Anonymous wrote:I would not want a house with a pool but to each their own.

+1. We would not buy a house with a pool in this climate.

We passed on a couple of houses we saw with pools. We just didn’t want one more thing to worry about with maintenance. I have to admit though, it would have been nice to have a pool during Covid.

Anonymous wrote:I’d love a pool at pre-covid prices. But the cost to install a nice new pool and hardscaping in 2024 is so high (bare minimum $150k, likely more) it isn’t worth it vs all of the other fun things to do with that money.

I kind of agree with this. There are a lot of House related things that five years ago I could’ve afforded and now I can’t. That includes pool, screened porch, extensive landscaping. Things have just shifted too much in the price department. If I were househunting now and I saw a pool, I would just see money going down the drain because I grew up with a pool and I know the cost involved with maintenance and upkeep.

The everything is too damn high!

nah not worth it until I cant afford one...LOL

I’d love a pool at pre-covid prices. But the cost to install a nice new pool and hardscaping in 2024 is so high (bare minimum $150k, likely more) it isn’t worth it vs all of the other fun things to do with that money.

Anonymous wrote:Personal pools seem often to be a drawback more than an attraction, due to maintenance and risk issues, and because many people find they make little use of pools after the initial novelty of owning them wears off. Typically they are built by families with young children who imagine a pool getting lots of use, but then the reality of maintenance and responsibility sets in and kids develop other interests. This is as true in Vienna as it is anywhere else in the area.

Not my experience at all. We use it more as kids get older - we entertain both our friends and our kids' friends. We swim almost every night in the summer. Also, public pools are gross. The one time I swam at Lifetime where I am a member, I swam past a couple of bandaids and a hair elastic with some hairs in it. Also (surprise!) swim diapers don't work. No thanks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I live in Vienna. Just moved there from FCC where we were members of High Point (which we did have to wait 2 yrs to join). I feel you with the waitlist pool situation. But I'd never buy a house with a pool, even though we don't have kids. Too much of a PITA. We just walked past a friend's house today, a friend with a pool, and he has had a rough year (death of spouse) and hasn't filled his yet. Too much work.

You have to empty a pool every year????

No, you do not empty it. But in the fall you drain it down a couple feet to account for winter rain and to protect some of the equipment from freezing. You can pay a service $400 to $500 to open the pool, if you don't want to, but it's not hard to do (different situation for PP's neighbor with the rough year, of course).

I'm in Vienna postal code but outside TOV, and I have a pool. My neighbors do too. Most of the lots in TOV-proper are too small for a pool (without eating the whole yard) or are otherwise not ideal for a pool, which IMO is why they are not as common. I am not sure if the DCUM attitude about pool safety (i.e. that no pool is safe) actually carries over to the general population.

Yeah, if you have the safety fence and/or a lock, and you supervise kids then I think your liability is pretty minimal.

We've lived in a house with a pool our DCs' entire lives. When kids were young, we had a safety fence, a home alarm that would notify us if/when anyone opened a door or window, and a floating alarm in the pool that signaled if anyone entered the water (used only when we were not in the pool). We also taught our kids to swim as early as possible. Having a pool has been fantastic - especially during COVID when it was one of our only forms of recreation. We use it all the time and love the convenience of having it and having it be a reason to get people together. It's not that much maintenance and with the heater, we get many months of use from it. Never would have looked for a house with a pool because we didn't know anything about them, but are so happy we have it.

We know people there with a pool- they do entertain a lot at their house and obviously, people like to be invited there because of the nice pool. However, because of the social aspect, they belong to a pool (don't know which one) and their kids are at the other pool with their friends regularly. They were also on the waitlist for years before getting in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Vienna. Just moved there from FCC where we were members of High Point (which we did have to wait 2 yrs to join). I feel you with the waitlist pool situation. But I'd never buy a house with a pool, even though we don't have kids. Too much of a PITA. We just walked past a friend's house today, a friend with a pool, and he has had a rough year (death of spouse) and hasn't filled his yet. Too much work.

Is that new? We were able to join High Point same year. Everyone on the waitlist for Poplar Heights goes to High Point, Chesterbrook, or Graham Rd. No waitlists.

No, not new. It was when we moved to a house walking distance from it, which was about 6 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:Personal pools seem often to be a drawback more than an attraction, due to maintenance and risk issues, and because many people find they make little use of pools after the initial novelty of owning them wears off. Typically they are built by families with young children who imagine a pool getting lots of use, but then the reality of maintenance and responsibility sets in and kids develop other interests. This is as true in Vienna as it is anywhere else in the area.

It's obviously an individual thing, but I really value my older kids friends wanting to come hang out at our pool, because then I know my kids friends, know where my kid is, etc. You can get that other ways, but a pool isn't a bad way and makes it easy to host.

Anonymous wrote:4 months? You can get 5-6 months of use here. All of May-September plus some nice days in October; more if it's heated.

DO you know how much it costs to heat a pool ?

Personal pools seem often to be a drawback more than an attraction, due to maintenance and risk issues, and because many people find they make little use of pools after the initial novelty of owning them wears off. Typically they are built by families with young children who imagine a pool getting lots of use, but then the reality of maintenance and responsibility sets in and kids develop other interests. This is as true in Vienna as it is anywhere else in the area.