Enjoying the Freedom of Country Living

There's Room for Critters, Kayaks, Individualistic Owners

He wants to kayak to work and she wants a goat, so Loren Looger and his wife, Covington Brown, are moving to Broad Run Farms in eastern Loudoun County.

Looger, a biochemist, plans to paddle to work at Janelia Farm, a new 689-acre scientific research campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, about two miles upstream.

While house hunting, the two were overwhelmed by large developments that looked strikingly similar. Then they found Broad Run Farms.

"As soon as I drove in there, I felt like I could breathe," Brown said of the mostly agriculturally zoned community nestled in a corner where the shallow water of Broad Run meets the Potomac River.

The community has a rural atmosphere with an eclectic mix of housing styles. One recent Saturday morning, the clip clop of horse hooves on pavement blended with a chorus of bird songs as teenagers Katie Wenger and Anna Nielsen rode their steeds through the community.

"When kids have horses, they usually don't have neighbors so close by," said Katie's mother, Tracy, a real estate agent. "This community can give them the best of both worlds -- horses and kids next door."

The more than 300 houses in the neighborhood sit on lots that range from half an acre to more than seven acres. The Wengers have four acres, enough space for their menagerie of goats, horses and dogs, including a huggable St. Bernard. "One of our neighbors had an emu," Tracy Wenger said.

She moved to Broad Run Farms from Great Falls with her parents when she was in high school. She returned 12 years ago to raise her own family there. "Lots of people I know moved here because it reminded them of old Great Falls," she said.

Broad Run Farms offers access to a mix of environments. To the west is Broad Run, ideal for quiet fishing or paddling and shallow enough for kids to poke around. In the center of the community is the 23-acre Cedar Creek Farm, a private equestrian facility with an indoor horse arena.

And yet, within 10 minutes, you can be golfing at Lansdowne Resort, taking classes at George Washington University's Loudoun campus or shopping at Dulles Town Center. Another 10 minutes gets you to Dulles International Airport.

The absence of a homeowners association appealed to Looger and Brown. In fact, retired high school coach Mike Nunnally proudly wears a T-shirt defining Broad Run Farms' HOA as "Homeowners Opposed to Authority."

While some homeowners associations promote a version of "you can't paint your house purple with polka dots" rules, one Broad Run Farms resident has done just that to his barn. The barn is visible from the path to the community's private boat launch area. Residents point to it as a symbol of the freedom they have to do what they wish with their property.