Building Swap Affects Three Round Hill Businesses
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Round Hill Arts
Center, Round Hill Design Studio and Savoir Fare Boast New, Improved
Space
  
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By KIM RAMSEY
Editor, News aRound the Hill
Three Round Hill businesses are redefining and expanding their
operations as part of a building shuffle that began in September when
the Round Hill Arts Center left its location in the Old Furniture
Factory on West Loudoun Street.
By the first of October, the Round Hill Design Studio had moved from the
Patterson Building on the corner of Main and Loudoun streets into the
Old Furniture Factory, and after Thanksgiving, the space the Design
Studio vacated will become an expanded dining room for its neighbor,
Savoir Fare Restaurant and Wine Bar.
The board of the Round Hill Arts Center is excited about its new
location: the Hill High Orchards building on Route 7 just west of Round
Hill.
The Center will occupy part of the building behind the Country Store.
"There's a potential synergy between the Arts Center and the
marketplace," said RHAC Board Member Frank Etro. "It's a great
location."
The Round Hill Arts Center is currently renovating the Hill High space
to meet its needs.
According to RHAC Executive Director Frank Naylor, the new location will
be "quality space designed to be an art center from the ground up with
room to grow."
The space will include a brand new state-of-the-art pottery studio, art
studios for classes and room for a new gallery, which will be run by the
artists themselves. This will be the first and only artists' cooperative
gallery in western Loudoun County.
As a non-profit, the Center operates on income earned from programs and
classes, as well as funds from donors and grants. Recently, it was a
recipient of a matching grant from the Town of Round Hill and the
Virginia Commission of the Arts (VCA).
The Center hopes to be fully operational in its new home before the
holidays, but in the meantime is holding classes in off-site locations,
including Notaviva Winery and the Purcellville Train Station.
For more information, visit
www.roundhillartscenter.org.
During the last few weeks, Wally Johnson has been working to set up his
high-end kitchen design and sales business, Round Hill Design Studio, in
the Old Furniture Factory building, which Johnson has owned since 1985.
According to Johnson, the Old Furniture Factory will also be home to
David Norton’s pottery classes and Genesis International, as well as the
monthly bluegrass jam sessions that have over the last seven years
“become an institution in this building.”
Genesis International, which Johnson founded with his wife, Carolyn
Kruger, supports preschool education and health programs for orphans and
vulnerable children in the African countries of Malawi and Zambia.
Genesis is in the process of applying for non-profit status, and Johnson
said that proceeds from the monthly jam sessions and a portion of the
profits from all programs in the Old Furniture Factory building will go
to this organization.
Johnson is also open to having the rest of the building fill “whatever
the community’s needs are, focusing initially on music.”
“We're not looking to compete with the Round Hill Arts Center or
Franklin Park Performing and Visual Arts Center,” Johnson said.
“We're small and have no stage or sound equipment, so we're looking for
a more intimate, coffeehouse sort of feeling.”
A group of volunteers, called the Friends of the Old Furniture Factory,
is being established to help plan events and programs for the building.
For more information, visit
www.roundhilldesign.com,
www.genesisintl.org, and
www.theoldfurniturefactory.com.
Since its opening last spring, business at Joan Wolford’s Savoir Fare
Restaurant and Wine Bar has been, in her words, “unbelievably
successful.” So it's no surprise that she jumped at the chance to expand
into the remaining first floor space of the Patterson Building.
By making only minor modifications to the building's floor plan, Wolford
expects to be able to double her dining capacity while still keeping her
mellow, relaxed atmosphere.
Diners will still choose from four entrees, which will change weekly, as
well as small plates, soups and salads.
Starting Nov. 1, Savoir Fare will be open Wednesday evenings in addition
to the current Thursday through Saturday nights. Lunch is served from 11
a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.
Wolford expects the new dining space to be available sometime after
Thanksgiving.
Wolford will also continue to operate her Savoir Fare, Ltd., catering
business, which celebrated its tenth anniversary on Oct. 20, from the
same location.
Of the Restaurant and Wine Bar, Wolford said, “It’s a dream come true
for me. It’s pretty awesome.”
For more information and weekly menus, see
www.savoirfarelimited.com. |
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