I, too, have a soft spot for Charlottesville; my parents met there! Both were at UVa on the GI Bill; Mom was in Nursing School, and my Dad in law school. (Mom had been an Army nurse in WWII).
We lived in Staunton when I was small, and my parents entertained many friends by taking them to Charlottesville and Monticello.
I don't know the house, of course, but I'll bet my dad, who loved history and Virginia, did.
Just from reading your posts, I know that this project is perfect for you (and your family)! I’m confident that you can secure the resources to uniquely preserve and honor this important piece of national history for many future generations. If you can spare the time, you should be able to find philanthropic resources that would be delighted to support your vision. For a start, here is a great resource that I used when I lived in Boston for many years. https://philanthropyma.org
I visited the Farm many times as a guest of Mike Bednar and Elizabeth Lawson. A real anachronism in the town, there near to Charlottesville Pediatrics, which every parent remembers. There's a few of those bits poking up from the past. It would be a fine house museum.
I walked and drove by it plenty of times, cut never had the pleasure of seeing the inside. I read an interesting piece in The New York Times about their restoration of the property.
I think that it was mostly Mike's work. He was more the small-project architect and professor who had time and attention and skill to spend on it. Elizabeth was head of Facilities Management for a long time. They kept track of me because I was sending jokes into the Washington Post's humor contest at the time and they were fans of it. Charlottesville seemed to foster those kind of relationships.
Sure sounds like it. Is there any prospect of preservationists getting control?
Thanks for a good story. Even if we didn’t have a daughter and her husband as alumni of the university, we too would particularly love Charlottesville.
I wonder if the Daily Progress would be interested in printing your post. But my impression is that they are understaffed, beset by the problems of the newspaper industry, and restricted as to scope of what they can do. I could also see it in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
I just hope that the new owners take an interest in the history of their new home, come across this post, and maybe find a meaningful way to share it with the public.
Wow. I would so love to join you - your plans sound wonderful. And Virginia 💜 seems so much more desirable than Florida right now. Bet we could find a bank that would loan us that money, especially if we put Otis down as a reference! 😄
Wait. Suzanne ... How did I miss that you were in Florida? I thought you were in Virginia. I wish it were going better down there. The fact is, as a Petri dish for all of the anti-everything *waves hands wildly* -- I fear it won't get better any time soon.
Grew up in Virginia, Culpeper County. Very magat now, the former sheriff, who was convicted of federal fraud and bribery in a “cash for badges” scheme, once said he could arm 400 men to defend the rebel statue on the courthouse lawn. As far as Florida, I’m a lonely blue dot in my family (husband and son) and the state. And I wave my hands wildly quite often. Thx for the sympathy. ❤️🩹
A very interesting history for that house.
I, too, have a soft spot for Charlottesville; my parents met there! Both were at UVa on the GI Bill; Mom was in Nursing School, and my Dad in law school. (Mom had been an Army nurse in WWII).
We lived in Staunton when I was small, and my parents entertained many friends by taking them to Charlottesville and Monticello.
I don't know the house, of course, but I'll bet my dad, who loved history and Virginia, did.
Thanks for sharing, Cheryl. I always enjoyed driving over to Staunton.
One wonders how many enslaved people were used to support the property.
It’s a great question.
Just from reading your posts, I know that this project is perfect for you (and your family)! I’m confident that you can secure the resources to uniquely preserve and honor this important piece of national history for many future generations. If you can spare the time, you should be able to find philanthropic resources that would be delighted to support your vision. For a start, here is a great resource that I used when I lived in Boston for many years. https://philanthropyma.org
Dear Jane,
Thank you so much for your words of encouragement, the link, and especially for upgrading to a paid subscription. I truly appreciate your support.
I visited the Farm many times as a guest of Mike Bednar and Elizabeth Lawson. A real anachronism in the town, there near to Charlottesville Pediatrics, which every parent remembers. There's a few of those bits poking up from the past. It would be a fine house museum.
I walked and drove by it plenty of times, cut never had the pleasure of seeing the inside. I read an interesting piece in The New York Times about their restoration of the property.
I think that it was mostly Mike's work. He was more the small-project architect and professor who had time and attention and skill to spend on it. Elizabeth was head of Facilities Management for a long time. They kept track of me because I was sending jokes into the Washington Post's humor contest at the time and they were fans of it. Charlottesville seemed to foster those kind of relationships.
I would love to own a place like this with such a rich history. Sadly, just that much out of my price range (by about $2M).
> I also hope that its new owners
> understand that its story is much
> bigger than their own.
Sure sounds like it. Is there any prospect of preservationists getting control?
Thanks for a good story. Even if we didn’t have a daughter and her husband as alumni of the university, we too would particularly love Charlottesville.
I wonder if the Daily Progress would be interested in printing your post. But my impression is that they are understaffed, beset by the problems of the newspaper industry, and restricted as to scope of what they can do. I could also see it in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
I just hope that the new owners take an interest in the history of their new home, come across this post, and maybe find a meaningful way to share it with the public.
Wow. I would so love to join you - your plans sound wonderful. And Virginia 💜 seems so much more desirable than Florida right now. Bet we could find a bank that would loan us that money, especially if we put Otis down as a reference! 😄
Wait. Suzanne ... How did I miss that you were in Florida? I thought you were in Virginia. I wish it were going better down there. The fact is, as a Petri dish for all of the anti-everything *waves hands wildly* -- I fear it won't get better any time soon.
Grew up in Virginia, Culpeper County. Very magat now, the former sheriff, who was convicted of federal fraud and bribery in a “cash for badges” scheme, once said he could arm 400 men to defend the rebel statue on the courthouse lawn. As far as Florida, I’m a lonely blue dot in my family (husband and son) and the state. And I wave my hands wildly quite often. Thx for the sympathy. ❤️🩹
The bank would probably just assume that the money is going to feed Otis. LOL
FOFLOL!
That's very kind of you. Thanks for reading.