Richmond magazine - November 2022

BACK TO THE BOTTOM

Plans

museum and memorial park in Shockoe inch forward

ith the debate over where to build a new ballpark for the Richmond Flying Squirrels now all but settled — the city selected a developer for a new stadium and mixed-use development along Arthur Ashe Boulevard in mid-September — plans for a national slavery museum in Shockoe Bottom are quietly moving forward, albeit at a slower pace.

Both projects have a history of fits and starts, and they share a connection: A group of local developers and business owners first proposed replacing The Dia mond on North Side with a new Shockoe Bottom stadium, just north of the 17th Street Farmers Market, in 2003. But that proposal ran into immediate headwinds: Following the excavation of the Lumpkin’s Jail site in the early 2000s, preservationists uncovered a slave burial ground nearby. Both are located just west of the railroad tracks and Main Street Station.

Then in August 2004, Tropical Storm Gaston flooded the city, leaving the Bottom buried under more than 9 feet of water. The flood washed out the ball park development for the time being, b ut it reemerged again in 2013 under then-Mayor Dwight Jones. An attempt to meld the area’s slave-trading history with the ballpark development, however, never gained traction.

But plans for a slavery museum, first floated by former Virginia Gov. and Richmond Mayor Doug Wilder, began to take hold, along with plans for 9-acre memorial park. And last year, Mayor Levar Stoney made a public push for the museum, recommending that the city invest $25 million to $50 million toward the effort over the next five years. The

city also released a draft plan in July 2021 to develop the memorial park as part of the new Heritage District.

In a way, those plans allowed the city to move forward on the Diamond District, says Ana Edwards, a public historian and chair of the Sacred Ground Historical Rec lamation Project, an advocacy group that helped craft the Heritage District plan. “It freed people to then say, ‘OK, now we know what we can do in the rest of the city,’ ” Edwards says.

While the city has set aside $3.5 million to continue the planning and design of the Heritage District, the slavery museum is a different story. SmithGroup, an archi tecture firm and the city’s consultant on the project, estimated that a new museum could cost as much as $225 million. The state earmarked roughly $12 million over the last decade, but the bulk of the funding is expect

ed to come from private fundraising.

Del. Delores McQuinn, who serves on the board of the National Slavery Museum Foundation, insists money won’t be an issue. “There’s no amount too big, and we want everyone to have some investment in this,” she says.

But not everyone envisions memorial izing slavery in Shockoe in the same way. Edwards is concerned about the cost and challenge of constructing a museum in a flood plain and the potential long-term maintenance costs. She says the city should consider redeveloping the train shed next to Main Street Station as a museum instead.

Regardless, advocates agree that it’s well past time for something to be done.

“We’ve all got to come to a place where we understand the story must be told,” McQuinn says.

—Leah Small

A rendering of the planned slavery museum in Shockoe Bottom

UNPAVING THE WAY

Over the years, the expansive parking lot at Branch’s Baptist Church on Broad Rock Boulevard sat mostly unused as membership declined. Meanwhile, the church was paying $600 a year in storm water runoff fees.

So church leadership reached out to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for help.

Oscar Contreras, a church deacon and host of the Spanish station Radio Poder, 1380 AM, connected with the foundation as the church was struggling to pay its stormwater utility bills, says Kenny Fletcher, Virginia communications coordi nator for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Virginia property owners are assessed stormwater fees based on the square foot

The Lost Taxes

AS THE CITY HAMMERS OUT details

age of impervious surfaces, such as paved sidewalks and parking lots. Branch’s Baptist found itself with more parking space than it needed — even during the Easter and Christmas seasons.

The foundation helped the church secure a forestry grant to remove more than 20,000 square feet of asphalt, includ ing an unused basketball court, signifi cantly lowering the stormwater fees. The undertaking was completed in late September.

Affiliated with the Greening Southside Richmond Project, the church’s initiative is part of an effort to replant trees in large ly paved-over neighborhoods that have a history of racially motivated housing dis crimination. With a lack of shade-provid

ing trees to offset paved areas, these communities suffer from the urban heat island effect, which can make temperatures in some neighborhoods up to 16 degrees warmer than in other parts of the city.

“It’s one project among many,” Fletcher says, “and it shows what you can accom plish when a lot of people join around a common goal.”

Removing asphalt also limits the amount of polluted runoff that ends up in creeks and, ultimately, the James River.

At the church, the trees have already brought wildlife back into the area, includ ing Canada geese. “You can immediately see nature appreciating [the trees],” Con treras says. —Anna Ridilla

PAUL

IN RICHMOND, TAX-EXEMPT PROPERTIES REPRESENT $110 MILLION A YEAR IN LOST REVENUE

for the newly created Diamond District — a new baseball stadium and more than $2 billion worth of apartments, condos, office buildings and retail shops on Arthur Ashe Boulevard — one aspect of the proposal hasn’t gotten much attention: the loss of millions in real estate tax revenue.

The ballpark project will consume 67 acres just off interstates 95 and 64, one of the most valuable undeveloped sites in the city. Because the devel opment team, RVA Diamond Partners, plans to issue tax-exempt bonds to pay for the ballpark and needed infrastruc ture, that means tax revenues gener ated within the 67 acres will be used to

pay off the debt.

In other words, the city will likely miss out on a big portion of the eco nomic benefits of the project — real estate tax revenues. The city claims the project will generate $156 million in taxes over the next 30 years, but if bonds weren’t required, the tax jolt to Richmond coffers would be far greater.

The city has a history of giving away real estate tax revenue. The long-running residential tax abate ment program, which was mostly phased out in 2020, still represents roughly $15 million to $17 million a year in lost taxes, says Richie McKei then, the city’s real estate assessor.

About 23% of the city’s real estate is off the tax rolls. Government build ings — city, federal and state — along

with churches and public universities, such as Virginia Commonwealth Uni versity, comprise the bulk of the $9.4 billion in tax-exempt city property, representing more than $110 million in lost tax revenue in 2022.

By comparison, Chesterfield Coun ty’s tax-exempt real estate is valued at $3.4 billion, or $31.3 million in lost tax revenue. Exempt properties in Henrico County total $4.5 billion, representing $39 million in uncollected taxes.

With Richmond being landlocked and mostly developed (occupying just under 63 square miles, compared to Chesterfield’s 437 and Henrico’s 245), tax-exempt properties represent a disproportionate share of its taxable parcels. With the Diamond District, it’s about to add 67 more.

—Scott Bass

A South Richmond church returns a portion of its parking lot — to nature

Ann Jurczyk, Virginia director of advocacy and outreach for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, plants a tree at Branch’s Baptist Church in late September.

Mayor Levar Stoney announces plans to redevelop the Diamond District in September.

THE HOME STRETCH

As the pandemic wanes, local pet adoption agencies see a return to normal

By Paula Peters Chambers

According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, an estimated one in five U.S. households — roughly 23 million families — adopted a cat or dog during the pandemic. Now that people are leaving their homes more regularly, whether for work or play, some have wondered if a rise in shelter census counts are due to families returning their newly adopted pets. But a recent SPCA report says data from the first half of 2022 shows that the rate of animals being surren dered by owners is similar to the rate in 2019 and 2021. We spoke with Tamsen Kingry, chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA, to find out what’s happening locally.

Richmond magazine: Has there been a surge this year in animals being returned to shelters?

Tamsen Kingry: Certainly it has been reported that returns have been up. That is not something we have observed at the Richmond SPCA, and we haven’t seen any data to indicate that is happening regionally. Our return rate is around 10.5%, which is very consistent with pre-pandemic sta tistics. What we saw happen during the pandemic is that return rates stayed pretty static. With so many folks working from home during the pan demic, there was an initial surge in adoptions, and guardians were able to form really strong bonds with pets at home. Those strong bonds contributed to there being a lower rate of return.

RM: What are the most common causes for someone to return a pet?

Kingry: The most common reason has to do with housing insecurity: evictions, moving, home lessness, issues with a landlord. Then there are behavior issues, which may mean that a particular pet isn’t the best fit for that family. Then there are allergies. We currently offer a boarding

program where, if someone is facing a temporary situation of housing insecurity, Richmond SPCA will take care of their pets so they can be reunited later. Typically, this is for periods of less than three months, and we really work one on one with individuals based on their particular set of circumstances. Any time a pet is adopted, we provide resources to guardians for the lifetime of that pet. Our free behavior hotline will work with people to help them manage or change behaviors at home. The hotline is available to all members of the community, no matter where they adopted their pet.

RM: Is fostering a pet a good path to adoption?

Kingry: We place 1,000 homeless cats and dogs into foster care over the course of a year. Foster care is wonderful because it allows us to expand our capacity beyond the four walls of the shelter. Some people enter the foster care relationship knowing this will be a temporary placement — a few days to a few weeks — where they are providing a loving and safe home. Others enter the relationship expecting a temporary situation

and then fall deeply in love with the pet and can’t imagine not being with the pet forever. We see either case as a success. Some of our foster care advisers serve as ambassadors, with the understanding that they will try to find the pet a permanent, safe home. They are very invested in that outcome.

RM: How can a family assess whether they should adopt a pet?

Kingry: Any time you adopt a pet, you have to recognize it’s a lifetime commitment you’re making. You’re opening your heart and home to a new companion who will take time to acclimate to the family. Sometimes the fit isn’t really right. Organizations like the SPCA are prepared to support you in finding the right match and making the placement a success. If the fit isn’t right, we’ll work with you to find an animal that is better suited for your family. We’re looking for matches that are the best ones for both the pets and people. R

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Tamsen Kingry, chief executive of the Richmond SPCA, with her dog, Bar, whom she adopted during the pandemic.

AUTO IMMUNE

By Don Harrison

Don’t believe the hype: Carytown won’t be doing away with the cars any time soon.

“Every few years, the notion comes up,” says Heather Holub, president of the Carytown Merchants Association, “but it seems to me this time that it’s coming mostly from the media.”

The proposal to turn the shopping district into a pedestrian-only area was given prominence by candidate Paul Gold man during the 2008 mayoral election. It’s now resurfaced, thanks to a T-shirt charity drive organized by a handful of neighboring residents, the RVA Street Team, who were inspired by the Watermelon Festival held every August. For that one-day celebration, West Cary closes

to traffic and “the mile of style” is turned into an open-air market of vendors and music stages.

“The Watermelon Festival is Cary town’s marquee annual event — it also provides a real-world example of how Carytown is much more accessible, enjoyable, and safer when it is dedicat ed to people instead of cars,” reads the RVA Street Team’s website, urging donors to show support for a no-car policy by buying a T-shirt that reads “Cars Ruin Carytown.”

“I hoped it would start a larger con versation about the space we dedicate to cars throughout the city,” says Doug Allen, the T-shirt designer. “Walking down Carytown today can be unpleasant and dangerous.” Cars take up most of the right

of way, he says, and intimidate pedestri ans at crosswalks. “I wanted people to think about how it could be different.”

The vehicular discourse took off on social media. “It’s an idea worth explor ing,” wrote former Richmond City Coun cilman Jon Baliles on his RVA 5x5 blog. “There are ideas, there are options, and there are possibilities. Is there the will to set something in motion?”

One advocate for a carless Carytown, Cassi Patterson, is the co-chair of Rich mond’s Safe and Healthy Streets Com mission, which advises City Council on transportation improvements. “I think it’s always been a topic on people’s minds, especially people who use bikes or walk,” says the urban planner, who works in the Richmond office of VHB, a large civil-engi neering design firm. “We shouldn’t look at it as getting cars out of the way as much as it is promoting other transportation modes ... creating bike lanes, widening sidewalks.”

She admits that any transformation would be an uphill battle that would take time — at least five years, much of that spent on traffic studies and gathering community input. She also advocates starting slowly, perhaps creating a hybrid streetscape that includes sectioned-off walkways and raised roadways, incorpo rating public transit and bike lanes. Like many on the pro side, she cites Charlot tesville’s Downtown Mall as an example of a shopping district successfully trans formed into a pedestrian mall.

As for the parking issue, Patterson says that adjoining residential streets would need permit parking. “If you increase public transportation to Carytown and enhance the stops,” she says, “more people would use it and be less reliant on auto mobiles to get there.”

Patterson and Holub do, however, agree on one thing: The traffic on West Cary is unsafe. “There’s been talk of lower ing the speed limit of Carytown to some thing like 15 miles an hour,” says Holub, who also works as manager of Merrymak er Fine Paper, a specialty stationery and gift shop. “A lot of businesses would be

Carytown to traffic gains traction on social media, but not with a key constituency — local merchants

Carytown to traffic

neat idea, but the

association says

widely supported by

businesses.

killed Isaias Martinez Hernandez, 36. He left a wife and three young children in Oaxaca, Mexico.

What sparked the later fantastical tales likely came from the College of Wil liam & Mary Center for Archaeological Research’s June 2000 report, which was commissioned by VDOT. The work pro vided due diligence to determine what lay in the path of this new interstate-grade highway cutting through southeastern Henrico County’s Varina district.

The fields and forests interrupted by the parkway ran through lands occupied for centuries by indigenous peoples — and during Colonial times by the Ran dolph family of Wilton and their enslaved workers.

Findings included ceramic and other artifacts dating from the Middle Archaic Period (6500-3500 B.C.), as well as rem nants of a “relatively small hamlet or a portion of a dispersed community” occu pied by 17th-century Native Americans. These are likely the villages/territories of

Powhatan and Arrohateck as identified by Capt. John Smith’s map of Virginia published in 1612.

William Randolph III lived in Wilton for barely a decade. He died at 37, and none of his three subsequent male descendants lived past 40. During the American Revo

zoning changes endangered Wilton.

This prompted the National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Virginia to dismantle and move Wilton 15 miles to West Cary Street Road, where it opened as a house museum. The former Wilton lands remained primarily agricultural.

The 2008 economic downturn, and public opposition, scotched the Tree Hill and Wilton subdivisions. The lack of toll revenue caused 895’s ownership to change, first through Australia-based Transurban and followed briefly by Pennsylvania’s DBi Services. Spanish-owned Globalvia assumed management in 2016. The road is privately held by Pocahontas Parkway Operations LLC, under VDOT agreement. PPO states that the highway is used by more than 6 million vehicles each year.

lution, the house served as a headquarters for Marquis de Lafayette, and Continental soldiers bivouacked on the grounds. After 1859, the house went through a succession of owners until 1932, when foreclosure and

One of the parkway’s recent users is Varina resident John Brooks, director of facilities management for The Doorways, a hospital hospitality operation in Rich mond. “The bridge is really cool,” he says, “thou gh I think it’s more interesting underneath.”

Pocahontas Parkway’s 672-foot bridge spans I-95 and the James River.

“I never anticipated staying up until the middle of the night to be interviewed by the BBC about ghosts on a highway in Virginia.”

—Jeff Caldwell, former public relations manager for the Virginia Department of Transportation

As scenes straight from doomsday movies — crop-killing droughts, devastating storms and floods, food shortages and empty shelves — are paired with wide spread political unrest, it’s dif ficult not to ponder the future of food. Around the world, centuries-old grape varietals are nearly extinct due to climate change; produce is being farmed indoors, vertically, horizontally and under water as farmlands shrink; and companies are exploring protein alternatives such as plant-based seafood while overfishing dec imates the commercial catch.

For some, sustainability is viewed as a buzz word. For others, it’s an issue that guides their personal and professional ethos. For everyone, it’s one of the most layered, intricate and important issues that has left no part of the delicate food and beverage ecosystem untouched.

In relation to food, sustainability means producing in a way that protects and enhances the environment, using natural resources wisely and efficiently, establishing and maintaining a system that preserves the economic viability of farm operations, all while improving the quality of life for everyone from growers to livestock and consumers.

From a company that hopes to shift the view of indoor farming to a local burger shop led by a group of metalheads preach ing sustainability and a duo leading a caf feinated revolution, throughout the region sustainable principles and practices are being embraced at all stages in the pro duction and consumption of food.

JUSTIN CHESNEY

Hand/Thrown Ceramics Studio offers pottery classes for all levels

43 RICHMOND EXPERIENCES FOR EVERYONE

ON YOUR LIST

FACE IT — WE ALL HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF. Instead of stressing about what to give your aunt who has everything this holiday or wondering where you’re going to store your kids’ Christmas presents once they’ve been unwrapped, consider an experiential gift.

It’s been said that the best things in life aren’t things, so we’ve rounded up ideas for everyone you know, and we’re presenting a shopping list that won’t require you to fight the crowds at the mall.

From rock climbing lessons and hot air balloon rides to cooking and art classes, tours and tastings, we guarantee these adventures won’t be forgotten and may even lead to a new interest or hobby.

Plus, we’ve got a roundup of some favorite holiday events and suggestions for subscription-based gifts that keep giving all year long.

BY PAULA PETERS CHAMBERS, LAURA ANDERS LEE AND JESSICA RONKY HADDAD

PLACE OF ORIGIN

Maharajah Coffee was founded on connection

By Eileen Mellon

hen I roast coffee, I use a stetho scope to feel the vibrations, so I rely on most of my senses, body language, intuition and vibrations,” says Manveer Singh, 34, of his heightened perception.

Almost entirely deaf, the gentle-na tured Singh started Maharajah Coffee in 2017 in London and Kenya and has been expanding the business locally over the past few years after relocating to Rich mond with his wife.

“When people drink coffee, it’s filled with a lot of history,” says Singh, a London native. “Like coffee, we [humans] have history and culture.”

Singh’s own history is the center of his business, and he views roasting as an opportunity to honor his ancestors, whom he says were blacksmiths, traders

and warriors, and to bridge the bond between the past and present.

“Maharajah means king, and the reason why I named it that is because my ancestors were royalty, and they were also merchants of the spice trade up until colonialism,” he says.

Singh adds that his lineage traces back to the Mughal and Sikh empires. Based in Punjab, Sikhs practiced the belief that people shouldn’t be judged by their race or religion and lived by the philosophy that equality and self less service was essential.

That same altruistic nature lives on in Singh.

Born with an innate desire to con nect with others that often comes from hardship, it was a trip around the world following an academic dis missal from Temple University and the discovery of a passion for the medicinal and meditative prop erties of coffee that led Singh to launch Maharajah Coffee.

“It was not good for me because of my hearing,” he says of school. “I decided to take a break and travel around the world. I always have to say to myself, ‘I need to keep going, no one else is going to do it for me, just your self and your shadow.’ It’s been chal lenging, but it’s made me who I am.”

It was the pause he needed. From 2013 to 2016, he embarked on a solo journey following the route that Alexander the Great traveled from Eastern Turkey through Afghanistan, spending years in the Middle East and South America. A linguist, Singh can speak and lipread eight languages.

Drawn to seeking out parts of the world that, as he puts it, “don’t disguise their identities,” Singh says he visited Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and Syria. From helping to clear rubble and search for survivors after an earth quake in Nepal to patching up a person who was injured following an explosion, the experiences touched him to his core.

“I have seen people with their legs torn off, arms torn off,” Singh says. “I still think about these things. It’s really, really, sad, but that’s the way the world is, and it shouldn’t be like this. With my coffee, I’m

Roslyn S. Cousins

SERVING GREATER RICHMOND FROM THE HEART OF THE CITY

editor’s letter

Tis the season! At R•Home, we’re celebrating the holidays and the return of maximalism with all that glitters.

You might say that maximalist style is a composition of sorts — a mix of color, texture, art and objects that come together in a highly personal environment. It’s also a joy ous celebration of decoration and design itself, which to me embodies the atmosphere of genuine joy I’ve experienced at every gathering I’ve attended in the past few months.

In this issue we step inside three homes with fabulously different maximal aesthetics that have been dressed to the max (of course) for Christmas. Meridith Ingram joined Amy Spearing, a decorator known for her fearless approach to mixing pattern and color, for a tour of her Sandy Hook home and some tips on holiday decorating on Page 46.

One of the highlights of a walk through Carytown is checking out the engagingly quirky vignettes that Maynee Cayton creates in the windows of her shop, Bygones Vintage Clothing. Kim Catley visited Cayton at her Museum District home to talk about her passion for all things vintage on Page 30.

Glittering swags and oversized ornaments festoon the entrance of Janice Hall Nuckolls’ Monument Avenue home, offering a glimpse of the holiday splendor inside. The designer spoke with Paula Peters Chambers about her maximal style in all things decorating on Page 38.

Christmas is a great time for traditions with family and friends. House tour aficionados will find details on the annual holiday house tours in the Fan District, Church Hill and Williamsburg on Page 22. Love a live tree? Experts share tips for selecting and caring for one on Page 60. And for those in need of a little inspira tion, we’ve got a curated list of festive gift ideas on Page 17.

Also in this issue, Page 58 features a look at “Home: A Celebration,” a new volume created by the renowned interior designer Charlotte Moss to raise funds for the fight against hunger in America. Finally, a design tour of Brun Whiskey and Cigar Lounge (Page 26), one of the newest fine dining and entertainment venues in the Fan District, showcases interiors inspired by the elegance of Billie Holiday and the cool of Jackson Ward’s Hippodrome in its heyday.

Susan W. Morgan

Find us at R•Home magazine on Facebook and @rhomemag on Instagram.

CHECK OUT R•HOME ON CBS 6 DURING ‘ VIRGINIA THIS MORNING ’!

Tune in for our home and garden tips on the following Wednesdays: Nov. 2 and Dec. 7 and 28

ONLINE, ALL THE TIME

Find beautiful photos of local homes, expert design tips and advice, and much more at rhomemag.com.

READERS’ FAVORITES

Our annual Readers’ Favorites survey opens Nov. 4 and runs through Dec. 2 at 5 p.m. This is your chance to share your favorite local shops, makers and service providers throughout the region. Complete the survey at rhomemag. com/favorites2023.

Kate Thompson; Lauren Healy-Flora

Rachel Lee, Alexis Courtney, Maynee Cayton and me on the day of our photo shoot

that held festive events, and entertainment that allowed those interested to enjoy diverse cultural experiences.

“So these [design elements] are, in a sort of abstract way, a fusion of ideas constantly captured,” he continues. “A celebration of our heritage and the fact that we’re here — a 100% Black-owned business — and a welcomed member of the community.”

Decorator Aaliyah McLean helped draw the color palette throughout the furnishings, layering a mix of old-school leather sofas reminiscent of a Victorian men’s club with sleek industrial seating in the back lounge. The team also repurposed wood that was removed from the front bar to create the whiskey bar and custom shelving.

“We moved the furniture around to get a feeling that encourages socializing,” Wilson says. “The biggest thing for us was to encour age socializing. There are no TVs here, because it’s very important to us that our patrons are not distracted. We have enough distractions in our phones.”

“Even though we’ve put our spin on the building and how we’re utilizing it … the feel ing that we’re hearing from anyone who was here when it was Bogart’s — when everyone wanted to be in the place — when they’re here on a jazz night or other social event … is that we found it,” Wilson says.

CHARLES WILSON savoring the moment and the energy of Brun's back lounge

WHISKEY BAR

The shelves and front of the bar were crafted from reclaimed and refinished wood.

BACK LOUNGE Fine whiskeys and cigars, and the aura of an old school jazz club

DINING ROOM

The juxtaposition of raw concrete, warm woods and fine art creates a sophisticated ambiance.

CORNER

A large painted screen by Jay Bohannan is a backdrop for this corner vignette pairing vintage majolica, a 1930s art deco armchair and a floor lamp with an original 1920s metal mesh lampshade.

BREAKFAST NOOK

A Black Forest bear overlooks a vintage banquette — from an old Broad Street ice cream parlor — and table with a 1930s painted cast-iron base.

Owning Bygones has provided an inside track for Cayton to find the objects that fill her home. She’s par ticularly drawn to the Georgian and Edwardian eras, as well as art deco and art nouveau. She mixes and matches and constantly changes, all while cre ating cohesion through colors from nature, themes and stories.

“When I find something that appeals to me, I get to bring it home and rearrange,” she says. “I get to see it all new and fresh.”

Even her holiday decorations feature a balance of natural and historical. In the living room, a small Christmas tree is placed in an art deco Egyptian reviv al fishbowl holder, then decorated with

Shiny Brite ornaments from the 1940s and ’50s. Live greenery and a starfish tree topper add organic touches, and vintage Christmas stockings hang from the fireplace. The final vignette is remi niscent of the scenes she creates in the front window at Bygones.

Cayton sometimes wonders if her affinity for history is a response to a childhood spent moving around the world, a reaction to her own lack of heirlooms and family treasures.

“I’m terribly sentimental about other families’ things,” she says. “They become a part of my family.”

PLAYROOM

Cayton entertains her grandchildren — Atli, Fin and Iris — with an impromptu performance at a custom-made puppet theater designed by her good friend Lara Koplin Ritter.

BEDROOM

Nuckolls found the shades for the vintage sconce in a little shop in Venice. The wallpaper is Designers Guild’s “Giardino Segreto” mural.

DAUGHTER’S ROOM

Pinks in different patterns, hues and textures soften this room’s grayscale palette.

table, traditional chinoiserie stools, and lamps with shades Spearing covered in a patterned fabric. Furry stockings contrast with abundant-butfaux greens on the mantel. Though Spearing prefers live florals, she adds that “in the real world, faux is helpful.” You’ll find nods to Paris — Spearing’s happy place — throughout the home, as with the bar cart’s glassware.

Spearing’s maximal holiday mix makes the screened porch anoth er cozy spot in her home, where a mo dern gray-and-white sofa and paisley panels are accented for the holidays with pillows and throws in cozy textures. The painted-stripe floor is pet-friendly, coordinates with any decor and adds enough interest that a rug isn’t necessary, she says.

Meals throughout the season are always served on Spearing’s Christ mas china; this year, her red and gray palette complements both the dishes and her bold custom table cloth. “If I want to do something jazzier, I can easily change out the napkins or add gold,” she says.

In both home and holiday deco rating, Spearing believes you should surround yourself with things you love. In sharing her rules for pattern play — mix scale, keep the color pal ette consistent — she notes the most important rule of all: “If you like it, who cares?”

DINING ROOM

A marvelous mix of pattern in the dining room, where every element adds to the aesthetic.

Photographs of inspiring, creativewomen grace the walls of CharlotteMoss' New York sitting room.

‘Home: A Celebration’

By Susan W. Morgan

WHEN THE PANDEMIC shut down the world as we knew it — exacerbating the worst of society’s ills as millions lost their jobs, their homes and their ability to feed their families — the renowned interior designer and philanthropist Charlotte Moss was compelled to do something to help.

“The news was breaking my heart when I watched every night,” says the Richmond native and Virginia Commonwealth University alum. “And when I found out … that people were being turned away from soup kitchens and food pantries after being in line for hours so they could feed their family, I said, ‘I’ve got to do something.’ ”

That something, as Moss says, is “Home: A Celebra tion,” an effort inspired by “The Book of the Homeless,” a volume created by author Edith Wharton in 1916 to help refugees and children in Europe during World War I. Wharton, the author of “The Decoration of Houses” and numerous novels of old New York — including “Ethan Frome,” “The House of Mirth” and “The Age of Innocence” (winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for fiction), called upon prominent artists, writers, poets, musicians and politicians to contribute essays, poetry and illustrations to assist her with the effort. Theodore Roosevelt, Sarah Bernhardt, Jean Cocteau, Joseph Conrad, Igor Stravinsky, Claude Monet, Auguste Rodin, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Charles Dana Gibson were among the contributors.

“Edith Wharton’s book has been sitting on my bookshelf for years, and I’ve always thought that it was a great concept for a fundraiser,” Moss says. “Because Edith went to people and asked them to do the things that they do. They write, they draw, they paint, and she didn’t ask them for money.

And so they just gave of themselves. And I just thought that was such a great concept."

For “Home,” Moss asked 125 prominent creative people, from artists and poets to musicians and historians, to share what home means to them, with each contributor presenting their thoughts through the prism of their passions. Celebrity cook/TV host Rachael Ray and chef Alice Waters offer recipes; photographer Annie Leibovitz presents an old photo taken through the windshield of her father’s car; socialite and style icon Iris Apfel shares childhood memories with designer Hutton Wilkinson; and fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi shares drawings of his pets. Other contributors include Bette Midler, Julian Fellowes, Bianca Jagger, Joyce Carol Oates, Hunt Slo nem and interior designers Kelly Wearstler, Martyn Lawrence Bullard and Nina Campbell, to name just a few.

“There were more like 17 million people who were food insecure at the height of the pandemic, but there are roughly 13 million still challenged,” Moss says. “So there’s still work to do. When I quote those statistics, people just can’t believe that those are the numbers in the richest country in the world.”

According to USAFacts, 11% of American households were food insecure in 2020.

All profits from “Home: A Celebration” will be donated to No Kid Hungry, a national campaign to end childhood hunger organized by Share Our Strength, a nonprofit dedicated to ending hunger and poverty. The book is available through charlottemoss.com.

Charlotte Moss and her friends share their thoughts of home

Pieter Estersohn; Brittany Ambridge;



Charlotte Moss

O Tannenbaum

Going natural — tips for choosing a live Christmas tree this holiday season

By Taylor Peterson | Illustration by Desiree Connors

From their signature natural pine scent alone, real Christmas trees have evoked a strong sense of tradition and holiday spirit for cen turies. Whether you cut one down yourself, choose a pre-cut tree or buy a potted tree to plant later, there are many options when choosing the per fect real tree to spruce up your home for the holidays.

Perhaps the most classic option is cutting down your own Christmas tree. Emerson Christmas Tree Farm has honored this long-standing tradition for decades, offering a humble variety of Norway spruce and white pine trees grown in South Chesterfield. Owner Steve Smith says that for many families, creating a memorable tradition that gets passed down to future generations is a big selling point.

The process is as simple as it sounds: You pick a tree and cut it. “Cut it off low to the ground [to] make sure [you] have plenty of room to put it in a stand,” he explains.

Once you’ve brought your tree home, Smith recom mends immediately putting it in a bucket of water to pre vent the sap from re-forming at the base. As long as the tree is kept watered and away from heat sources like fireplaces and stoves, it will last around 30 days, he says.

If you prefer a more hands-off approach, garden centers like Boulevard Flower Gardens offer pre-cut trees that require the same mainte nance, owner Mark Landa says. Boulevard offers Fraser firs, a popular tree variety grown in Southwest Virginia and North Carolina.

Those wanting to test their green thumb can try a live, potted Christmas tree to plant after the holidays are over. Landa recommends starting with a 4-foot tree, such as a native blue spruce, an Alberta spruce or a Norway spruce, as taller outdoor trees can quickly become too heavy to handle.

Landa suggests keeping the tree outside in its natu ral, cold environment for opti mal growth — either on a patio

or by a window where it can still be seen. If you do bring the tree inside, it should be brief. “[Live] trees should only be in the house for three to five days,” he explains.

For planting, Landa encourages gardeners to pre-dig a hole for the tree in December and place dried leaves at the bottom, to be removed once the tree is ready to plant. He suggests planting the tree on a warmer day when there is a break in cold weather and making sure to water frequently.

Once the holiday season ends, and pine needles start to shed, you can recycle your undecorated Christmas tree in a variety of ways. Participating landfills and most coun ties often provide programs in which trees can be shred ded into mulch for flower beds and parks. For those looking to get creative, look no further than your backyard. Smith says some families with ponds reuse Christmas trees to create a habitat for their fish to nest. For a nonaquatic route, Landa suggests staking the tree in your backyard and redecorating it with natural items such as popcorn for native birds to enjoy.

Whether a live potted tree or one that’s been cut, keep it away from heat sources and well-watered.