Examples of “nice homes” in NoVa

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is SO UGLY and it kills me because the convenience can’t be matched and we love the amenities. CCH is the exception but there’s a bunch of awful new builds popping up there too that are killing the feel of the neighborhood. I don’t get it because the average new builds in Vienna and Alexandria are 10x more charming. Why?? The only thing I can find is the Arlington builders tend to be different from the Vienna ones and so on.

The central parts of Ashton Heights and Lyon Park have a tremendous number of older beautiful houses and thoughtfully designed new builds, starting at Jackson and radiating outwards a few blocks either way. A big chunk of Lyon Village has very nicely designed older homes too even if on smaller lots. Besides here around Clarendon, it’s pretty much Country Club Village part of Arlington for nice looking homes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is SO UGLY and it kills me because the convenience can’t be matched and we love the amenities. CCH is the exception but there’s a bunch of awful new builds popping up there too that are killing the feel of the neighborhood. I don’t get it because the average new builds in Vienna and Alexandria are 10x more charming. Why?? The only thing I can find is the Arlington builders tend to be different from the Vienna ones and so on.

The central parts of Ashton Heights and Lyon Park have a tremendous number of older beautiful houses and thoughtfully designed new builds, starting at Jackson and radiating outwards a few blocks either way. A big chunk of Lyon Village has very nicely designed older homes too even if on smaller lots. Besides here around Clarendon, it’s pretty much Country Club Village part of Arlington for nice looking homes.

Ehh I haven’t been impressed with any of the new builds in Ashton Heights, Lyon Park, and Lyon Village since they moved on from the mid 2010s styles. There’s a ton of new build inventory above $3M in Ashton Heights just sitting and it’s all either ugly or way too big for the lot. Jackson St is a prime example of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is SO UGLY and it kills me because the convenience can’t be matched and we love the amenities. CCH is the exception but there’s a bunch of awful new builds popping up there too that are killing the feel of the neighborhood. I don’t get it because the average new builds in Vienna and Alexandria are 10x more charming. Why?? The only thing I can find is the Arlington builders tend to be different from the Vienna ones and so on.

I’d love to see a new build in the style of Alexandria homes in Arlington and McLean!

Most of these charming Alexandria City homes are old classic stately homes built with brick on all four sides and slate roofs that have been tastefully renovated and maintained. These construction materials are ridiculously expensive to use in a new build in 2026.

Developers doing new builds in the $1.8 - 3 million range in Arlington would be unprofitable if they built with these classic materials. It’s near-impossible to do, unless someone commissions a custom home — and even then they’d likely have to pay cash or cover a big appraisal gap to get a mortgage.

Fair point. I’m not at all knowledgeable about the options, but surely there’s a middle ground between the entirely brick and slate stately homes from a bygone era and the 100 percent vinyl McMansions that are cropping up? I guess not for builders looking to maximize profit.

I am surprised that the subset of folks who are spending several million on a house aren’t working directly with a builder to build a custom house with higher end materials, but I’m not of that subset, so perhaps the preference is to maximize square footage with cheaper materials!

Going to take more than several million to do what you are talking about in Arlington, and most people don’t see the value of spending that money when you can get substantially cheaper materials that will do 90 pct of what they want - with the exception of impressing people who are stuck in some antiquated mindset of what housing stock should look like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mansion Drive in Alexandria. If I had the budget I’d live on this street: https://redf.in/tmA7Ar

Wow that is beautiful!

You can find similar looking homes literally everywhere. It's an old colonial. Some colonial mcMansions look just like this, but with taller windows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is SO UGLY and it kills me because the convenience can’t be matched and we love the amenities. CCH is the exception but there’s a bunch of awful new builds popping up there too that are killing the feel of the neighborhood. I don’t get it because the average new builds in Vienna and Alexandria are 10x more charming. Why?? The only thing I can find is the Arlington builders tend to be different from the Vienna ones and so on.

OP here. I agree on the new builds! We recently bought our first house (and to be clear, it’s definitely not going to be posted on this thread haha), but I still like to look on Zillow and daydream about eventually upgrading, but a lot of the new builds are just lacking charm.


I’d love to see a new build in the style of Alexandria homes in Arlington and McLean!

Old mcMansions built in colonial style look like this or can be easily made to look like this. BTW, they are becoming the next teardowns in places with $$$ lots where new construction can sell north of 4 mil and inventory of available ramblers and split levels dwindled. Hurry and get one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9433-Ferry-Landing-Ct-Alexandria-VA-22309/168095964_zpid/

the digital renderings are beautiful until.... you see the real life photos and realize this modern oasis is hemmed in by ugly cookie cutter trash on all sides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9433-Ferry-Landing-Ct-Alexandria-VA-22309/168095964_zpid/

the digital renderings are beautiful until.... you see the real life photos and realize this modern oasis is hemmed in by ugly cookie cutter trash on all sides.

You should share what your neighborhood looks like, I’m sure it’s spectacular

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mansion Drive in Alexandria. If I had the budget I’d live on this street: https://redf.in/tmA7Ar

It’s not bad, but it needs color, warm wood trim and floors, wallpaper. Too much white. Needs landscaping in the front. So, it would need work. But it has some great details!

"Warm wood"..wallpaper...that's so 80's. That would be the first thing people update!

It's perfect the way it is.

DP.
Nah. warm wood and wallpaper back big time because too much white does not feel cozy or personal.
That said, this house is great not just because of the cosmetic updates but because the rooms aren’t overly large or open. Human scale rooms and well defined spaces just feel better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mansion Drive in Alexandria. If I had the budget I’d live on this street: https://redf.in/tmA7Ar

Wow that is beautiful!

Agreed. Thanks for sharing!

And it is one of the smaller/less well done houses on the street. There are also gorgeous houses on bishop lane in Alexandria. The last few good ones have sold off market so no photos.

[Anonymous]

Saw this one on another thread: https://www.homes.com/property/3412-3rd-st-n-arlington-va/d2chppbhss655/

This house is designed custom by an architect, which likely accounts for the higher end finishes. Makes me wonder why more folks with higher budgets aren’t custom building with an architect instead of choosing a spec design

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is SO UGLY and it kills me because the convenience can’t be matched and we love the amenities. CCH is the exception but there’s a bunch of awful new builds popping up there too that are killing the feel of the neighborhood. I don’t get it because the average new builds in Vienna and Alexandria are 10x more charming. Why?? The only thing I can find is the Arlington builders tend to be different from the Vienna ones and so on.

so, true, bestie. sadly, the rest of the DMV is hardly any better save for some pockets of old money. colonial style homes, while functional, are so ugly. give me more cape cod style, more craftsman, more split level, even. even more sadly, im not a fan of the souped up $2M+ McFarmHouses in Vienna. they just look plain weird in a suburb. they belong, as the name says, in a farm. even in the more urban area of arlington, not enough cutesy townhomes as in Logan Circle

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is SO UGLY and it kills me because the convenience can’t be matched and we love the amenities. CCH is the exception but there’s a bunch of awful new builds popping up there too that are killing the feel of the neighborhood. I don’t get it because the average new builds in Vienna and Alexandria are 10x more charming. Why?? The only thing I can find is the Arlington builders tend to be different from the Vienna ones and so on.

The central parts of Ashton Heights and Lyon Park have a tremendous number of older beautiful houses and thoughtfully designed new builds, starting at Jackson and radiating outwards a few blocks either way. A big chunk of Lyon Village has very nicely designed older homes too even if on smaller lots. Besides here around Clarendon, it’s pretty much Country Club Village part of Arlington for nice looking homes.

Ehh I haven’t been impressed with any of the new builds in Ashton Heights, Lyon Park, and Lyon Village since they moved on from the mid 2010s styles. There’s a ton of new build inventory above $3M in Ashton Heights just sitting and it’s all either ugly or way too big for the lot. Jackson St is a prime example of this.

The charming homes in this neighborhood are generally the older homes that have been thoughtfully renovated, not the new builds.

There's one cape cod with a cottage garden that I've always loved. It sold recently and I worried it would be torn down but walked by recently and saw a young family living in it. So glad it escaped the developers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Saw this one on another thread: https://www.homes.com/property/3412-3rd-st-n-arlington-va/d2chppbhss655/

This house is designed custom by an architect, which likely accounts for the higher end finishes. Makes me wonder why more folks with higher budgets aren’t custom building with an architect instead of choosing a spec design

High end finishes???? Truly funny. I have the exact same bathroom (home depot) and the light fixtures are all amazon / wayfair!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is SO UGLY and it kills me because the convenience can’t be matched and we love the amenities. CCH is the exception but there’s a bunch of awful new builds popping up there too that are killing the feel of the neighborhood. I don’t get it because the average new builds in Vienna and Alexandria are 10x more charming. Why?? The only thing I can find is the Arlington builders tend to be different from the Vienna ones and so on.

so, true, bestie. sadly, the rest of the DMV is hardly any better save for some pockets of old money. colonial style homes, while functional, are so ugly. give me more cape cod style, more craftsman, more split level, even. even more sadly, im not a fan of the souped up $2M+ McFarmHouses in Vienna. they just look plain weird in a suburb. they belong, as the name says, in a farm. even in the more urban area of arlington, not enough cutesy townhomes as in Logan Circle

I'm not either but they are 100 times better than the ugly box contemporaries going up.

[Anonymous]

I'm sure plenty of people here would decry it all as "hideous!!!" but if I could be anywhere, it would be in a MCM in Hollin Hills.