Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like you can get better bang for your buck out here (budget 900k ish). Thoughts? Anyone live there currently?

H works in Tyson's and I telecommute.

I moved to Ashburn a few years ago when prices were lower, we also had a budget up to 1M. However, we did not like the big homes for 900K. the lots were too large and none of them were in walkable areas. We instead purchased a home in Ashburn Farm (I'm a PP) for 600K with the floor plan we wanted and lot we wanted, ignoring the finishes (the worse the better!) and put 225K into it to make it exactly the way we wanted it and still ended up with a home under our budget. We sunk 75K of that into the yard alone. Don't really care that we might never recoup our money because I honestly love love love walking into my home. our entire home was gutted from floors, kitchen, baths, lighting, windows, window treatments, and worked with an interior designer the whole time. My 1M could have purchased us a 6,000sq foot home on 2 lonely cleared acres, but instead we got a 3800sqft home on a half acre with mature trees and a home completely gutted to our taste and lifestyle.

DH also "works" in Tysons, but he is in sales and travels a lot, so being near Dulles is critical and I WFH (in my dream office, designed by me for me, sound proof insulation and all!).

Do you need that due to plane noise?

Are you drunk already?

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

We really like this house

https://www.redfin.com/VA/ASHBURN/23700-SWEETBELLS-CT-20148/home/40518209

Anyone know anything about this neighborhood?

I'm an Ashburn resident and would not live out there. I hardly even consider that Adsburn, its more Arcola. That area is a perfect example of horrible planning. They plopped thousands of homes out on country roads. Plus your kids will be tossed about from one school to the next.
If a big sterile hime is yiir primary driber than by all means head oit that way. The commute there from Tysons vs north of the greenway adds on am extra 20min. There is also nothing out there and I mean nothing. What i actually like about where i live in Ashburn is how many places i can get to on foot. For example today I'm WFH and about to walk to the bank to get cash for our babysitter. On Sunday I took a bike ride to Cava. That would never happen out that way. No access to the WOD, just nothing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like you can get better bang for your buck out here (budget 900k ish). Thoughts? Anyone live there currently?

H works in Tyson's and I telecommute.

I moved to Ashburn a few years ago when prices were lower, we also had a budget up to 1M. However, we did not like the big homes for 900K. the lots were too large and none of them were in walkable areas. We instead purchased a home in Ashburn Farm (I'm a PP) for 600K with the floor plan we wanted and lot we wanted, ignoring the finishes (the worse the better!) and put 225K into it to make it exactly the way we wanted it and still ended up with a home under our budget. We sunk 75K of that into the yard alone. Don't really care that we might never recoup our money because I honestly love love love walking into my home. our entire home was gutted from floors, kitchen, baths, lighting, windows, window treatments, and worked with an interior designer the whole time. My 1M could have purchased us a 6,000sq foot home on 2 lonely cleared acres, but instead we got a 3800sqft home on a half acre with mature trees and a home completely gutted to our taste and lifestyle.

DH also "works" in Tysons, but he is in sales and travels a lot, so being near Dulles is critical and I WFH (in my dream office, designed by me for me, sound proof insulation and all!).

Do you need that due to plane noise?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vienna to me is the natural descendant of the optimistic 50s/60s American neighborhood. 123 is lined with small shops and things to explore. Fall back from the main street and you have quiet neighborhoods, kids everywhere. I have a friend who lives in Vienna that I visit frequently and love the feel of the neighborhood.

What culture is there in hot dogs and apple pie?

Like what? We're not talking Old Town Alexandria here, LOL!

No, there's no space for hot dogs and apple pie in old town Alexandria, which has much more of an urban feel. I am talking about suburban neighborhoods. It's not as pretty as old town, but Vienna has its charm.

This is what I think of when I think of Vienna, is this the culture of which you speak? It is definitely distinctive.

*shrug*, you can turn your nose up at it if you want, a suburban town like Vienna wouldn't be well known for architecture vs an old urban city like Alexandria, doesn't change the fact that there is a lot to explore in Vienna along 123.

Have you driven out there? We are Inn brambleton and yes there is airplane noise and yes it can be loud sometimes. Mostly it's about an hour a day that I refer to as the 747 hour when the internationals are going out. Willowsford is very separate from the rest of Ashburn. It is pretty but the roads that connect it in are small two lane roads hat Loudoun county needs to widen. Traffic around there is awful. The prices are great and we actually love our neighborhood because of its walkability but I don think I'd go to Willowsford until they connect things a little better. And I'm basically across the street. It can be that bad.

OP here.

We really like this house

https://www.redfin.com/VA/ASHBURN/23700-SWEETBELLS-CT-20148/home/40518209

Anyone know anything about this neighborhood?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vienna to me is the natural descendant of the optimistic 50s/60s American neighborhood. 123 is lined with small shops and things to explore. Fall back from the main street and you have quiet neighborhoods, kids everywhere. I have a friend who lives in Vienna that I visit frequently and love the feel of the neighborhood.

What culture is there in hot dogs and apple pie?

Like what? We're not talking Old Town Alexandria here, LOL!

No, there's no space for hot dogs and apple pie in old town Alexandria, which has much more of an urban feel. I am talking about suburban neighborhoods. It's not as pretty as old town, but Vienna has its charm.

This is what I think of when I think of Vienna, is this the culture of which you speak? It is definitely distinctive.

I've always hated Ashburn, too much urban sprawl, treeless development, boring, suburban, bedroom community . Go to Leesburg or move into Vienna.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vienna to me is the natural descendant of the optimistic 50s/60s American neighborhood. 123 is lined with small shops and things to explore. Fall back from the main street and you have quiet neighborhoods, kids everywhere. I have a friend who lives in Vienna that I visit frequently and love the feel of the neighborhood.

What culture is there in hot dogs and apple pie?

Like what? We're not talking Old Town Alexandria here, LOL!

No, there's no space for hot dogs and apple pie in old town Alexandria, which has much more of an urban feel. I am talking about suburban neighborhoods. It's not as pretty as old town, but Vienna has its charm.

Anonymous wrote:Where do you work? Ashburn is far out there if you work closer in.

This would be the deal breaker for me. I want to actually see the house I paid god money for!

The OP said from home. Did you read?

Where do you work? Ashburn is far out there if you work closer in.

This would be the deal breaker for me. I want to actually see the house I paid god money for!

Anonymous wrote:Vienna to me is the natural descendant of the optimistic 50s/60s American neighborhood. 123 is lined with small shops and things to explore. Fall back from the main street and you have quiet neighborhoods, kids everywhere. I have a friend who lives in Vienna that I visit frequently and love the feel of the neighborhood.

What culture is there in hot dogs and apple pie?

Like what? We're not talking Old Town Alexandria here, LOL!

Anonymous wrote:I feel like you can get better bang for your buck out here (budget 900k ish). Thoughts? Anyone live there currently?

H works in Tyson's and I telecommute.

I moved to Ashburn a few years ago when prices were lower, we also had a budget up to 1M. However, we did not like the big homes for 900K. the lots were too large and none of them were in walkable areas. We instead purchased a home in Ashburn Farm (I'm a PP) for 600K with the floor plan we wanted and lot we wanted, ignoring the finishes (the worse the better!) and put 225K into it to make it exactly the way we wanted it and still ended up with a home under our budget. We sunk 75K of that into the yard alone. Don't really care that we might never recoup our money because I honestly love love love walking into my home. our entire home was gutted from floors, kitchen, baths, lighting, windows, window treatments, and worked with an interior designer the whole time. My 1M could have purchased us a 6,000sq foot home on 2 lonely cleared acres, but instead we got a 3800sqft home on a half acre with mature trees and a home completely gutted to our taste and lifestyle.

DH also "works" in Tysons, but he is in sales and travels a lot, so being near Dulles is critical and I WFH (in my dream office, designed by me for me, sound proof insulation and all!).

Vienna to me is the natural descendant of the optimistic 50s/60s American neighborhood. 123 is lined with small shops and things to explore. Fall back from the main street and you have quiet neighborhoods, kids everywhere. I have a friend who lives in Vienna that I visit frequently and love the feel of the neighborhood.

What culture is there in hot dogs and apple pie?

I live in Ashburn Village - while we're in the flight path for Dulles, we're far enough away that the noise isn't bad at all. Most of the time, I don't even notice the planes, though there's occasionally a random one that comes in a bit lower and is loud.

Traffic within Ashburn is much less than in communities closer to the beltway - during the weekends and after work, it's very easy to get around to run errands and such. Great grocery stores, and easy access to things like sports/fitness facilities and music lessons.

I agree with the poster who commented about the bike path - our development also has pretty lakes, with lots of walking paths that connect to the W&OD trail. I spend a lot of time outdoors walking my dog, biking on the trail, or at the community pools.

One of the posters noted something about weather - honestly, the weather isn't any more severe than the weather in Montgomery County (where I lived before moving to Ashburn). Eastern Loudoun is probably slightly cooler - so maybe a little bit more snow in the winter, but also slightly cooler temperatures in the summer.....though not really a substantial difference, in my opinion.

People are generally pretty friendly, but it's probably a lot more strongly family oriented than many other areas closer to DC. Even though we don't have kids, the family centric-ness doesn't bother us, but I already have a strong social network (and generally enjoy other people's kids) - but this possibly could be a downside for other folks.

Downsides are that there aren't a lot established theater or music venues (though there are plenty of summer concert series), but it just isn't that big of a deal to make an occasional trip inside the beltway to catch a show or a good concert.