What Is Loudoun Valley Estates Like? (Leesburg, Vienna: apartments, big house, neighborhood)

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

That's a lot less than the 20+ acre home I was going to buy in HR or Aldie.

I got kids and dogs, so sue me. The average number of kids per family at my parish is like 6 or 7.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by IndiaLimaDelta

That's a lot less than the 20+ acre home I was going to buy in HR or Aldie.

I got kids and dogs, so sue me. The average number of kids per family at my parish is like 6 or 7.

I raised a kid, mostly in an apt then a townhouse. I don't mean to question your choice of lifestyle, but just to set the record straight - children do NOT need 20 acre lots. or even 1/4 acre lots. though I hope yours enjoy whereever you end up living.

as to dogs, I cannot address that.

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

I raised a kid, mostly in an apt then a townhouse. I don't mean to question your choice of lifestyle, but just to set the record straight - children do NOT need 20 acre lots. or even 1/4 acre lots. though I hope yours enjoy whereever you end up living.

as to dogs, I cannot address that.

Oh, I am sorry, what is this thing "need"?

Sure you can raise 7 kids in a 2 room condo. People do it all the time in NYC (e.g. Flushing).

I lived in highrise condos most of my early life. But I want (yes, WANT) my kids to grow up, rolling around, wrestling our dogs, knocking down trees, shooting crossbows, etc. You need some space for that.

In that 20+ acre place in HR, I would've been able to shoot guns and hunt to my heart's content with my kids on my own land as they grew up. Try that in an apartment.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by IndiaLimaDelta

Oh, I am sorry, what is this thing "need"?

Sure you can raise 7 kids in a 2 room condo. People do it all the time in NYC (e.g. Flushing).

I lived in highrise condos most of my early life. But I want (yes, WANT) my kids to grow up, rolling around, wrestling our dogs, knocking down trees, shooting crossbows, etc. You need some space for that.

In that 20+ acre place in HR, I would've been able to shoot guns and hunt to my heart's content with my kids on my own land as they grew up. Try that in an apartment.

and I liked having neighbors, including ones with kids, nearby. And having my kid, as she got older, be able to go places herself without being driven - it was a good maturing experience.

Of course if you want your kids to shoot crossbows a townhouse (a fortiori a condo) won't do.

I was taking issues with your "i have kids so sue me" which to me implied that you think having kids in and of itself creates a need for an acre lot or more. Personally I think a townhouse nabe is the IDEAL place to raise children, but I realize thats MY vision, not shared by everyone else. Like I said I hope your kids enjoy whereever you end up living - I had hoped that indicated my acceptance of YOUR choice for your lifestyle. I am sorry it did not. I only wanted to contest the implication that the lifestyle I prefer implies childlessness.

I also hope people do not think living in a townhouse in northern virginia with one or two kids is the equivalent of living with 7 kids in a condo. Its not. That IS however, how some folks treat it when the post "OMG! I cant afford to live there!" threads on here. I don't think that serves them well.

[newnewsmama]

Toll Brothers' quality is not that good in Virginia. The construction boom caused a lot of rush plus shortage of skilled labor. It does not matter which division or what size of the house or lot. Toll Brothers may have nice floor plans and design features, but the workmanship and house quality is no better (and no worse) than most of the production builders such as Lennar. I have several friends who bought Toll Brothers homes and they are not thrilled by the quality.

Toll Brothers also builds big houses in Western Loudoun (Leesburg across Route 7 from Beacon Hill, Waterford, etc.). Those are on 3+ acre lots. The quality of those houses are no better than the ones they build on the 1/2 acre lots. Compared to the custom built houses in Beacon Hill across the road from their Shenstone community in Leesburg, the difference is very obvious.

Two good semi -production builders are Gulick and Basheer & Edgemore. Two good production builders are NV and Craftmark.

[mshan242709]

Given the collapse of new construction, would you say your comments now apply to Toll Brothers as they did in past.

I would guess that construction materials costs such as lumber etc have collapsed, and sounds like there is such excess construction labor that they can pick out best construction workers and supervisors and not overpay for them (?)

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

and I liked having neighbors, including ones with kids, nearby. And having my kid, as she got older, be able to go places herself without being driven - it was a good maturing experience.

Of course if you want your kids to shoot crossbows a townhouse (a fortiori a condo) won't do.

I was taking issues with your "i have kids so sue me" which to me implied that you think having kids in and of itself creates a need for an acre lot or more. Personally I think a townhouse nabe is the IDEAL place to raise children, but I realize thats MY vision, not shared by everyone else. Like I said I hope your kids enjoy whereever you end up living - I had hoped that indicated my acceptance of YOUR choice for your lifestyle. I am sorry it did not. I only wanted to contest the implication that the lifestyle I prefer implies childlessness.

I also hope people do not think living in a townhouse in northern virginia with one or two kids is the equivalent of living with 7 kids in a condo. Its not. That IS however, how some folks treat it when the post "OMG! I cant afford to live there!" threads on here. I don't think that serves them well.

I think it's perfectly fine to raise kids in a townhome. I'd rather homeschool in a townhome than have my kids grow up in a big house playing video games.

Thankfully, I can afford a bigger home so I don't have to make that choice. It's not because I want to show off a bigger home or think less of a TH or because I have pretense of living an English gentry lifestyle in, of all places, Eastern Loudoun (which Middleburg residents consider an eyesore).

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by IndiaLimaDelta

I think it's perfectly fine to raise kids in a townhome. I'd rather homeschool in a townhome than have my kids grow up in a big house playing video games.

Thankfully, I can afford a bigger home so I don't have to make that choice. It's not because I want to show off a bigger home or think less of a TH or because I have pretense of living an English gentry lifestyle in, of all places, Eastern Loudoun (which Middleburg residents consider an eyesore).

for the fifteenth time - I am not saying folks consciously try to imitate english gentry - but that many (NOT ALL) have a bias towards the SFH that comes from social assumptions, which in turn come derive from earlier attempts to imitate that lifestyle.

Second "Thankfully, I can afford a bigger home so I don't have to make that choice" most folks who live in newish THs inside the beltway where I live can afford a SFH in Loudoun. If not in Loudoun, than in PW, or wherever. We dont HAVE to make that choice. We make it because we place little value on the large house, and esp on the larger lot, and prefer the convenience and the lifestyle. Some of us, if we had more money, would choose a LARGER TH, in a MORE convenient area (I would have liked old town Alex, though alex not feeding into TJ would have been an issue for us).

[newnewsmama]

Originally Posted by mshan242700

Given the collapse of new construction, would you say your comments now apply to Toll Brothers as they did in past.

I would guess that construction materials costs such as lumber etc have collapsed, and sounds like there is such excess construction labor that they can pick out best construction workers and supervisors and not overpay for them (?)

Not necessarily. Many home builders have financial issues due to the economy downturn. The customer service my builder provided slipped down the hill in the past several years. A lot of competent employees were also laid off. The VP who used to work well with us said his hands were so full due to resource cut that every repair was delayed.

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

Second "Thankfully, I can afford a bigger home so I don't have to make that choice" most folks who live in newish THs inside the beltway where I live can afford a SFH in Loudoun. If not in Loudoun, than in PW, or wherever. We dont HAVE to make that choice. We make it because we place little value on the large house, and esp on the larger lot, and prefer the convenience and the lifestyle. Some of us, if we had more money, would choose a LARGER TH, in a MORE convenient area (I would have liked old town Alex, though alex not feeding into TJ would have been an issue for us).

Yeah, well, I don't need to live in the Beltway because my work is not there. I think many and perhaps most (but of course not all) live inside the Beltway because of the proximity to work, not because they prefer townhouses or smaller homes.