Neighborhood profile: Fairfax Villa - The Washington Post

correction

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the Villa Aquatic Club's pool is Olympic-size. The article has been corrected.

Fairfax Villa, a community in the heart of Fairfax County, Va., has largely remained the same since it was built in the 1960s. Residents seem to like it that way.

“It’s just one of those neighborhoods where nobody is really knocking down houses and building bigger homes,” said Pat Tarasek, a resident since 2016 and the Fairfax Villa civic association president. “Very few people are even putting additions on their houses. They just kind of like the way they are,” she said.

Tarasek describes “the Villa” — as residents call it — as “quiet” and “homey.”

Shaded by mature trees, the 422 houses with brick and siding exteriors are on 166 acres northwest of the George Mason University campus in Fairfax. The three main styles of single-family houses are two-story ramblers, three-story split foyers, and three- or four-story split levels.

Fairfax Villa has a “mixture of people of all ages,” from GMU students to young couples with children to retirees, Tarasek said.

When Tarasek first moved in, she discovered the Haley Family Cemetery on a small, overgrown lot on San Carlos Drive, dating back to the mid-1700s. Among the people buried there is James Haley, who served as a sergeant in the First Virginia Regiment in the Revolutionary War.

Fairfax Villa residents, as well as the Daughters of the American Revolution, have taken responsibility for cleaning and maintaining the lot, Tarasek said.

Bill Muras and his wife, Lisa, moved to Fairfax Villa in 2002 because it is in walking distance to GMU, where Lisa attended classes at the time. It also was within their price range.

Fairfax Villa’s central location, with easy access to major highways — including Routes 50 and 29, Fairfax County Parkway and Interstate 66 — and its walkability are big advantages, Muras said.

Less than two miles away is Kamp Washington, Fairfax Pointe and Old Town Fairfax with retailers and restaurants, as well as a Walmart Supercenter.

The Villa Aquatic Club, which opened in 1963, is another perk, Muras said. The club’s pool is available to residents of Fairfax Villa and surrounding communities. Memberships start at $200 annually with a one-time, nonrefundable fee of $250.

“The pool serves as a big focal point, and a lot of folks have been very involved in the Villa Aquatic Gorillas swim team,” Muras said, including his three children.

In early advertisements, the neighborhood was described as “a town in the trees.” Many of the trees can be found in the nearly 60-acre wooded Fairfax Villa Park, which is along the western border of the neighborhood and has walking and biking trails.

Maintained by the Fairfax County Park Authority, this undeveloped park is accessible only by pedestrians and bicyclists.

Like the neighborhood, the park contains slices of history. Native Americans came to what became Fairfax Villa Park for Popes Head Creek as well as the quartz, quartzite cobbles, and soapstone still found within the park. Parts of the Manassas Gap Railroad, constructed before the Civil War forced it into bankruptcy, are also visible.

When Chrysi Lopez and her husband, Hector, were house-hunting in 2006, they “stumbled upon the Villa,” she said. “It was a happy accident.”

Upon arriving, their neighbors brought them fudge and introduced themselves, Lopez said. The community “had that really nice, old-school vibe,” something that hasn’t really changed over the years, she said.

This is, in part, because of the involvement within the community and its feeling of safety, Lopez said. “We know a lot of our neighbors, and we take care of each other,” she said. “We’re lucky to have great people, and we make a point to be good neighbors, as well.”

Neighbors have coordinated movie nights and block parties on the cul-de-sacs.

The PTA at Fairfax Villa Elementary School also holds events. On Aug. 21, families “Chalked the Walk” by leaving positive messages on the sidewalks for kids walking to school, and each year, the PTA and the civic association work together to throw a Halloween parade, said Jennifer Snyder, the PTA president at Fairfax Villa Elementary, where her two sons attend school.

The civic association also hosts an annual New Year’s Eve luminaries display, where bags with candles line the streets, lighting the neighborhood, said Scott Snyder, vice president of the civic association and Jennifer’s husband.

To the south is the smaller Cavalier Woods subdivision that Fairfax Villa residents consider part of their voluntary civic association, which oversees community issues, as there is no homeowners association. The membership fee is $10 a year.

Because Fairfax Villa is just outside the city of Fairfax, residents don’t receive city services like trash collection and snow removal. Private collection companies handle trash and recycling, and the Virginia Department of Transportation takes care of snow removal.

Living there: Fairfax Villa is bounded by Byrd Drive to the north, Fairfax Villa Park to the west, and San Juan Drive and Fairfax Villa Elementary School to the east.

According to Malia Tarasek, a real estate agent of Lucido Global at Keller Williams and Pat Tarasek’s daughter, one property is on the market: a four-bedroom, three-bathroom rambler for $650,000. Over the past 12 months, 18 homes have sold in Fairfax Villa. The highest priced was a four-bedroom, three-bathroom renovated rambler for $780,000. The lowest priced was a three-bedroom, two-bathroom split foyer for $530,000. The average sales price over the past 12 months was $661,849, and the average number of days on the market was 11, Malia Tarasek said.

Schools: Fairfax Villa Elementary; Frost Middle; W.T. Woodson High.

Transit: The CUE Bus system provides free transit service within the city of Fairfax, including transportation to and from the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Metro station (Orange Line), around six miles away, and the GMU Fairfax campus, around two miles away. The CUE Bus system has stops for the Gold 1 and Gold 2 routes about 1.5 miles away. WMATA Metrobus also has nearby stops.

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