Hi! We are young-ish retirees getting ready to celebrate our 33rd anniversary! We have always traveled extensively, and now that we have stepped back from work, we look forward to hitting the road even more. We have a beautiful home in a wonderful location and two very easy, friendly pets to share with who will enjoy staying here and provide us with a sense of ease while we are away!
Our home, which we built with custom architectural plans, is located on the west side of beautiful Charlottesville, VA in an area known as Ivy. We are on a nearly seven acre property with ample privacy from our wonderful neighbors whom we enjoy seeing regularly as we walk the neighborhood.
Our home is beautiful, with great indoor and outdoor living spaces. The kitchen is gorgeous and has anything cooking-related you might need. The wood-ceilinged dining room looks out over the back porch. The connected living room also has a wood ceiling, along with a grand piano, an inviting leather couch and recliner with a new TV set in a custom cabinet (we subscribe to pretty much every streaming service along with cable TV), and a cozy fireplace "inglenook", great for relaxing and reading. The upstairs has four bedrooms (our three children are all grown, and live overseas), including a beautiful guest room where you will stay while house sitting. It has a sweet view of a nearby vineyard and a connected bathroom with two sinks and a shower/tub. We have two new washer/dryers, including an upstairs pair down the hall from the guest room which you are welcome to use. The basement has its own separate kitchen, along with another large guest room with a TV, pool table, and treadmill. We have SONOS speakers throughout the house...we nearly always have music playing.
The exterior includes cozy front and back blue stone porches. We spend lots of time hanging out and entertaining on the back porch, which has ample table and seating space and a gas fueled outdoor fire pit (there are speakers on both porches...more music!). We grow vegetables and berries in a couple of locations, including raised beds, and have beautiful plant gardens accenting the front of our home.
The entire property is ringed by an invisible fence so our dog, Rudy, spends much of the day outside, and never needs to be taken for a walk to "do her business" (though she loves to go for walks and hikes; more on this below).
Charlottesville is a beautiful central Virginia town set in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and home to the University of Virginia. In under 15 minutes you can drive to UVA, downtown Charlottesville, and a host of retail options (including Whole Foods and Trader Joes as well a countless great restaurants). Our downtown is charming, with a walking mall closed to traffic. Charlottesville is known for its restaurant and music scenes...both are first rate! There are loads of breweries and vineyards nearby (as close as five minutes), most located in beautiful settings. And there are many amazing hiking opportunities nearby, including Shenandoah National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway, which are both 20 minutes from our home. We do lots of hiking, so we have plenty of recommendations for short and long walks, including a number of great ones located just a few minutes from our home.
One of the reasons we love Charlottesville is the weather: we have four distinct seasons. The spring and fall are gorgeous, as you might guess. It is warm during the summer, but typically not "very" warm for long stretches, and you can always cool off with a hike to any of a number of nearby river and swimming hole options. And we frequently get some snow in the winter...a great time to cozy up in front of the fireplace in our living room inglenook!
Caring for Rudy and Maria is very easy! Rudy is a very sweet tempered, easy going dog. She rarely barks, and has never had a "cross" moment with another dog, or with Maria. Maria may take some time to warm up to you, but by the end of your stay you'll likely find her "asking" to sit in your lap. But even while she's figuring you out, she's super easy to take care of. Both are very healthy. Neither pet needs medication, other than Rudy's monthly tick and heartworm treatments.
Both are fed twice a day, Rudy in the upstairs kitchen and Maria in the downstairs kitchen. With our property ringed by an electric fence, Rudy can simply be let outside, both to hang out (she loves to spend most of the day outside) and to take care of her business. Maria's litter box needs to be scooped once or twice per day. Both enjoy getting treats, which we keep on hand in ample supply. Rudy is not permitted on the furniture, a rule she respects!
Rudy will likely want to sleep on the floor next to your bed (whether she does or not is up to you; she's a great sleeper...she will go to sleep and not budge until you get up), while Maria will spend the night downstairs on the couch.
While Rudy doesn't need to be walked, she does love to go on walks and hikes (we always walk her on a retractable leash). We'll walk her through the neighborhood, of course, but she loves to go on longer walks and hikes. We will leave you with a number of great possibilities!
Away from the pets, we'll ask you to retrieve the mail each day, wheel the trash can to the street once a week, keep a couple of indoor plants watered, and watch the gardens to make sure they're getting enough water (and to pick anything ripe for you to enjoy). That's about it!