Broadaxe Farm House

A physician and artist couple relocated from Alabama to Charlottesville, seeking a site where he could cultivate a garden to support his culinary interests and she could pursue her growing passion for painting.

Our first meeting involved a walk across 65 acres of varied landscape, including meadow, forest edge, and wooded slopes descending to a vigorous stream. Together, we identified a site along the forest edge where both clients could envision pursuing their interests. Following detailed discussions of program and budget, we developed a series of studies exploring the relationship between their modest residential needs and their broader vision for a small farm, studio, and other supporting outbuildings. Their preferred aesthetic was a contemporary farmhouse that reinterprets traditional Virginia precedents.

The main house is oriented for optimal passive solar performance, with the master bedroom view centered on a single, striking oak tree set within the seasonal meadow to the east.

The design organization emphasizes primary living and dining spaces supported by discreet service areas. The intimate kitchen, sheltered under a warm wood-beam ceiling, opens into the two-story great room. This space is anchored by a central fireplace and stair, aligned with two-story windows on both the north and south façades to maintain a continuous visual connection to the surrounding landscape.

The composition of outbuildings includes a screened summer dining porch, a car barn with an exercise studio, and a primary painting studio located a short walk beyond the house.