Central Virginia offers a variety of holiday events to brighten your season. Whether you’re strolling through illuminated trails, savoring seasonal treats, or experiencing the magic of Monticello by candlelight, there’s something for everyone. Here’s your guide to...

New Book Explores Architectural and Interior Design Processs Photography by Durston Saylor In late August, Charlottesville architecture and interior design firm Purple Cherry Architects released its first design book, The Design of a Country Estate, published by Gibbs...

Barns have long been icons of the American rural landscape, serving as the backbone of agricultural life and a symbol of hard work. Today, these structures are taking on new roles, blending past and present in innovative ways across the region. In Keswick, a once...

The History—and Rebirth—of the Blue ridge Tunnel A family of four emerged from the Blue Ridge Tunnel on a recent sunny afternoon, blinking in the sun. They stowed their headlamps and stepped to the side of the tunnel’s yawning entrance to drink water and allow others...

Nostalgia, Food, & Scenery Await Train Passengers Railroad history comes alive on the Virginia Scenic Railway, offering a memorable journey through some of central Virginia’s most scenic landscapes. Departing from the historic Amtrak station in Staunton, this...

The Many Lives of Milton Airfield Located on the Rivanna River across from the Glenmore neighborhood, Milton Airfield encompasses 172 acres of mostly floodplain. And while you won’t see airplanes taking off and landing at the old airfield these days, it once thrived...

JMRL Flourishes in the Digital Age The ways that we get our information have changed dramatically during the past several decades. With the rise of the internet in the mid-90s, the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 and the ever-increasing influence of social media,...

An Old Library Gets a Makeover Photos by Tom Daly, courtesy of UVA Library Alderman Library opened its doors in 1938, replacing the Rotunda as the University of Virginia’s main library. For generations of patrons, Alderman was a charming place for research and study....

Alison Dickie turns the page after three decades with albemarle Magazine The year was 1991. The Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Michael Jordan won the first of his six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. The internet’s first website went...

Camp Holiday Trails focuses on the child, not the illness In the mid-1960s, three pediatricians from the University of Virginia, Dr. Peter Houck, Dr. Elsa Paulsen, and Dr. Robert Selden, shared a vision for a camp where children with medical needs could experience the...

Exploring Virginia’s Swimming Holes For the past few summers, Bill Mauzy has laced up his hiking boots, and, with camera in hand, made his way to tucked-away swimming holes around Virginia. He’s found them through word of mouth and by researching them on websites such...

Summertime in central Virginia can be hot and humid. But it also can be a lot of fun. From ways to cool down on our local waterways to old-school entertainment at drive-in movies and video arcades, we’ve got you covered. Vineyards The wine industry in Central Virginia...

A symbol of luck, prosperity, and strength. Photographs by Robert Llewellyn The Scottish thistle, named a resilient weed by some and claimed bold and beautiful by others, is a biennial plant that takes two years to complete its life cycle. It is from the family...

The Monticello American Viticultural Area The practice of winemaking in the Commonwealth can be traced back to 1609 when the earliest settlers of Jamestown planted vines to produce a cash crop utilizing the vital soils of the New World. Our local region’s history with...