One-year-old Stephanie Thrift happily munches on a chocolate Rice Krispie treat as her father wheels her stroller through the doors of Pavilion VIII. Her 5-year-old brother's artwork, a dramatic depiction of the latest Cavalier basketball game with stick figures, is pasted on the front door.
When it's time to play outside, Stephanie and her brother Alex use Thomas Jefferson's entire Academical Village and the Lawn as their front yard and personal playground.
Pavilion VIII is home to Alex and Stephanie, the children of Cristina Della Coletta, Associate Professor of Italian, and her husband, attorney Mike Thrift.
Far away from the cul-de-sacs and school bus stops of typical suburban neighborhoods, the Thrift-Della Coletta family and other faculty Pavilion residents enjoy the unique experience of raising kids in one of the Lawn's 10 Pavilions.
"The interaction with the students is fantastic," said Della Coletta, telling the story of how an elated Alex once threw the opening pitch in a fat bat game between the University Guide Service and the Jefferson Society, which happened to fall on his birthday. After Alex received an "honorary U-Guide" T-shirt, all of the students joined the family in the Pavilion for a round of "Happy Birthday" and cake.
Della Coletta explained that Pavilion VIII, which is the only Pavilion in which University classes are held, is usually given to teaching professors after an extensive application process. The Thrift-Della Colettas reside in the upper floor of Pavilion VIII, unlike other Lawn families, who occupy their entire Pavilion. These prestigious residences are awarded to high-ranking faculty members for extended periods of time.
For both Thrift and Della Coletta, the opportunity to create happy childhood memories was a main attraction to life on the Lawn.
"Alex learned how to ride a bike out on the Lawn ... Steph took her first steps out on the Lawn," Thrift reminisced.
"It provides a unique childhood experience ... wandering around in the gardens is like living in the Hundred Acre Wood," or Winnie the Pooh's domain, he explained.
When the kids' friends come over to play, Della Coletta said they go to all "the magic places," including a jungle-gym of vines near Pavilion X, the whispering wall near Monroe Hall, and the view of the "ocean" as seen by laying upside down on the steps of the Rotunda.
As Alex intently watches "Scooby Doo and the Legend of Zombie Island" in the front room of the Pavilion apartment, his mother reminds him that two of his Lawn student friends would be coming over later for "taco night."
"They make the best fish tacos," Jodie Slater, a fourth-year University Guide later said about the Thrift-Della Colettas. "They're known for it."
Before Alex, Stephanie and their parents moved in, Associate Commerce Professor Brad Brown and his family lived in Pavilion VIII.
"The Lawnies were so good about including my son Moby in their activities like the 'assassin game' and just throwing a Frisbee around, that he felt like he had a lot of older friends," Brown commented.
Moby, now a junior at Western Albemarle High School, lived in the Pavilion while he was 12 and 13-years old. His most vivid memory of Lawn life was "the immense amount of streaking" he said he noticed from his Lawn-side bedroom window.
Brown laughed as he recounted the story of when he and Moby hid the clothes of a group of Lawn streakers and then watched from the Pavilion balcony as the students frantically searched for them.
"It was definitely a positive experience," Moby said of life in the Pavilion. "It's pretty cool to say that you lived on the Lawn."
The sights and sounds of children have long been a familiar part of Pavilion VIII. Many of the Lawn children have adopted traditions similar to those of students who live on the Lawn. Ten years ago, two Pavilion children - 3-year-old Colleen and 1-year-old Hayes Cozart - had miniature rocking chairs to complement the larger student versions that line the walkways.
Colleen and Hayes both were born while their mother, Pat Lampkin, now the Associate Vice President of Student Affairs, and father Wayne Cozart, the current Associate Director of Alumni Affairs, lived in the Pavilion.
Colleen, now an articulate 11-year-old sporting tiny braids with colorful rubber bands in her hair, smiles with excitement as she recalls her adventures on the Lawn as a 2-year-old.
She remembers trekking down the Lawn to climb up the statue of Homer.
"I was hiding behind his guide," she said, laughing over her unique hiding place, "and nobody could find me."
"Colleen was a climber," recalled Lampkin. "She saw the Lawn as her yard and still does."
Both Cozart and Lampkin remember being awakened once by student streakers banging on the door of the Pavilion's upper catwalk one night at 2 a.m.
Lampkin smiled, remembering that her 2- year-old daughter had announced that "she wanted to get up and see the boys."
Growing up amidst the center of the University not only gave the children fond memories, but also some unique toys from the University's secret societies.
"When Hayes was born, we found a silver rattle in his crib with a Z," said Cozart, and Colleen has an IMP cap from when she was "tapped" by the IMPs as a baby.
"I also got a letter from the Seven Society," Colleen chimed in proudly.
For Lampkin and Cozart, the contact with students and the awe of living in the middle of history proved the most memorable aspects of Pavilion family life.
Raising a family on the Lawn also has been awe-inspiring for current Pavilion V resident Kim Snyder, wife of Ted Snyder, Dean of the Darden school.
Snyder said she thinks it's amazing that her 12-year-old daughter Alison can look out her bedroom window at night and see the beauty and grandeur of the lighted Rotunda.
"I love this village," said Snyder of her unique community of 20-year-olds. For her, the Lawn is "a wonderful play space" for Alison and her two brothers, Jeffrey, 10 and Kevin, 6.
"The students around us have been great," Dean Snyder said. "Not only have they adjusted to having people in the neighborhood going to bed at 9 o'clock, many have developed real relationships with our children."
Eric Hutter, a fourth-year Lawn resident and University Guide, said the Pavilion families are the biggest perks to living on the Lawn. He has frequently enjoyed leaf fights and football games with the Snyder kids and regularly takes Jeff to the dining hall, where they have contests involving eating pie without any hands. "We're not allowed to tell his mom," about that, Hutter said.
"Having a child gives you more access to the students," said Pavilion IX resident Karen Van Lengen, Dean of the Architecture School, describing Lawn residents as "older siblings" for her 5-year-old daughter Kiri.
The Lawn may be a piece of history for University students and tourists, but for the littlest Lawnies, it is the playground that beats all others as a place to call home.
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