What better setting than a 19th-century tobacco factory loft to showcase the spirit of times past? Kate and Tony Gioia were "just passing through" Danville three years ago. Before returning home to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, they had committed themselves to becoming one of the first owners at The Burton Condominiums. Cobblestone streets with granite curbs, a loft with ten foot ceilings, interior brick walls, and original mellow wood flooring set the stage for the Gioia's antiques, including a collection of Hudson River School paintings.
Fans of re-purposing both furniture and homes, the Gioias bring an environmental twist to this years' tour. Just a few hundred feet away from The Burton lies the old Klaff junk yard. Before being buried recently under a landscaped asphalt parking lot, Klaffs had become the Gioia's repository of "found objects." There, in periodic visits over two years, the couple collected rusty stuff, bottles, and several unknown scraps of metal, trash that has been artistically transformed into holiday treasures-hence the theme, "I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas." No money was spent in the creation of these decorations, all re-purposed and revived objects now shine as treasures past and present – a creative and unforgettable twist of decorating.
The setting for the Gioia's handsome condominium is the former F. X. Burton Tobacco Factory, now reincarnated – re-purposed as it were – as Danville's first residential "warehouse" conversion, The Burton. The facility began as one of late-19th-century Danville's foremost tobacco processors for stemming and prizing (or pressing) the golden leaf for storage in large barrels known as hogsheads. The F. X. Burton company emerged in the 1870s, '80s and '90s, when the core of this complex was built for its namesake, Mr. Francis Xavier Burton. Mr. Burton pioneered also as one of six founders of the Riverside Cotton Mills, predecessor of the long-time textile leader, Dan River Inc.
Four levels of massive post-and-beam factory construction and heart pine floors make a striking counterpoint to contemporary sculptural walls and layout, introduced by the Johannas Design Group of Richmond. Such appealing features now redefine this loft as well as seventeen other handsome condominiums at The Burton.