Are Andresen

Great nature Category

Cool Contemporary in Reston! (pending)

We just listed a great contemporary townhome in Reston for sale. This is not your typical narrow and dark townhome – this one has large windows throughout and an open floor plan that lets in a lot of light.

With 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths the home is a lot larger than it looks from the outside with over 2,000 sq/ft of total space. There are two yards, one landscaped front yard off the rec room and one rear yard off the living room.

Read the rest of this entry »

Local Falls Church/Idylwood History For Sale

At a recent walk off Idylwood Road in Falls Church I found a “hidden” old cemetery. It is about 1 acre and is nicely located on a hill and “landlocked” between the Ruckstuhl park and the newer development on Colonel Lindsay Ct. I doubt more than a few of the most immediate neighbors are aware of the graveyard.  Read the rest of this entry »

Land Restrictions and Fairfax County Resource Protect Areas

If you are planning to buy or renovate a home, a Resource Protect Area (RPA) may be something that will impact you and the value of your home significantly A Resource Protection Area is created to limit development around water bodies with perennial flows. The goal is to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries through limited development.

The Chesapeake Bay Act has been around for a while and most purchasers do know that development potential is limited around streams, lakes and rivers in Fairfax County. However, in 2003, the regulations were amended and further restrictions were put in place. The definition of what was covered under the act was changed from “tributary streams” to ”water bodies with perennial flow”. The result was that a large number of new areas and homes were affected – often reaching deep into exisiting subdivisons and alongside what most would have considered “storm drains” up to that point.

Read the rest of this entry »

Who to Call For a Fallen Tree in Northern Virginia

Hurricane Sandy seems to have left Virginia with less devastation than feared. Nevertheless, the storm caused lots of trees to fall completely and also left others in a damaged and potentially hazardous state.

If a downed tree is near wires, stay away. Never remove trees, limbs or anything else that are near or touching a downed wire.

Read the rest of this entry »

Homes For Sale Near the Bike Trail in Falls Church and Arlington

The extensive network of bike paths in the Northern Virginia area is a gift many appreciates. Paths like the Washington and Old Dominion Trail(W&OD), Custis Trail and Mount Vernon trail are all very popular with bikers, runners, walkers and rollerbladers of  all ages. 

On a typical morning the trails will be full of residents doing their morning jog and commuters using the trails to get in from the suburbs to work in areas like Tysons Corner, Arlington and Washington DC. On the weekend large groups of bikers and joggers will take over the trail interspersed with families out for some family fun.

Read the rest of this entry »

What To Do About Dangerous Trees

After the severe thunderstorm that took place in July there has been concerns from many homeowners regarding their own and the trees of their neighbors. The storm caused a number of trees to fall completely and also left others in a damaged and potentially hazardous state.

If the tree is on public/county land, contact the following agencies:

• Near public streets and roads: Call VDOT at 1-800-FOR-ROAD (367-7623), TTY 711
• Fairfax County Parks: Call the Park Authority’s Operations Division at 703-324-8594, TTY 711
• Northern Virginia Regional Parks: Call the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority at 703-352-5900, TTY 711.
• Stormwater management ponds: Call the Maintenance and Stormwater Management Division at 703-877-2800, TTY 711
• Public school property: Call the Fairfax County Public Schools at 571-423-2350, TTY 711.

If the tree is on private property, the property owner is responsible for maintaining their trees. Fairfax County has no authority to force a tree removal on private property unless it is  a public hazard. See our article from last year called “My Neighbor’s Tree is Ruining My Driveway“.

In general a homeowner can remove a tree on their property as they wish. However, conservation easements are common in Northern Virginia (may also be called things like  Resource Protection Area – RPA, or an Environmental Quality Corridor.)  See our article called “What RPA means and why you should care.”

If the tree is in a conservation easement, you will need contact the Urban Forest Management Division at 703-324-1770 for them to come by and take a look before you do anything.

Ruckstuhl Park on Idyl Lane/Idylwood Road Update (Falls Church)

Current view of meadow area behind the main home.

As we wrote about last summer, a large 7 acre property near Idylwood Towers in Falls Church was donated to the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust (NVCT) by Dr Lily Ruckstuhl in 2008. NVCT then transferred the property at a bargain price to the Fairfax County Park Authority.

Currently the property has three homes on it (in addition to a swimming pool.) It is expected that all the homes will be demolished with the cleanup scheduled to start this summer (not all the homes are vacant at this point.) After the cleanup has been completed the county will start developing the public master plan. the site will be mowed but kept mostly in a natural state until the master plan is completed. The master plan process for the park is not likely to commence for one to two years according to Fairfax County.

Read the rest of this entry »

Do you Want an Affordable “Green” Home And A Thriving Community?

Image is (C) Microsoft Corporation & Pictometry International Corp

Blueberry Hill is a cohousing community located just 2 miles north of Tysons Corner. The community was started in 1995 and the last home was completed in 2000. The homes are not large by McMansion standards, but the 3bedroom/2.5 baths at  about 1,700 sq/ft (+ basements) is what many would consider “right-sized”. Also, the 19 homes share a “common house” with craft room, exercise area, game area and a large common kitchen where team-cooked meals happen a few times a week.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Story Behind The Soldsense Calendar Picture

At Soldsense Realty we send out our magnetic calendars every year. Apart from a useful list of holidays for the upcoming year, we also like to share an image that means something special to us. The first few years we had landscapes, then we switched to native birds and then to birds around the world.

You may or may not know this, but both of us (Liezel and Are) love taking pictures and have travelled around the world to pursue that passion. Liezel has won multiple awards and competitions with her animal pictures, has self-published two books (available at the Pimmit Library) and also had images featured in Birds & Bloom and National Geographic Explorer. Here is the  story behind the image!

Read the rest of this entry »

The Ruckstuhl Park Is Coming To Idyl Lane/Idylwood Road!

If you live in the Idylwood Road area you may be familiar with the large treed property located at the intersection with Idyl Lane – across the street from Idylwood Towers East and the Brittany Parc Neighborhood. If you paid special attention you may remember seeing an elderly lady getting out of her car to pull her trashcans up the long driveway.

Read the rest of this entry »