Posted by David Hamilton on February 3rd, 2010 in Architecture and Design, Baldwin Center for Preservation, Education and Inspiration, General, Green Building, Project Updates
In belated honor of J.D. Salinger, a deceptively simple observation on homes, by Joyce Maynard:
“A good home must be made, not bought.”
Taken a bit out of context, this assertion is, when you think about it, pretty radical. We buy homes, like we buy cars and home theater systems, though usually with a bigger loan, and [...]
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Posted by Joe Barnes on January 29th, 2010 in Architecture and Design, Education and Inspiration, General, Project Updates
Virginia Public Radio recently aired a segment on Bundoran Farmand our efforts to preserve the character and use of the 2,300 acres of this legacy landscape, promote ongoing environmental stewardship and craft a great place for people to live in and enjoy the countryside of Charlottesville, Virginia and Albemarle County region. Click here to for [...]
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Posted by David Hamilton on January 18th, 2010 in Architecture and Design, General
From the “Things We Covet” file: Sanyo’s new E-Bike. This is a standard, good-looking bicycle with a quiet 250 watt motor that kicks in on hills. The idea’s not new, but the execution this time is good. They’ve had practice, selling “tens of millions” of hybrid bikes in China.
The Bundoran Farm team suggests that this might be a [...]
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Posted by David Hamilton on January 15th, 2010 in Agriculture, Architecture and Design, Education and Inspiration, General, Nature/Environment
The Piedmont Virginian is a lovely magazine focusing on history, culture and preservation of Virginia’s rural heritage. It’s always a good read, especially when they do the occaisional feature on Bundoran Farm or someone we know in the Charlottesville area. This winter, Thomas Randolph has begun a fascinating new feature callled Deep Background. In each [...]
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Posted by David Hamilton on November 30th, 2009 in Architecture and Design, General, Green Building
I’m taking some time this fall to complete my LEED-AP certification (this is the primary credential of the U.S. Green Building Council). I was about to take the darned test a couple of days before we submitted our Preliminary Plat for Bundoran Farm, a few years back, and somehow haven’t found the time since joining [...]
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Posted by David Hamilton on November 30th, 2009 in Architecture and Design, Baldwin Center for Preservation, Education and Inspiration, General
Here at the Baldwin Center, we subscribe to several web news feeds that track studies, stories and statistics on farmland and development pressure. The remarkable similarity of many of these stories (“Planning Commission Supports Additional Farmland Protection Measures”) illustrates how universal are the issues we’ve chosen to address with this foundation.
Recently, however, as so many fast-growing [...]
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Posted by David Hamilton on November 28th, 2009 in Architecture and Design, Baldwin Center for Preservation, Bundoran Farm Events and Occasions, General, Green Building, Project Updates
The last few weeks of Baldwin Center construction were pretty hectic. More than once, carpenter Matt Crane and I wondered if we were finishing the building, or vice versa. Followers of our progress will note that blog entries declined precipitously in September, blog frequency being a pretty good indicator of stress. Below are some images of the [...]
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Posted by Joe Barnes on September 6th, 2009 in Architecture and Design, Baldwin Center for Preservation, General, Project Updates
Matt’s crew completed the upper vaulted ceiling–which literally takes your breath away walking up the now almost completed stairway to get there….it is beyond gorgeous and far beyond what we envisioned in the design phase almost a year ago. Everyone who stops by is in awe–it just seems to fit together–and these pictures only capture [...]
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Posted by Joe Barnes on August 31st, 2009 in Architecture and Design, Green Building, Project Updates
Bundoran Farm is a busy place these days. Within the past 5 days, we have held Pre-Construction meetings for two new customs homes. At Bundoran Farm, we hold on-site pre-construction meetings for a few reasons. It’s a great opportunity to make sure all involved parties have each others contact information, have no unanswered questions and [...]
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Posted by David Hamilton on July 31st, 2009 in Architecture and Design, Baldwin Center for Preservation, Green Building, Project Updates
Finish construction continues to accelerate at the Baldwin Center. Quickly on the heels of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing rough-ins blogged last week, teldata and AV prewiring went in. In a highly-efficient two day install, we’ve now prepared to receive the torrent of digital information that can come through this facility on our now-operational Fiber-to-the-Home [...]
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