Tucked away among the subdivisions of a booming northern Virginia county is a place where — by design — time stands still.
By Robert Mitchell
Waterford is the kind of place where the local elementary school, dedicated in 1965, is known as the “new” school. The “old” school, built in 1910, sits atop a hill overlooking the village and houses the Waterford Foundation. Formed in 1943, the foundation works to preserve Waterford’s historic buildings and educate the public about its past.
“Waterford is a little gem,” said real estate agent Christy Hertel, who has called Waterford home for 22 years. Little is right. The 2020 Census lists the population of the village at 181.
Almost two-thirds of the houses that line Waterford’s shady streets were built before 1861. A post office, market and community store serve village residents. Nearby are newer “very high-end” houses attracting families seeking good schools and a “rural quality of life,” Hertel said. For groceries and other shopping needs, most Waterford residents travel to Leesburg, she said.
One Waterford house was on the market in July at a price of $1.65 million, according to Redfin. Other houses in Waterford sold earlier this year for prices ranging from $553,000 to $700,000, according to Zillow. Beyond the village, Waterford houses sell for between $625,000 and $1.7 million.
Part of Waterford’s fascination is a unique layout that has charmed observers for almost a century. “Its streets go according to no fixed plan, but ramble around on several little hills,” according to a 1926 survey of Loudoun County.
Tranquility is another appealing quality. Robert Bocek moved with his wife to Waterford from Arlington 15 years ago to escape the traffic congestion, sirens and jet noise from Reagan National Airport.
“We wanted a more rural area,” he recalled, but the peaceful atmosphere was difficult to adjust to at first. They had trouble getting to sleep in their new home, he said, because “it was too damn quiet.”
The character of Waterford’s historic houses is protected by a county historic district review committee and easements that regulate the kinds of changes homeowners can make to their property. Even so, Waterford homeowners face fewer constraints than those who live in the historic districts of Williamsburg or Nantucket, Hertel said.
Waterford residents tend to be older and well-educated. The 2020 Census reported village’s median age is 66, with 87 percent possessing a bachelor’s degree or higher. The average income is $97,833, according to Census Reporter.
But numbers don’t tell the whole story. “Waterford attracts unique people for sure,” Hertel said. Artists, families and retirees call it home. “It makes for a great mix,” she said.
The history of Waterford begins in the 1730s, when Quakers settled in what was then the western region of Fairfax County. In 1784, Joseph Janney founded the village and established a grist mill and sawmill, according to the Waterford Foundation.
Waterford prospered in the early decades of the 19th century but could not escape the turmoil of the Civil War. While much of Loudoun and the rest of Virginia supported the Confederacy, Waterford merchant Samuel Means raised a unit of Union Army scouts who battled Confederates at the town’s Baptist church in 1862.
After the war, Waterford hosted a school for Black children founded by the Freedmen’s Bureau. Today, the Waterford Foundation conducts classes at the Second Street School where fourth-graders are introduced to the “opportunities and limitations faced by Black children in a segregated one-room school” in the 19th century.
Waterford residents watch warily as development pressures threaten to intrude. They look on with dismay as motorists hoping to shave a few minutes off their commute cut through town on Waterford’s Main Street. Of greater concern is a proposal to build high-voltage power lines through rural Loudoun, opposed by the Waterford Foundation as a threat to the historic character of the village and its environs.
As she wound woolen dryer balls at the Waterford Market, proprietor Linda Landreth described the village as a “well-preserved landmark in a state of change.” Landreth, who keeps a flock of “too many” sheep behind her store, said she “got to know a different Waterford” when she and her husband settled there 44 years ago.
“When I came out, I was fortunate enough for there to have been a number of old residents, even some who had been born and raised here,” she said. “And then for a number of years the people who came were really committed to history and preservation. And now I’m seeing the influx of people to the area, subdivisions around us. That’s changed the character of the village.”
But through it all, Waterford maintains its small-town feeling. The village hosts an annual craft fair and holds a July 4 parade featuring everything from Revolutionary War reenactors to youngsters riding bunting-bedecked bicycles. “It’s kind of like ‘Cheers,’” postmaster Rick Sulzen said of the community he has served for the past four years. “Everybody knows your name.”
Schools: Waterford Elementary, Harmony Middle, Woodgrove High School.
Transportation: Waterford is near State Route 7. Loudoun County connector buses take commuters to Rosslyn, the Pentagon and D.C. The Ashburn Metro stop is about 20 minutes to the south. Commuter train service to Washington is available across the Potomac River in Maryland at Brunswick.
