In Loudoun County, village of Oz turns into an amenity-rich, family-friendly neighborhood
Where We Live | Ashburn Farm in Loudoun County, Va.
?There is so much here for kids,? a resident says of the community?s abundant recreation opportunities and other amenities.
When Shirley Barber moved with her young family to Ashburn Farm in 1989, “it was like the village of Oz dropped down into this country area — one road coming in and out, no buildings,” she said. “There was nothing here.”
Barber and her husband, David Tabor, were the original owners of a house in the eastern Loudoun County community of 3,863 homes, most of which were built between 1988 and 1993. A few smaller neighborhoods were annexed into Ashburn Farm during the ensuing decade.
Cavalier Land was Ashburn Farm’s first developer, and several other builders constructed homes on land that once belonged to John Janney, a prominent 19th-century legislator who gave Ashburn Farm its name.
A windmill beside one of three community recreation centers is a rare reminder of the dairy farm that once occupied the land, which is now home to 1,416 townhouses, 1,824 single-family homes, 460 condos and 163 apartments.
Barber, a real estate professional with Samson Properties, described Ashburn Farm as “very family-friendly,” citing such amenities as three outdoor swimming pools, 12 tennis courts, eight basketball courts and miles of walking trails, some of which feed into the Washington & Old Dominion Trail, which borders the community.
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Barber said Ashburn Farm was conceived as a community with larger homes and lots than other nearby developments, but that when the economy faltered, “all of a sudden they were building smaller houses on smaller lots.” Nevertheless, there are still many large homes in the community, she said.
“Most of the homes in Ashburn Farm are four-to-five bedroom homes, so that’s very conducive for a family,” she said.
Angela and Wayne Helge moved from a townhouse in Leesburg to Ashburn Farm in 2010. With their elder daughter about to enter school, they had hoped to move to a single-family home in Leesburg.
Instead, they fell in love with a house on two-thirds of an acre in Ashburn Farm, near the W&OD Trail. Proximity to the trail appealed to Wayne Helge, a runner, as did the shorter commute to his job in Tysons Corner.
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“It’s worked out great,” Angela Helge said. “The first weekend we moved in, there was a block party that we were invited to. Someone came to the door and asked us to swim in their pool. So they welcomed us with open arms.”
Share this articleShare“There is so much here for kids that you don’t have to go outside this area,” she said, adding that she likes the variety of shopping options nearby. “You can leave our house and in a couple of miles radius go to six or seven different grocery stores.”
There are many retail and dining options in nearby shopping centers, including Junction Plaza and Ashburn Farm Village Center, in Ashburn Farm and neighboring communities.
Jeremy Cushman, general manager of the Ashburn Farm Association, described the community’s age as “a double-edged sword.”
“The houses are a little bit older here,” he said. “Maintenance is more of a concern on an older house than on a newer house. But we have mature landscaping and all the amenities we have because we’ve been here for 30 years. And I think it’s hard to find that in an HOA this size [with] this many amenities.”
Homeowners association fees range from $87 per month for single-family houses to $98 per month for townhouses. Cushman said that the homeowners association tries to be “reasonable and thoughtful” in enforcing covenants and standards, such as responding to the coronavirus pandemic by temporarily relaxing a ban on aboveground swimming pools.
“We’re trying to be sensitive to people who have been cooped up ... at home, and are trying to enjoy themselves for the summer,” he said. “We try to strike a balance between covenants enforcement and letting people live their lives.”
Living there: Ashburn Farm is roughly bordered by the W&OD Trail to the north; Ashburn Road to the east; the Dulles Greenway to the south; and Belmont Ridge Road to the west. Some smaller communities that also fall within those boundaries border Ashburn Farm to the east, south and west.
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Over the past year, according to Barber, 174 homes sold in Ashburn Farm, ranging from a one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo for $189,000 to a single-family home with six bedrooms and four bathrooms for $850,000.
There are 10 homes on the market, ranging from a townhouse with three bedrooms and three bathrooms for $345,000 to a single-family house with five bedrooms and seven bathrooms for just under $1.1 million.
Schools: Belmont Station, Cedar Lane and Sanders Corner elementary, Trailside Middle and Stone Bridge High.
Transit: Ashburn Farm is next to the Dulles Greenway and about two miles from Route 7, the other main commuting corridor. It is about 13 miles from the Wiehle-Reston Metro station, which has been closed because of the pandemic, and two miles from the future terminus of Metrorail’s Silver Line at Loudoun Station. The Loudoun County Commuter Bus, which provides Metrorail connections and service to the District, makes multiple stops within two miles of Ashburn Farm. However, bus service has been curtailed because of the pandemic.
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