Nest — Summer 2014
Restaurant Design; Furniture Upholstery; Innovative Office Spaces; Landscape Architecture; Shade Perennials; DIY Chalkboard Projects
Nest — Summer 2014
In this Summer Issue of Nest, we’re thinking about outdoor living. Vermont’s climate gives us precious few months to do so, but we make the most of it. Go ahead and drool a little over the cover photo,and more inside, from Burlington landscape architects Wagner Hodgson. Not all of us have a stunning mountain view…
V/T Commercial Navigates the (Office) Space Race
The Burlington area is known for its rich arts culture, beautiful natural surroundings … and seemingly permanent shortage of commercial real estate. According to the most current report prepared by South Burlington real estate firm Allen & Brooks, the retail vacancy rate for Chittenden County in June this year is just 4.1 percent; the vacancy…
Landscape Architects Wagner Hodgson Sculpt the View
If you’ve been around northern Vermont in the past 10 years, you’ve seen the work of H. Keith Wagner and Jeffrey Hodgson. The duo’s eponymous Burlington-based landscape-architecture firm has worked on highly trafficked sites such as Jay Peak Resort, the University of Vermont’s Dudley H. Davis Center, Dealer.com, Fletcher Allen Health Care, the Winooski rotary,…
A Shoreham Upholsterer Puts the Bounce in the Seat
Jim Ortuno’s unofficial motto is, “If it holds still long enough, I can upholster it.” And it’s not much of an exaggeration. The upholsterer’s customers have trucked furniture, hot rods and high-end sports cars hundreds of miles to be retooled in his little shop in Shoreham. Ortuno, 59, has also upholstered dollhouse furniture, motorboats, the…
Prime Perennials for Vermont’s Climate
Summer visits to my mom’s place inevitably include afternoon wanders through her three-acre property to survey the day’s blooms. Her gardens began with two modest plantings in the 1980s and have expanded into a wild collection of hard-to-find perennials. In recent years, I’ve noticed more native plants creeping in — lovely, early-flowering varieties that evolved…
Chalk Paint, a Quick and Versatile DIY Option
As many an interior decorator will attest, a simple way to update your living space is to switch up the color of your furniture. A fresh coat of paint brings new life to an old table or cabinet; even a brightly hued small piece can transform a room. The thing is, priming, painting, finishing and…
Vermont Restaurateurs Order Up Construction Manager Peter Smejkal
When Peter Smejkal and his wife, Iva, escaped their native Czechoslovakia in 1986, their first meal outside the Iron Curtain was in a McDonald’s in Austria. In the ensuing two decades, Smejkal would build and rehab more than 30 McDonald’s outlets around the United States. Later, he would help Vermont restaurateurs convert a former McDonald’s…
