June 10, 1998
Contact: Jane Ford
	  (804) 924-4298

U.Va. Architects Blend New With Old
MONTEREY, HOME OF THE HIGHLAND MAPLE FESTIVAL,
GROWS, PRESERVES RURAL CHARACTER  

	In one of Virginia's most scenic mountain communities, two
University of Virginia professors and architects, Peter Waldman and
William Sherman, are designing a residential neighborhood that attempts
to both meet the needs of the area and preserve the agrarian landscape. 
	In creating Highland Meadows, which is being built in Monterey,
Va., the architects bring the concepts they teach their students about
design and planning to help resolve the conflicts between the historic
character of the Virginia landscape and the pressures for economic
development. 
	"We conceived this addition to the town in such a way that an
essential characteristic, the relationship of the community to the
surrounding agricultural landscape, is preserved," said Sherman.
	Nestled in Virginia's lovely Highland County, Monterey is an
unspoiled mountain town with a general store on Main Street and no
McDonald's and no ATM machine at the two local banks. Best known for its
annual maple festival, which attracts thousands of visitors each March,
the town faces the question of how to preserve its rural character while
responding to the housing needs of an aging and retiring farming
community as well as city dwellers looking for a weekend or retirement
home. 
	The farmhouse architectural character of the local houses and
the site's history play major roles in the design of the new
neighborhood. The five-and-a-half-acre site will accommodate 29 homes.
Each homeowner shares common land through an association and has private
space where they can have a flower or vegetable garden. The common land
includes walking paths with fields of wild flowers and two ponds. 
	Sherman said each home will have a feeling of being very open to
the adjoining meadows while being only one block off Main Street, within
walking distance of such amenities as the town library, restaurants,
shops, schools and a community pool.  The site was formerly a hay meadow 
and still borders pastures and a small horse-stable.
	"The challenges grew out of the special characteristics of this
one place. It is an agrarian 
extension of the town," said Waldman. "The first connection is to the
land, the second to the street."
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	The neighborhood's brick and clapboard homes have a common
language of modesty, yet each structure will be tailored to the needs of
the individual owners in terms of size and layout of rooms. The design
is based on the one- and two-story farmhouse with a front porch. The
emphasis is on low-maintenance design and materials coupled with warmth
and practicality. A fixed, brick wrapped core of modern utilities which
houses the plumbing, heating, bathrooms and kitchen is a common element
to all the homes. This core is surrounded by an open shell that allows
for the choice of a flexible arrangement of rooms -- from a typical
farmhouse arrangement to a loft or barn-like interior.
	The project will also employ local craftsmen and local materials
and could give a boost to the area's economy.  The standing-seam terne
metal roofs being used at Highland Meadows have been the practice in
Virginia since before the Civil War, according to Waldman.
Maintenance-free applications that recall traditional styles include
clapboard siding made from concrete fiberboard, windows clad in metal,
exterior wood trim that is stained, not painted.
	In planning the layout of the neighborhood, the site and its
rural features play an important role. The common area is sited to
maintain the view from Main Street to the meadows beyond. In addition,
it collects the water runoff from the site into a pond, turning a
necessary part of the infrastructure into a positive feature. The
landscaping will be native plants and trees to support the diversity of
the existing fauna.
	"Highland Meadows is a great example of a community taking the
initiative to grow responsibly and is a model of academic practice,
extending the research of the School of Architecture into a real-world
condition," said Waldman.	
	Waldman, an internationally acclaimed architect whose work has
been recently featured in The Washington Post and Architecture magazine,
is a professor in U.Va.'s department of architecture. Sherman, an
associate professor, is widely known for his work in site design and
multi-family projects. 
	Waldman and Sherman are working with four local developers who
live in the community; Karen Lohr, a math teacher; John M. Lohr,
Highland County Commonwealth's Attorney and counsel to the Town of
Monterey; Melissa Ann Dowd, counsel to Highland County; and Curtis
Seltzer, contractor. The developers' sensitivity to the needs of the
community and the agrarian character of the land allowed Waldman and
Sherman to take some of the community-based research that has been a
part of their teaching and put it into practice, the U.Va. architects
said.  
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	For more information contact Peter Waldman at (804) 924-6464 or
Bill Sherman at (804) 293-2822 or sherman@virginia.edu. Television
reporters contact our TV News Office at (804) 924-7550.