 6pm* Friday 9am to 9pm - Sunday 1pm to 6pm *Monday-Thursday until 9pm by appointment

Browse 24 hours a day at www.carolina-furniture.com

CarolinaFurniture.fp.RH0711.indd 1

6/3/11 10:29:44 AM

Same Allergy Specialists.

Same Practice.

NEW NAME.

Michael Z. Blumberg, MD

Jeffery L. Schul, MD

Favorites

cont’d

Favorite Countertop Supplier/Installer

Artisan Concrete Décor Chase City, (434) 321-3423, artisanconcreteva.com

Artisan Concrete Décor is owned by husband-and-wife duo Carmela and Anthony Wengraitis. They’ve built their reputation in Richmond by “creating environmentally responsible custom works of (countertop) art,” Carmela says.

2nd (tie) Alpha Stone Solutions, Charles Luck, Custom Kitchens Favorite housecleaning service

Molly Maid

8132 Forest Hill Ave., 327-3878, mollymaid.com

Patrick L. Powers, MD

Virginia’s largest asthma, allergy and sinus specialty practice.

RICHMOND s WEST END s MIDLOTHIAN s MECHANICSVILLE

Elaine S. Turner, MD

Doing Business as Virginia Adult and Pediatric Allergy & Asthma

For appointments call 804-288-0055 www.vaallergy.com Ananth Thyagarajan, MD

Medical Services provided by Allergy Partners, PA www.allergypartners.com

VAPA-1\3b.0711.indd 1

Count Clint Graviet among the country’s resourceful English majors who’ve managed to get jobs amid recession. “I didn’t want to go to law school, which is what I’d thought I’d do,” says Graviet, owner of Richmond’s Molly Maid franchise. Instead, he found a business concerned with dangling cobwebs, not dangling participles.

2nd: Cleaning by Carolyn 3rd: (tie) Home Link, Lucy Alves, The Maids Home Services Favorite interior designer (tie)

Debbie Brooks of Posh

6/7/11 2:01:03 PM

The ar t of things chosen well rather than of ten.

13823B Village Place Drive, Midlothian, 794-0333, alwaysposh.com Debbie Brooks was offering her opinions on arranging furniture long before anyone asked for them. “My dad was an architect, and he said that I grew up telling him where to place things,” she says. Decades later, her approach is collaborative. “I really try to extract what [the client’s] vision is,” she says. “I try to interpret their style.”

Susan Jamieson of Bridget Beari Designs 3210 Hawthorne Ave., 321-4747, bridgetbeari.com “There is no Bridget,” says Jamieson. She named her company after her two beloved but deceased dogs. Now, she says, “I love being incognito.” Canines may have inspired her corporate moniker, but there’s nothing shaggy about the style she brings to her clients. “I don’t follow a lot of trends, and I’m not into shabby chic,” she says.

2nd: Kat Liebschwager of Kat Liebschwager Interiors 3rd: Kathy Corbet of Kathy Corbet Interiors I M A G E : T H E Mlandscape I L L I N G R O A D C O L L E C T I Oservices N Favorite

Sneed’s Nursery and Garden Center

3108 West Cary Street R i c h m o n d , VA , VA 804-358-5773 w w w. D e a l e r W e b s i t e . c o m

Richmond’s most trusted source for fine furniture and accessories since 1958.

8756 W. Huguenot Road, 320-7798, sneadsnursery.com

Any well-oiled machine needs a strong

3108 W. Cary Street | 804-358-5773 | leoburke.com 68

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

Your 2011 Source for Real Estate www.joynerfineproperties.com

Rachael Joyner, Relocation Director 804.967.2710 relo@joynerfineproperties.com

nd u o r a r r you. o , f o t ere fo u o , o t in we’re h g n i v o M hmond, Ric Scan to find your next home by smartphone

JoynerFineProp.1\2h.0611.indd 1

5/13/11 10:46:59 AM

FRAÎCHE CUSTOM UPHOLSTERY COMPANY COMING?

WEDDING AROUND THE CORNER? FRAÎCHE HAS OUR OWN LINE OF UPHOLSTERY WITH A TWO WEEK TURNAROUND! CHAIR SHOWN $1350!

SHOP LOCAL AND GET FRAICHE! SIMON PEARCE, JULISKA, BEATRIZ BALL, MATOUK, PEACOCK ALLEY AND SO MUCH MORE!

304 LIBBIE AVENUE RICHMOND, VA 804.282.4282 FRAICHEHOME.NET

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Custom Made Garden Furniture & Unique Garden Ornaments

Favorites

cont’d

support system, and the staff at Sneed’s Nursery offers just that. Sneed’s Nursery provides customers with professional design and installation services. Design associate Tim Krueger says, “Our unique design style and attention to detail make us a great choice for homeowners.”

Favorite movers

Move It Now

2211 Dickens Road, Suite 101, 262-0304, moveitnowusa.com

Swift Creek Garden Furniture

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4/16/10 11:09:35 AM BEFORE

8 MONTHS POST

BEFORE

9 MONTHS POST

To take care of their clients, Leila and Mel Bailey won’t hesitate to go the extra mile — or 300 yards up a steep, muddy embankment in the case of a customer who moved from Richmond to Virginia’s mountainous western region. “[The client] assured us that she knew that a 26-foot truck had gotten up there before,” Leila says. But nobody accounted for the snowiest winter in decades.

“We hand-carried everything the last 300 yards up the hill to house.” And didn’t charge extra. “It’s our motto,” Leila says. “Whatever it takes.”

2nd: Man+Van 3rd: Heirloom Express Favorite painter

89 Paint

2930 W. Broad St., Suite 9, 897-2468, 89paint.com When Ethan Wirt was looking for a name for his company, he let his fingers do the walking.

“It’s our phone number,” he says, explaining that he wanted to make it easier for customers to remember whom to call. “People always say it’s hard to find a good painter,” he says. “Now it’s not.”

2nd: Emmitt Turner Quality Paint 3rd: Derek Ding, Richard Bell Painting, River City Painters, Sylvester Johnson, Troy Stowe Favorite plumber

Carroll Plumbing & Heating, Inc.

2512 W. Main St., 358-6322, carrollplumbing.net Got strange pipes? Cast iron, copper, clay?

The guys at Carroll Plumbing have seen it all. “We specialize in working on the old stuff that’s down [in the Fan], trying to repair it instead of replacing it,” says Courtney Gregory.

“A lot of plumbers don’t like messing with this old stuff. We try to repair something or fix the issue before we say, ‘Oh, you need a new faucet or toilet.’”

2nd: Ben Andrews 3rd: (tie) M.R. Ellis, Perfect Plumbing Favorite roofer

West End Foot and Ankle Dr. David T. Weiss, DPM (804) 346-1779

www.richmondpodiatry.com

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Hardesty Roofing,

14430 Sommerville Court, Suite B, Midlothian, 378-9163, hardestyroofing.com Sam Hardesty, president of Hardesty Roofing, specializes in repairing or replacing Santa Claus’ landing pad. To hear his customers talk, he’s done a pretty good job of it for the last 20 years, too. Santa hasn’t missed 

Morris Tile Distributors 2280 Dabney Road Richmond,Virginia 23230

(804) 353-4427 www.morristile.net

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Our Annual Sidewalk Sale is Supersized This Year!

Offerings changing daily

July 8th -July 16th 30% - 80% off hundreds of items

The Shoppes at Westgate, across from Short Pump Town Center

11737 W. Broad St. • 804.360.8049

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Favorites

cont’d

a stop, and the roofs Hardesty installs, whether copper, slate or cedar shingles, keep out the snow and rain during those long winter nights. What better way to end up on the “Nice” list?

2nd: Nathan’s Roofs 3rd: C.L. Wright Favorite swimming pool and spa installation

JoPa

8711 W. Broad St., 747-9700, jopa.com Since 1959, this company has been designing and installing great pools — and occasionally confusing Richmonders with an odd name. But JoPa really does make sense, according to Mark Pace, who runs the company with his brother, Farrar. “My father started the company — his name was Joseph Pace.” And since Mark doesn’t often explain the name, consider yourself to be in on a trade secret. “I don’t like to tell people what it means,” Mark says. “I like to keep them guessing.”

2nd: Play-mor Pools

757.227.1688 melanie@melaniepalmadesigns.com

Favorite upholsterer (tie)

All About Upholstery 3940 Paulhill Road, 519-3180

AAA DISCOUNT FLOORS

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Gabriel Batica believes in doing things the old way — the right way. A native of Romania, he has been an upholsterer since he was 14. He worries that American consumers lose out on craftsmanship because of the importance placed on the bottom line in the United States. “In Europe it’s more creative — more labor [intensive]. Anybody can put a piece of fabric on a chair. To create, it takes more time.”

U-Fab

106 S. Robinson St., 888-8322, ufabstore.com Travis Hamilton’s Fan-area shop has undertaken some pretty amazing jobs. “We did a chair from the mid-1800s that had no wood in it — it was all metal,” Hamilton says. He says the chair may have been built postCivil War out of military surplus materials.

It was no easy task; there was nothing to nail the fabric to. “Everything had to be hand-stitched.”

2nd (tie) Clampitts Upholstery, Posh, The Creative Approach Favorite wallpaper hanger

Barden’s Decorating 1671 Wildwood Shores Drive, Powhatan, 598-4802, bardensdecorating.com

We are not a showroom. We are not a store. We are a warehouse with thousands of flooring options, up to 70% off retail everyday. Woven Wools, Seagrass, Sisals, and Unique Patterns on a roll or bound and ready to go. Hundreds of sizes. It’s like a flooring safari!

4110 W. Clay St. 23230 (Dabney Road. & W. Clay Street) 804-353-3337 Special Sale Going on Now. 72

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With over 30 years of experience, Tommy Barden knows a thing or two about expert wallpaper installation. “We’re working on lots of projects right now,” says his wife, Muffy Barden. The couple has brought their expertise to everything from home renovations to wallpapering the Richmond Symphony Orchestra League Designer House.

2nd: Bud Williamson 

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We Offer: Family Owned & Operated Since 1968

804-781-0442 s 804-513-4004 Our family has been building quality in-ground pools since 1968.

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Favorites

cont’d

Favorite window treatment fabricator

Gotcha Covered Window Fashions of Greater Richmond 12190 Melton Road, Ashland, 752-0011, gotchacoveredblinds.com

Blinds, shades, drapes, curtains or shutters, Gotcha Covered does it all. Although the company stretches from Colorado to Virginia, the franchises are locally owned.

Gotcha Covered makes sure to carefully leave your house just as it was before installation.

2nd: (tie) Budget Blinds, D & M Fabricators, The Creative Approach Favorite window washer (tie)

James River Window Cleaning 1010 Walton Creek Drive, Midlothian, 378-1970

Do you have a single-floor house or multilevels? Lots of windows or just a few? If it looks gray and stormy every time you look out of them, it might be time to call James River Window Cleaning. They may not be able to change the weather, but they’ll improve your outlook.

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Virginia Window Cleaners, Inc.

288-0000, vawindow.com They can scale tall buildings in a single bound and still stop on the way home to clean all of the windows of a rancher. Dirty skylights, screens and storm windows are no match for Virginia Window Cleaners.

Superman doesn’t work for them, but some of the employees in the company have been with them for over 20 years. That means they have the experience to get the job done quickly and efficiently.

2nd: (tie) Andrew Bloom, Quality Window Cleaning, Window Gang Favorite woodworking and trim

Designs in Wood

3410 W. Leigh St., 517-1414, search Designs in Wood on Facebook.

Sam Jordan knows how to work wood. “We do pretty much anything for a house,� he says. Matching existing trim and creating new custom trim are no problem. He’s had plenty of time to become a master woodworker. “I’m almost 60 years old and when I walked in a woodshop in seventh grade, I got excited,� he says. And his obsession has “been getting worse ever since. I hate to see quitting time come around. I love what I do.�

2nd: (tie) III Nails Carpentry, Moser Originals 3rd: (tie) Old South, Ridgeline, Siewers ď ś

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er s A N th ow le t O ic pe C e n nt

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Occasions ďƒ¤

Every year, neighborhood children kick off the tour’s festivities with a flag parade. Thomas Hoke and Ralph Levy jazz things up on their saxophones.



Plants grow robustly even in small spaces on West Avenue.

Iron wall plaques add height and dress up painted brick walls.

The Secret Gardens of Stork Alley W es t Av en u e H o s t s i t s 71s t Ga r d en To u r

I

know something about the magic of urban courtyard gardens. I live on West Avenue.

Richmond is known for many wonderful garden tours, but there’s something about the one on West Avenue that’s different, almost enchanting. Just ask Thea Martin, co-chair of the 2011 Garden Tour and a resident of this leafy, one-way, three-block street nestled next to VCU. “When you step through a gate from a cobblestone alley filled with trash cans, you find yourself in

Ja y P a u l p h o t o s

 By Courtney Crane Dauer

another world,” says Martin. That world includes courtyards unexpectedly replete with gurgling fountains, moss-dappled statues, shady seating areas and gracious greenery.

This year’s tour, the neighborhood’s 71st, was held April 30, and a record 50-plus gardens were open for public viewing. Gardeners and lovers of design found much that inspired them here and in the gardens on neighboring Park Avenue.

“It takes a good deal of thought and creativity to maximize such limited space,” says Tim Feehan, mayor of the West Avenue Improvement

Association, the group sponsoring the event. “It’s very challenging,” cochair Alison Kent adds. “Courtyard gardens require a lot tending to make plants thrive with little light or soil.”

It doesn’t take a lot of tending, though, to get West Avenue neighbors together. We close a block and take to the street for seasonal barbecues, Halloween, an oyster roast or a visit from Santa. There’s also the pre-garden-tour Flag Parade.

The street’s children — West Avenue’s nickname has long been “Stork Alley” — gather an hour 

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Occasions

Stork Alley cont’d

TOP Pink and green signs bearing the WAIA Garden Tour logo — which features a flower-toting stork — mark the more than 50 courtyards open for viewing. BOTTOM A cast stone sculpture of St. Francis rests in a niche in Jean and George Longest’s restful garden. George is author of Genius in the Garden: Charles F. Gillette and Landscape Architecture in Virginia. The Longests won the best-overall award.

Eleven-year-old Kenan Potter takes time to smell the roses. Face painters and performer Jonathan Austin entertained residents and guests as part of the tour’s free activities.

before the event to march, bike or scooter along to deliver flags to the homeowners whose gardens have won awards.

Three independent landscape designers served as judges this year. They follow guidelines conceived

by Charles Gillette in 1966, when he helped West Avenue residents establish judging criteria. Prizes were awarded in categories such as best front yard, best tree box or most improved. Jean and George Longest won the biggest award — the Sweepstakes (Best Overall).

Has my garden ever won? Not even close. Our courtyard is under design, and I’m hoping it just might earn a “most improved” ribbon next spring.

Then, you must come and see it.

Heather Smith rests on citrus-bright cushions in her backyard. This space won first place for medium-sized backyard.

For more photos, visit

RHOME MAG .COM

Sweet-scented, pale pink roses draw out tour-goers’ smiles — and cameras.

Though small, courtyard gardens offer plenty of inspiration.

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A FA M I LY F E S T I VA L C E L E B R AT I N G T H E B E S T O F V I R G I N I A

WHEN:

Sunday, July 24 Noon – 5 p.m.

WHERE:

Farm Bureau Center at The Meadow Event Park

ADMISSION:

$10 per carload

½ Price for Virginia Farm Bureau members – only $5 per carload!

t Sip, taste & enjoy hundreds of free Virginia food & wine samples t Purchase fresh produce from the HUGE indoor Farmers’ Market t Down on the Farm kids’ area – featuring the Children’s Museum of Richmond, fishing games, crafts & more! t Virginia barbecue sampling t Live music t All indoors – cool & air conditioned!

Calendar

Our Picks for Beating the Heat UPCOMING EVENTS YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS  By Rachel Dozier

7/22 Stained Glass at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond Learn how to make your own Tiffany-style windows and lampshades in this course at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond. In addition to lampshades and windows, you’ll be taught how to make other things like decorative mirrors, holiday ornaments and jewelry with the copper-foil method Louis Comfort Tiffany pioneered. Fridays from 6:30 to 9 p.m., July 22 to August 26. $155; $140 for members (materials fee $10). Visual Arts Center of Richmond, 1812 W. Main St. For more information, call 353-0094 or visit visarts.org.

7/2 Strange’s Tomato Tasting Strange’s Florist, Greenhouse

and Garden Center has its own tomato test bed, and you’re invited to a tasting to determine Richmond’s favorite. 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Free. 12111 W. Broad St. For more information, call 360-2800 or visit stranges.com.

7/1 A Tale of Two Tiffanys: Maymont

Mansion’s Curator Tour Last year’s Tiffany exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts may have left you with a craving for more of the family’s beautiful artwork.

If that’s the case, then the Maymont Mansion has a cure for your Tiffany blues … and greens and reds and purples. The Mansion will display works from both the artist Louis Comfort Tiffany and his father’s firm, Tiffany & Co. It’s an opportunity to see the Tiffanys’ artwork the way it was meant to be seen — in the home. Fridays at 12:30 p.m in July and August. $10 or $8 for members. Maymont, 1700 Hampton St. For more information, call 358-7166, ext. 329, or visit maymont.org.

7/7

7/14 Graphics for Home Landscape Design

If you’ve ever wanted to plant a tree, a shrub or even a flower in your backyard, you may want to take this class first. Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden's course allows participants to get a better handle on their current landscape. By the end, you should have a scale for your area, know how to make things proportionally correct and to be able to inventory your yard. Thursdays, from 6 to 8 p.m., July 14 to August 4. $110; $90 for members.

Some materials provided. Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, 1800 Lakeside Ave. For more information, call 262-9887 or visit lewisginter.org.

Flights of Fancy Exhibit Stairs. To some

they’re just a way to get from one floor to the next, but to Richmond artist Kirsten Kindler, they're a work of art. Kindler’s exhibit Flights of Fancy, featuring paper-cut art, will be on display at the Virginia Center for Architecture through Oct. 9. Opening reception, July 7, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.; coffee and gallery talk with the artist, July 27, 9:30 to 10:30 a.m; Flights of Fancy Family Day, August 20, 1 to 3 p.m. Free. Virginia Center for Architecture, 2501 Monument Ave. Call 644-3041, ext. 100 to RSVP or visit virginiaarchitecture.org for more details.

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Lef t: photo cour tesy Maymont; right: photo cour tesy Virginia Center for Architecture

A New Chapter

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Q&A

TIPS

1

LAY OF THE LAND. Think about the way that you’d like your landscape to look, and then compare it to how it actually does look, she says. It can help to draw or find an aerial picture of your landscape, so you can see how the primary elements — house, trees, sidewalks, etc. — sit in relation to one another.

2

The Deliberate Gardener LANDSCAPING EXPERT BREAKS DESIGN INTO SIX EA SY STEPS  By Sara Jackson

Landscape designer Julie Moir Messervy wants you to get outside. And she’s already done the heavy lifting to get you there.

In her talk at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden back in April and in her award-winning book, Home Outside (The Taunton Press, 2009), Messervy lays out an approach to design that she says makes landscaping a cinch. It’s a surprisingly considered and deliberate approach honed during 20 years in the landscapedesign business, and one that can help homeowners get into the often intimidating creative process.

It starts with two tests: one to determine the gardener’s personality and another to unearth their innate aesthetic sensibilities, Messervy says.

“The tests tell me what kind of person [the homeowner] is. Some people who are very structured in real life will actually want something romantic and spontaneous in their garden.”

Once the homeowner has determined his or her inherent preferences, it’s time to tackle the six steps in Messervy’s landscape-design process.

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BIG MOVES. Consider where your house sits on the property, says Messervy. It’s something that should guide your landscaping decisions. From there, you can determine if you want your landscape to be lined up with the house, set at dramatic angles to the house or flowing in curves around the house.

“Most homes are front and center, with foundation plantings around the skirt of the house. It makes your house look nice, but doesn’t give you any space to be once you’re outside,” she explains.

One critical part of the “big move” segment is choosing a theme, she adds. For example, her parents chose “grandchild’s paradise,” which led them to construct a playhouse and a whimsical dragon sculpture to draw their grandchildren out into the garden.

3

COMFORT ZONES. Messervy sees distinct zones around the home.

The area at the perimeter, or the “neighboring” zone, usually requires a fence or hedge or other dividing device. The front of the home she defines as the “welcoming” zone, which, when properly set up, can draw people onto your property. For example, by enclosing a part of the front yard with foundation plantings and then placing a bench just

inside, “suddenly you have an enclosure that makes the front yard feel welcoming,” she says.

4

MAKING IT FLOW. The word “plant” may imply something stationary, but Messervy says homeowners should consider how to get their guests to move, pause and stop in the garden. Well-defined pathways can encourage visitors to move through the space, while transitional spaces or landings can cause visitors to slow down and pause to look around.

5

PLACING THE PIECES. Often-overlooked parts of landscaping are focal points, or items of visual interest that capture the viewer’s attention, says Messervy. “It’s about how you want to connect, convey, contain and concentrate energy.” It can be an ornamental birdbath placed on top of a rise or a bench set in front of a carefully framed view.

6

SENSORY PLEASURES. Messervy says this is the nitty-gritty of gardening. It’s about choosing the plants, textures, structures and objects that appeal to one’s senses and that complement the overall design. Water features, sculpture and lighting are all key elements of implementing your overall design and theme into something that brings the landscape to life.

Want to test-drive a few of Messervy’s gardendesign concepts? Look for her first iPhone app, HOD (Home Outside Design).

Randy O’Rourke photos

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1988

1999

2011

TO RICHMOND ON OUR 35TH BIRTHDAY. THANKS FOR BEING WITH US THROUGH ALL THE CHANGES. In 1976, Virginia Eye Institute opened its first office, with a pledge to bring this area the best in ophthalmology, optometry, and optical. Today, as we celebrate our 35th year, we’d like to thank all of the patients, friends, associates and colleagues who’ve helped us achieve our vision. Here’s to more decades of leading-edge eye care, and whatever the future may bring.

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VaEye.com

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Back Page

As Seen on TV NEW SHORT PUMP BEDDING STORE, TVS IN MIRRORS, PLUS BOOKS AND WEBSITES TO CHECK OUT  By Mandy Loy

 New Products

NEW BOOKS

Catch up on your zzz’s with new luxurious products for the bedroom from Layers Bed Company at Short Pump Town Center.

We asked co-owner Gian Fazio (along with wife Karolina Kaczmarek) a few questions to help you make your choices.

R•HOME: What’s your new favorite pattern this spring? What about it appeals to you so much?

Fazio: A paisley of some sort — ideally built as a Jacquard, with different colored yarns, rather than a print. The colors should be subtle, muted. It works well in so many settings!

R•HOME: If you could change one thing in your bedroom, what would it be?

Fazio: Interesting question on the bedroom. Believe it or not, I change something every night — my pillow! In all, last time I counted, I had 13 different models. Most of them are samples we are thinking of introducing at Layers which I want to try personally first. The latest addition to the collection has been a silk-covered pillow filled with tussah silk — it really cools your head!

Robern Mirror TV It’s a mirror! It’s a TV! It’s both! (Actually, you can use it as a computer monitor, too.) Made possible by an LCD screen behind a two-way mirror, the device behaves as a TV or monitor when turned on, and serves up your reflection when off. Robern is one manufacturer marketing the mirror TV, and Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery’s Ackley Avenue location offers the more reasonably priced M-series mirrored cabinet with an 8-inch LCD screen for $2,900. robern.com

UNDECORATE: THE NO-RULES APPROACH TO INTERIOR DESIGN BY CHRISTIANE LEMIEUX. CLARKSON POTTER, 2011.

“Undecorating” is something of an un-movement, in favor of homes over houses, of living spaces over showplaces.

Author Lemieux, founder of DwellStudio, visits a collection of homes inhabited by individuals she dubs “The Environmentalists,” “The Incurable Collectors,” “The Decorators Without Borders” and other intriguing personas.

FLOWER SENSE: THE ART OF DECORATING WITH BOUQUETS, FLOWERS, AND FLORAL DESIGNS BY TRICIA GUILD WITH ELSPETH THOMPSON. RIZZOLI, 2011.

Fabric and wallpaper designer Guild delves into the vast potential of flowers and floral arrangements to help create stunning interiors. The book offers design tips and a flower-care guide, and most of the featured arrangements are composed of flowers that are available in the supermarket or bloom at the same time in the garden.

WEBSITES TO CHECK OUT

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Dornob A festival of design innovation and inspiration, Dornob explores unique architecture, interiors, furniture and household objects from around the world. From the “Swiss Cheese” house (a home in Switzerland covered in holes) to modular fish tanks, the focus is on creativity. dornob.com

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Ana White If you covet highdollar, high-style wood furniture but can’t abide the price, Ana White is your kind of woman. She’s created and compiled a library of free project plans — organized by style, skill level and cost — for build-it-yourself beds, tables, bookcases, playhouse furniture and more. ana-white.com

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Floorplanner Whether you’re looking to build a new space, renovate the one you have or make your home stand out among the real-estate listings, Floorplanner offers an easy way to create and share interactive floor plans online. The basic edition is free. floorplanner.com

Left: photos courtesy Layers Bed Company

Located near Short Pump in the heart of the West End

In the West End on Lake Loreine

McCabe’s Grant is a unique enclave of only 26 homes on Lake Loreine in Richmond’s Short Pump area. With homes by Award winning Bel Arbor Builders, each new home has it’s own individual flair and personality. Lakefront and Lakeview homesites available.

• Custom homes featuring unique European inspired architecture • Neo traditional interiors with complimentary design services • Open floor plans • Custom design services available • All owners enjoy lake privileges VIEW MORE PHOTOS

Open Noon to 5 Saturday and Sunday and other times by appointment Signature Realty

Becky Accashian — 804.330.4222

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Thank you for voting us one of your favorite places for tile!

Largest Designer Showroom and Outlet in Richmond Now Featuring StonePeak Ceramic’s New Materia 3D 7490 West Broad St. u Richmond, VA 23294 u (804) 672-6316

www.BestTile.com

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