What towns to consider for antique house under $800K (Reston: renting, schools)

[arielmina]

Originally Posted by borngrace

Found houses in Leesburg and Waterford -- but don't know about the commute. Didn't see anything in Clifton - or really anyplace that was closer in. Do not want to live in a subdivision. I need some personal space :-)

Yeah that is really where you are going to find land and older houses...like I said, the commute from most of Leesburg will easily be a solid hour. Waterford, depending on where, but I assume in "village" of Waterford, will be probably about 10-15 mins farther away.

[Caladium]

The other thing to know about Waterford is the homes there can be very expensive.

OP, to be honest I doubt you'll have much luck finding what you're looking for. There might be a few houses out there so who knows, maybe you'll be lucky. But, to be realistic, there are very few historic properties here, and horse property is going to be a long & wearying commute from McLean. Nova is mostly new and suburban.

[Margery]

I used homesdatabase.com and found 2 homes in Herndon on 5+ acres on Thoroughbred Lane in your price range. They are not "antique" homes and will probably need work but it would not be a bad commute to McLean. Use that site and do some looking on your own, you can specify how much acreage you need.

[South Jersey Styx]

Leesburg, Hamilton, Purcellville, and Round Hill. If you use the Dulles Greenway, your hubby might be able to do it in 50-60 min, depending what time(s) he leaves. In the morning, the earlier the better.

I've been on that road 6:30ish (coming in from Winchester which is further west) and traffic is fine until you get closer to the Rte 15 & Rte 7 east exit. The Greenway is clear ($4.80 - $5.25 toll one way) and then it's stop and go traffic roughly from Reston to McLean. The construction around the Tyson's area has made it worse.

It might help if he can work from home too, at least 1 day a week. Good luck!

[borngrace]

Thanks so much for everyone's advice. It has helped tremendously. I do know that properties that I like will be few and far between. That's ok. Old house people are used to that. The couple of houses I have found are not more expensive than the suburban developments (just more land and smaller houses -- and quirky stuff that would drive non old house people CRAZY!) We are currently 1 hr north of NYC and 20 minutes to Metro North so my husband is used to that kind of commute - and NYC hours where no one really leaves work until 8pm or so. He is also ok with getting up early and going in. But when he's home it's nice to be somewhere you love just hanging out - and old houses and nice rolling hills and horses do that for us. (well he couldn't give a rats *ss about the horse part - but they make me smile).
I was really very surprised that Northern Virginia didn't have more of the kinds of places we like closer in - and I suppose we could also look in Maryland - but I worry a bit about school districsts there. We have always had kids in small private school here - but they will now go to public and I have to figure all that out too.

[South Jersey Styx]

Originally Posted by borngrace

I was really very surprised that Northern Virginia didn't have more of the kinds of places we like closer in - and I suppose we could also look in Maryland - but I worry a bit about school districsts there.

Loudoun County was/is nicknamed "Horse Country". When we first moved there, there were farms and lots of horses which slowly diminished as the newer suburbs got built. You should be able to find something you like in the areas Leesburg-ish and west that we've described.

We lived in NoVA for many years and recently moved out to Winchester (way west than Leesburg) into a historic home (not 1800s but 1930 Arts & Crafts Am Foursquare). We absolutely love it. If you like historic towns, you should come visit. It makes a wonderful day trip. The trip out here is filled with rolling hills, mountains, and big hairy cows.

We have always had kids in small private school here - but they will now go to public and I have to figure all that out too.

Same here. My kids went to private school in DC when we first moved into the area. But they went to public school when we moved to Loudoun County. You'll be fine!

[Stephen 81]

Originally Posted by borngrace

I was really very surprised that Northern Virginia didn't have more of the kinds of places we like closer in - and I suppose we could also look in Maryland - but I worry a bit about school districsts there. We have always had kids in small private school here - but they will now go to public and I have to figure all that out too.

No reason to worry about the schools in Montgomery County, which is the only school system in Maryland within a healthy commuting distance to McLean, and is comparable to Fairfax County Public Schools. That said, you won't find any more 19th century houses there than in Virginia. Development patterns there largely mirrored those across the Potomac until roughly the New Deal.

[nancy707]

Originally Posted by borngrace

Thanks so much for everyone's advice. It has helped tremendously. I do know that properties that I like will be few and far between. That's ok. Old house people are used to that. The couple of houses I have found are not more expensive than the suburban developments (just more land and smaller houses -- and quirky stuff that would drive non old house people CRAZY!) We are currently 1 hr north of NYC and 20 minutes to Metro North so my husband is used to that kind of commute - and NYC hours where no one really leaves work until 8pm or so. He is also ok with getting up early and going in. But when he's home it's nice to be somewhere you love just hanging out - and old houses and nice rolling hills and horses do that for us. (well he couldn't give a rats *ss about the horse part - but they make me smile).
I was really very surprised that Northern Virginia didn't have more of the kinds of places we like closer in - and I suppose we could also look in Maryland - but I worry a bit about school districsts there. We have always had kids in small private school here - but they will now go to public and I have to figure all that out too.

Not to be negative but there is hugh difference between sitting on Metro North and sitting in your care creeping along on the Greenway...the metro system here is nothing like Metro North and the NYC subway system.
Traffic in this area really needs to be experienced, it is not like anyplace else...

[arielmina]

OP it really sounds like you'd love the western Loudoun County area, Waterford, Hillsboro, Hamilton, Purcellville etc. Absolutely stunning countryside if you like rolling hills, horses and old houses. I just moved here from Fairfield County CT so it sounds like you may be from northern Westchester? If so, even though I love that area, especially North Salem and surrounds, to me, Western Loudoun is just so much more beautiful. My husband and I love tooling around the area on a Saturday, he'll just say, "let's go for a drive" and that will be the highlight of the day. The schools are absolutely top notch as well. In fact the Waterford Elementary is consistently rated one of the very best in all of Loudoun County. If you can deal with a long commute, at least check out the area.

[checkit579]

don't know anything about the schools, updated house but maybe you could restore.

17121 SIMPSON Cir, PAEONIAN SPRINGS, VA 20129 | MLS# LO7529876