The History of Virginia Run

The written history of Virginia Run and the surrounding Centreville area goes back to the 1600s, when British colonists and fortune hunters came to the New World for opportunity, adventure, and prosperity. Read below for a brief history of the Virginia Run community. Priscilla Knight, a former ARB chairman/Board Trustee, has put together a wonderful piece about the rich history of Centreville. If you'd like to read it, a PDF version can be found at the bottom of this page.

In the Beginning... In the mid-1980s, home mortgage interest rates started to fall from 16 and 17 percent. As interest rates decreased, the demand for new homes increased. Kettler and Scott (KSI) developers wanted to develop a planned community along Pleasant Valley Road. Dulles International Airport and high tech businesses opening along the Route 28 corridor made Centreville an ideal location for new homes. Here's a clip from KSI’s original sales brochure:

There is a part of Fairfax County where living well still means a certain grace and style. Where the beauty of the land is still something to cherish. Where winding lanes and sweeping green lawns still lead to grand homes and warm hospitality. It is here that Virginia’s finest homebuilders have joined with one of America’s most respected land development companies, to create “Virginia Run.” An elegant community in the tradition of Old Virginia, for a new generation of Virginians…

It’s the kind of community where you’ll meet friends at “the club” for tennis, where neighbors gather for cookouts and bridge clubs, where children play and grow up together. Driving down a lane, jogging along a path, even riding by on a horse, you’ll pass one another with a smile and a wave. The warm host and the generous neighbor: They’re a part of the way Virginians have always lived, and you’ll find them here still.

Let the Building Begin!

In 1987, the first bulldozers started to turn farmland into Virginia Run. They uncovered Civil War artifacts, including at least one cannon ball. The first family moved into Virginia Run in October 1987. Soon, the twelve original builders couldn’t build homes fast enough when 1988 rushed in. They raised their prices almost every month. One builder did so well that he closed his sales trailer and took his company to the Caribbean for a week! It seemed that Virginia Run’s 1,200 some acres would become “built out” in short order.

Northern Virginia builders competed for lots on the southern side of Barnesdale Path in order to enter the Festival of Homes showcase. In October 1988, bus loads of tourists came into Virginia Run to see the latest, most dramatic homes built in the Washington metropolitan area. The builders’ fully decorated homes competed for best designs, kitchens, bedrooms, landscaping, etc. Many of the homes featured two-story foyers and great rooms, enormous master bedroom suites with fireplaces, sunrooms and the finest building materials. Some of these homes would sell or list for almost one million dollars—an enormous price for Centreville in 1988.

The 1988 real estate river of gold turned into molasses in 1990 when the country’s economy took a downturn. Some of the original twelve builders in Virginia Run started to go out of business. Other builders bought foreclosed building lots from banks. The Board of Trustees (BOT) and Architectural Review Board (ARB) worked with the new builders so that their homes would harmonize with existing homes.

Virginia Run, The Estates

The governing boards made the first major revisions to the ARB Guidelines in 1991 and 1992 as lots in the Virginia Run Estates section were being sold. These fifteen five-acre lots needed different guidelines. Virginia Run’s theme was horse riding and fox hunts. Would these new owners keep horses? How many? The governing boards decided only two horses per lot. Many other guidelines were modified.

Most Estate purchasers wanted custom designed homes with selected custom builders. The ARB worked with the homeowners and their individual architects and builders to make the new homes “harmonious” with each other and with the rest of Virginia Run, as required by Virginia Run’s governing documents.

Storms Hit Virginia Run

In June 1996, an F-2 tornado ripped through the Estate section. The tornado mowed down hundreds of trees, blew out windows, blew off roof shingles and siding, and shredded screened porches. No one was hurt. Neighbors from unaffected streets in Virginia Run rushed over to the Estates to help.

In April 1999, a powerful hail storm hit. Insurance companies declared all of Centreville a disaster area because almost every house needed a new roof and siding. Almost every house in Virginia Run looked new after the roofers and siding companies finished their work.

The Ridings is Annexed into Virginia Run

Owners of land just north of Virginia Run wanted to develop their acreage. In the late 1990s, the owners started meeting with the Virginia Run Board of Trustees to discuss plans. After months of negotiations, the Board was satisfied that annexation would benefit Virginia Run and asked the community to vote. Homeowners voted to annex the land. Certain provisions were made to protect privacy for existing homes, and protect forests and wildlife. Early in the 21th century, builders started constructing homes in The Ridings. The number of Virginia Run homes went from 1354 to 1405.

Today, Virginia Run continues the traditions which made Virginia great: hard work, service, concern for neighbors and community, recreation, relaxation...and just plain fun!

Virginia Run is a wonderful -- and historic -- place to call home.