Scenery on a Par With the Area's Best

Pinecrest Development Boasts Trails, Golf Course's Lush Landscape

Malcolm Barr has few complaints about his neighborhood. His two-story detached family home backs up to an expansive and handsomely manicured lawn, behind which lies a four-acre pond inhabited by an extended family of Canada geese. The view from the rear deck is one of idyllic serenity, yet Barr has to lift nary a finger toward regular maintenance of the grounds.

"If only we could keep the golf balls from landing in our flowerpots out back," Barr said.

Such occurrences are virtually par for the course at the Pinecrest community in Fairfax County, close to western Alexandria, where a nine-hole public golf course surrounds more than 800 detached, town house and condominium units. Street names echo the golf theme--Tartan Vista Drive, Shetland Green Road, Gretna Green Way, Highland Green, Zoysia and Sawgrass courts--evoking types of grass and Scotland, golf's birthplace.

Despite the occasional airborne intruders, Barr and many of the residents whose houses border the lush, narrow fairways say the view of the landscape itself is more than ample compensation.

"It has really been a pleasure to watch the development of the trees and animal life around here," Barr said. "There's a reason these homes nearest the links don't change hands that often."

Bounded by Braddock Road, Little River Turnpike and Old Columbia Pike, the Pinecrest has plenty of natural diversions for its innermost residents as well. A network of paved walking trails winds through nearly every section of the neighborhood. During the morning and early evening hours, joggers, dog walkers and stroller-pushing parents navigate the trails to exercise and socialize.

One of the better-traveled paths leads to the center of the community, where gated tennis courts and a large gazebo sit beside a pair of fountain-equipped ponds on both sides of the main road.

Nancy Wolverton and her son Quinn, 7, are standing beneath the gazebo looking out at a turtle poking its head up on a rock in the middle of the pond.

"Typically, this is the real hub for the kids to play, ride bikes and skateboard," said Wolverton, as Quinn ambled off to the far side of the pond and tried to stir an enormous bullfrog. "He'll play out here for hours," she said.

The community is built around Pinecrest Vista Drive, a horseshoe-shaped thoroughfare designed to discourage through traffic from either Braddock Road or Route 236. Many of the side streets are, in fact, oddly arrayed broad courts with no circular access back to Pinecrest Vista.

The Pinecrest's homes range widely in price, size and amenities, making the community affordable for both seasoned and first-time buyers.

Clustered in the southwestern corner of the neighborhood, the condominiums are almost a community unto themselves. The center of the circle hides an exclusive pool and clubhouse, as well as a small duck pond with its own lighted wraparound gazebo.