Great NoVA Neighborhood (more towards Dulles/Oakton), FFX AAP Center School, 1.4M House?

[Anonymous]

never mind, dunno if Great Falls elem. is a AAP center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:never mind, dunno if Great Falls elem. is a AAP center.

Great Falls has Local Level IV services. It's not a "center" like Colvin Run or Churchill Road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not some of the areas near the Great Falls Village Center/

Ideally looking for first or second hand insight into actual neighborhood dynamics-do you have any specifics?

[Anonymous]

Have you checked out the McLean Hamlet? Our neighborhood is exactly how you described- very social, community pool right in the neighborhood, lots of kids and Spring Hill Elementary (AAP Center) is walking distance for most houses in the Hamlet. However, housing stock is probably smaller and lower end of your budget (4-5 BR and $900K-$1.1M is the typical range) But many people are expanding, adding additions and there are a handful of newer builds in the neighborhood, although I don't any of those are currently on the market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at moving up to a bigger house and are having a hard time finding a neighborhood to target. Our current neighborhood is VERY social and that is really important to us- lots of neighborhood get togethers, kids playing in the street, etc. We are looking at houses in the 1.2 to 1.6M range. We'd like at least a little land- half acre min. and the elementary schools should be an Ffx AAP center school as our older kids are in AAP and we don't want to manage multiple schools for the younger ones. We both work. We work off of the toll road west of Reston so we don't need to be near DC. Summer swim team a bonus.

Does anyone live in a great fun neighborhood that sounds like this? Thank you!

You probably can't recreate your current neighborhood as part of what makes it special are the memories you have already created and friendships and support network you have made. Can you expand your current house?

I was thinking the same. OP, really - if you have neighbors you like, I can not emphasize enough that you stay where you are. Who knows? You might end up next to some gun toting neighborhood watch vigilante type who has irrational visceral disdain for the new builds and will do anything to make it a point. Oh yeah, he exists, and it aint pretty.

You can change house accoutrements, but you can not change the whack job next door. I would tell you to stay where you are if you like the neighbors and they are normal.

I've lived in Vienna for 10 years and have yet to see anyone like that. PP has never been to Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you checked out the McLean Hamlet? Our neighborhood is exactly how you described- very social, community pool right in the neighborhood, lots of kids and Spring Hill Elementary (AAP Center) is walking distance for most houses in the Hamlet. However, housing stock is probably smaller and lower end of your budget (4-5 BR and $900K-$1.1M is the typical range) But many people are expanding, adding additions and there are a handful of newer builds in the neighborhood, although I don't any of those are currently on the market.

Spring Hill has Local Level IV, like Great Falls. It's not an "AAP Center." The Spring Hill kids who want to go to a center go to Churchill Road.

[Anonymous]

My first thought was Oak Hill, though I'm not sure about the AAP center.

FWIW, there are currently lots of sale in the Louise Archer boundary, if you would consider building.

[Anonymous]

Falls Church 22043 on the border of McLean 22101 (McLean Province/McLean Greens/Westhampton/Lemon Road/Haycock ES)

[Anonymous]

Depending on how important the pool is, I would look for area pools - there aren't as many in $1M+ neighborhoods. If you prefer Oakton HS, start with the AAP centers there. I know the schools but don't know about the pools, but maybe if you can narrow down the neighborhoods, then you could ask which ones are friendliest?

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know of any tools that overlay school boundaries over real estate maps?

[Anonymous]

When we were looking, and community and a social environment were important for us as well, we narrowed down neighborhoods by 1) driving around to see how many houses had basketball hoops, nets, playsets, and 2) calling up HOA members. That was greatly beneficial as learned that our current neighborhood had tons of social activities--Halloween parties, 4th of July parade, adult happy hour--all planned by the HOA. They were really helpful in confirming that wanted to be here. Then we found a realtor who lived here and talked to her about upcoming listings. She gave us some scoop and we got first dibs on the perfect house a few months later.

[Anonymous]

Go to the NVSL website and scroll through there to find a pool community. Lakevale is amazingly social, but homes are closer to .25-.5 lot size. They can be expanded though. It is a community with only a couple hundred homes and is Division 2, which should tell you a lot about how many kids are in that neighborhood. Lots and lots of kids are there. A full class stayed for the local level 4 at Flint Hill for the last several years but Louise Archer grabs about a dozen or so a year for the center. Shouse Village is the exact same builders as Lakevale and very similar. It just depends on what location you want to live in.

[Anonymous]

My neighborhood, Langley Oaks, fits your description. Neighborhood of about 350 homes, unrenovated homes in the $1m-$1.1 range, average homes $1.2-1.3, higher end $1.4-1.5. Mostly all half-acre lots, some backing to parkland. Bursting with kids, Halloween & 4th of July parades, tons of socializing among adults. Elementary is Churchill, an AAP center. Walking distance to Langley HS. Your reverse commute would be a piece of cake from here. Many local swim clubs with teams, closest being Langley Club about 1.5 miles away -- very popular, great swim team.

[Anonymous]

http://homes.longandfoster.com/Real-Estate/PropertyDetails.aspx?3193-WHEATLAND-FARMS-DR-OAKTON-VA-22124&mlsCompanyID=2&mlsNumber=FX8292194

This house is in the Miller Heights neighborhood in Oakton, which is a large, very fun and social neighborhood. No pool in the neighborhood, but the Oakton Swim and Racket club is about a mile away and tons of kids from Miller Heights do swim team there. House is beautiful and the yard is lovely. I know it feeds into Oakton High but I'm not sure which AAP schools the kids go to. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Falls Church 22043 on the border of McLean 22101 (McLean Province/McLean Greens/Westhampton/Lemon Road/Haycock ES)

As much as you all love Haycock, this is not close to Dulles/Oakton as OP requested.