Best neighborhoods in Vienna - $1.5M house budget (Arlington, McLean: hotel, townhouse)

[Forehead]

You are correct that your budget will go further in Vienna, but 1.5 million is more than enough to get into the wealthier communities, with a much easier commute to D.C., with room to spare. I'd look closer in as others have suggested.

[acgood]

I wouldn't rule out Oakton - you could do very nicely with that budget and be in close proximity to the Orange line Vienna station. That price range also would be plenty to buy a brand new construction (tear down and rebuild) in the Falls Church (22043, Haycock ES) neighborhood I am familiar with that is easy walking distance to West Falls Church metro.

[ask47]

Thank you so much - I really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts - very helpful!

[Middlin]

One thing to keep in mind is the type of commute your husband would prefer. If he's driving, getting closer in is the only way to go. If he's willing to take metro, then being close to the Vienna metro station is good since it's the end of the line and you'll always get a seat in the am. Parts of Oakton are actually very close to the metro. You can walk to the metro from Oakton HS. I would check out Williamsburg Commons (Vienna address) high end homes near Vienna metro.

[JfromReston]

I know most are recommending going closer into town - but check out this amazing house in Reston - with Langley schools!!!

As for commuting to DC this will be about an hour commute - being 10 minutes from the new Wiehle avenue metro stop on the Silver Line (same DC stops as the Orange line).

11100 TOMMYE LN, RESTON, VA 20194 | Listing Information | MRIShomes.com

[Yankeesfan]

These say "call" for the price, it's worth a try if you're interested.

Quick Delivery Homes - Custom New Homes in Vienna, Virginia - Wetherburne Homes, LC - Custom Builder

[JWnova]

If you are looking for some good schools Kent Gardens and Haycock districts. Look at 22043 Fairfax County side and 22101 McLean. You can get a nice house for $1.5

[JD984]

Originally Posted by JfromReston

I know most are recommending going closer into town - but check out this amazing house in Reston - with Langley schools!!!

As for commuting to DC this will be about an hour commute - being 10 minutes from the new Wiehle avenue metro stop on the Silver Line (same DC stops as the Orange line).

11100 TOMMYE LN, RESTON, VA 20194 | Listing Information | MRIShomes.com

I think living in Reston and being zoned for Langley is a mixed bag, to be honest. Most of the kids your kids would get to know in Reston would end up at schools in the South Lakes or Herndon pyramid, and the middle and high school (Cooper and Langley) are a long way from Reston. My understanding is that some parts of Reston were assigned to Langley at the request of a former Board of Supervisors member who lived in that area years ago, but if I lived in Reston I'd probably be happier having my kids attend closer schools, even if they aren't as highly ranked.

[michgc]

I am pretty much in agreement with what JEB said, having lived in Town of Vienna for a dozen years. You would do quite well there on a $1M+ budget without needing to go up to $1.5M. The "downtown" area, which is within the Town limits (homes within the town limits have a direction associated with their street, usually NE, SE, SW, and NW, although some Realtors don't list it, so it's not a perfect system) have lots of older, rambler homes, but more and more knockdowns that now have $1M+ homes on them. The area is very friendly - nice people, lots of families, and very much a small-town feel in the heart of the DC Metro area. My friend on Facebook always calls it "Mayberry" to give you an idea of the small-town feel.

There are neighborhoods just outside the town limits such as Lawyers North, Balmoral, Barrister's Place, and Lakevale that are 1970s-1980s homes - probably in the $800K to $900K range that are super nice neighborhoods, too.

Or as JEB pointed out, up Beulah Road in the 22182 zip code are neighborhoods farther away from the downtown core that are newer homes that are quite nice and in $1M range. Those neighborhoods don't feed into the "Town's high school - Madison" so it is a little bit removed from the small town Vienna scene.

If you want to spend the full $1.5M then you can go to McLean or North Arlington which are closer-in towns to DC and are generally more expensive. McLean generally has the schools with the highest test scores in NoVA (primarily Langley HS and its feeders) but the ones in Arlington and Vienna are right behind it. You generally won't get as much land in Arlington. There are a lot of nice neighborhoods in both places - it might not have as much of a small town feel as Vienna does.

As for class size, I hate to say that you are out of luck on that front, as least in Fairfax County schools. Generally, class size is pretty big and schools are pretty crowded, especially in the schools that people are clamoring to get into, but sometimes you get lucky.

One last suggestion - there is small school district called Falls Church City that might be to your liking. Falls Church City is between McLean and Arlington. I'm not sure of the class size there, but people say good things about the district. Because it's a city, they are allowed to have their own school district in Virginia. Because it's small and relatively close in, homes are in demand, but I think you'd do well with your budget. It might be worth looking into. Make sure that it's Falls Church City, though. Falls Church (not City) is in Fairfax County and does not feed into Falls Church City schools.

Hope that helps.

[JWnova]

Just a quick note about the Falls Church (not city) 22043. Many say we have the best combination of schools in Fairfax County.

Haycock Elementary, Longfellow Middle and McLean High.

Falls Church City does not have any kind of edge on the Falls Church (not city) 22043 as far as schools are concerned.