Highland Home

If you’re looking for plenty of elbow room between houses and a reasonable commute to Washington, DC, Highland Home may be just the place. This suburb of Fredericksburg, between 3 and 10 miles from downtown depending on which side you live on, has been experiencing a growth spurt. According to Heidi Jerakis, a Realtor for BHHS Pen Fed Realty who has sold several homes in the neighborhood, “The community has always been a little more rural, but recently, so many builders have gone in and had success in that area.”

Today, you can find many types of homes, whether you’re looking for ranchers in a subdivision canopied by mature trees, new construction in developments with amenities and sidewalks or multi-acre plots set back on secluded country roads. Pricing is trending up, like everywhere, Jerakis says, but competitive with surrounding counties. “Generally, pricing tends to be $100,000 less for a detached single-family home in Stafford County than it is in Prince William County,” she says. “There's more value here.” Townhouses typically sell in the low- to high-$300,000s. Although a new construction single-family estate-style home with a pool and almost 5,000 square feet can go for more than $1.8 million, the median single-family home sales price in the area is $460,000, and a house of 1,000 square feet or less can still be found in the $200,000s.

Kids in Highland Home attend Stafford County Public Schools, like Ferry Farm Elementary School, rated B-plus by Niche; Dixon-Smith Middle School, rated B; and Stafford High School, rated B. Students at Stafford High can take Career and Technical Education courses in topics like marketing, health and medical sciences, and business and information technology to prepare for post-secondary education or to enter the workforce upon graduation.

A cluster of parks along the Rappahannock River offers unique amenities to those looking for some fresh air. River Road Park is situated on the river's sandy beaches, great for fishing and dipping your toes in the water. St. Clair Brooks Park has a skatepark for the more athletically inclined, and John Lee Pratt Memorial Park has tennis and pickleball courts and an 18-hole disc golf course. As far as a facility with pools and recreation, “There’s also one of the largest YMCAs on the East Coast in the neighborhood,” Jerakis says. “It offers the right things for people who are living in that area. A lot of people utilize that gym since it’s less expensive.”

Giant Food and Weis Markets are two major stores in the area where you can fill up the fridge; they’re within minutes from the more concentrated subdivisions on the west side of the neighborhood but may be up to 8 miles away from the more rural homes. For most other shopping and dining needs, residents travel to neighboring areas. “Highland Homes is growing, but they haven’t brought in the commercial component yet,” says Jerakis. “There are a couple of shopping areas, but it’s more limited. Someone living there would typically have a 15-minute drive to Central Park, which offers any kind of chain retail facility you can imagine. It’s also the same distance to downtown Fredericksburg, which you’d choose for more of that historic ambiance and independent restaurants.” Other essential services for prospective buyers: The closest hospital is Mary Washington Hospital, about 8 miles from the center of the neighborhood, and the nearest major airports are Dullest International Airport and Richmond International Airport, both about 70 miles away.

Jerakis says there are a lot of military and government employees in Highland Home, and the Virginia Railway Express, or VRE, is an important feature of the area; the Leeland Road Station is within minutes of many homes. Additionally, Interstate 95, between 5 and 10 miles from homes in the neighborhood, has added new Express lanes recently, which is making a tremendous difference for the commuter. “Between the VRE, the use of the Express lanes, commuter vans — all of those combined are making this area more accessible and not so crazy of a commute to the person who works in DC,” she says.

Written By

Katelin Hill

Video By

Barry Ridgeway