Anonymous wrote:Must be nice to farm off your kid to the care of others so you don’t have to think about schools.

Here comes the welcome wagon!

3-stall barn in Fairfax. But surrounded by development, with no place to hack out. (I don’t think Betty’s Azalea Ranch would appreciate visitors.)

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Fairfax/12505-Chronical-Dr-22030/home/9606585

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re looking for closer in- Great Falls and Oakton.

There are some properties with a lot of acreage.

Can you even get more than 5 acres in Fairfax County these days?

There’s this unicorn of a property that is near GMU. https://apps.realtor.com/mUAZ/9plj54gr

Wow! That is certainly a unicorn. I'm nearby fairly regularly and had no idea that was there. It's fascinating that there are still remnants of rural Fairfax around Braddock.

Pretty much anything west of Chantilly on 50 -- it doesn't take far to start seeing houses with land and horses.

Loudoun county tends to be more conservative so you will probably be happy anywhere west of Fairfax county.

You would be better off finding a good real estate agent and work with them -- I'm assuming your budget is 2-4 million?

Anonymous wrote:How many acres of land do you need to have horses anyway? 2 acres? 5 acres? flat grassland or woodland?

PP horse property owner: The accepted formula is 10 acres per 1000lb of animal. A horse easily weighs 1000lbs, and because they are herd animals, you really need more than one to prevent behavior issues.

So for one horse, you would need at least that much land in pasture, not wooded because some trees can kill a horse (black walnut/cherry), and more because you also have to put a house and outbuilding on the property. You need the outbuilding for stable/equipment storage, and a tack/feed room. You would also need a place to store hay or forage because horses cannot eat hay that has been outside kept, unless you want huge vet bills from eating moldy or spoiled hay. You also need a place to ride or you will have to trailer out, so an arena or trails is a must because it gets boring real quick riding on a small acreage.

Middleburg

How many acres of land do you need to have horses anyway? 2 acres? 5 acres? flat grassland or woodland?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re looking for closer in- Great Falls and Oakton.

There are some properties with a lot of acreage.

Can you even get more than 5 acres in Fairfax County these days?

There’s this unicorn of a property that is near GMU. https://apps.realtor.com/mUAZ/9plj54gr

Lewiston in Frederick County.

Anonymous wrote:If you need to commute to DC a couple times a week, great falls is your best bet. Anywhere further commute will take all your time to leave you with no energy for horse riding/farming hobbies.

Lol, commuting into DC 2x a week takes up…..only 2 out of 7 days a week leaving you with 5 days to enjoy the perks of living in a more rural area.

Anonymous wrote:We loved living in Stafford. There are more rural areas in the county. You still have easy access to I95. And Fredericksburg is a great little town.

Only thing I hate about Stafford is that it has 95/route 1 so getting anywhere on a weekend is a nightmare.

Anonymous wrote:Winchester

That’s where a friend of ours bought - they have multiple horses and she does horse competitions.

We loved living in Stafford. There are more rural areas in the county. You still have easy access to I95. And Fredericksburg is a great little town.

Anonymous wrote:Can you take the MARC train to DC? A couple of trains serve West Virginia.

PP 9:44 here again - yes, this is why I recommended WV. I used to take the MARC in on my in-office days from the Point of Rocks station (my job has since went fully remote). This is doable if you are only required to be in the office 1-2 days/week. I'd even recommend the Boonsboro/Sharpsburg area and drive into the Brunswick MARC station for your commute days. The Brunswick and POR station parking lots are full of VA and WV license plates - probably more than MD plates.

Can you take the MARC train to DC? A couple of trains serve West Virginia.