Mudhouse Coffee Roasters

We wanted to open a coffeehouse that was a place for free expression, where skate punks and city councilors would sit side by side and begin a dialogue. We searched and searched, needing to be on the downtown mall, as it was to us, the heart of Charlottesville. We found our building on the sunny side of the west end where the old Virginia Lunch used to be. There was no ice skating rink and the Regal theater was an abandoned boarded up building. Woolworth’s was still there, but most buildings were empty, and folks came only to hear music at Millers or have dinner at C&O or Metropolitain. We loved it, the bones and the beauty, we saw the mall clearly, how it could be a shared space, a community park, small business and city council working together, a place to commune. Our dear friend Derek worked tirelessly helping us build out while we painted and sawed. On October 13, 1995 we pulled the paper from the windows and opened the door. Mark Gresge of L'Etoile was our first customer. We’ve changed a little since those days, but our spirit is the same. And our mission is still the same…to create good feeling.