My fam fixed the house

I find your article on Shadwell Court very interesting ["Fooled 'ya: All the fun's out back," On the Block, May 20, 2004]! The reason that it interests me? All of the updating done to the house by the "current owner" was not done by him.

In the spring of 1992, my uncle from Northern Virginia decided to invest in the property. When he bought Shadwell Court it was in extremely bad shape. It had shag green carpet, wood paneling and much more of the '60s look. The beautiful room with the bar used to be an old carport. The swimming pool in the backyard was green with "things" growing in it. My uncle– being the businessman that he was– saw great potential in this property. He decided to take on this huge project.

The renovations began! My oldest brother, Mike, and his friends had been doing renovation work for several years prior to the Shadwell purchase. They turned the carport into the beautiful room with the bar and the huge windows. They removed all carpeting and replaced it with the hardwood flooring. All old windows were removed and replaced. An average fireplace at the entrance was turned into a double sided slate fireplace. The wood paneling painted white...done by Mike and his crew! The gazebo, the outside tile walk, and much of the landscaping– taken care of by Mike!

He spent months and months on this never-ending project. As a matter of fact, he has a picture album of the before and after on the house. I could go on and on with more info on renovations done to not only the main house but to the duplexes as well.

So I was quite taken back when the current owner decided to give no recognition of this work. What do you think about that? Mike was pretty annoyed.

In 2000, Tom decided to put Shadwell Court on the market. That's when the current owner decided to invest in the property. Let's give Mike and his work crew recognition for the renovations done at Shadwell Court!

Brandi DeMasters
Albemarle County

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