The Lure of a Single Stoplight

About 65 percent of Middleburg's tax revenue comes from businesses, said Mayor Betsy Davis, whose day job is running the Fun Shop, her family's 50-year-old store. The growing business community also provides a built-in clientele for retailers and restaurants, many of whom have also relocated from larger cities such as Alexandria and Rockville.

Business expansion has brought with it some urban-style changes. Wireless Internet and cable lines have extended through town. The post office is often bustling with business owners. Staples makes next-day deliveries of office supplies. Traffic between Washington and Fauquier County has created a mini rush-hour in the late afternoon, but nothing a Beltway commuter would recognize.

The increasing number of people looking to work at least part of the week in Middleburg has created a demand for office space, which is becoming hard to find along the main corridor. An old boardinghouse above an antique emporium has been converted into offices. Across the street, a new building offers shared offices and communal conference rooms that local professionals can use as satellite offices or personal workspace.

And there are people like Lynne Kaye, who run businesses from home. After spending years commuting to an Arlington office, she began her own corporate strategy consulting firm in Middleburg and visits clients in Washington two or three times a week.

Local professionals have formed a networking group called Mosby's Rangers, named after the Confederate officer John Singleton Mosby, who led surprise attacks against Union outposts along the Loudoun-Fairfax railroad line. Each meeting reveals new members, many of whom telecommute.

Surrounded by multimillion-dollar estates in the heart of horse country, the town has long been a magnet for tourists and equestrian enthusiasts. The original businesses here were started by affluent residents, economic development officials said.

Residents' money is still playing a role in growth. Sandy Lerner, a co-founder of networking company Cisco Systems, owns a 1,000-acre organic farm in western Loudoun County and opened a market that sells locally grown produce and organic meats. Sheila Johnson, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, is building the Salamander Resort and Spa, a luxury hotel that will open in 2009 just outside of town.

The well-heeled patrons of such cosmopolitan attractions have helped bring big-city business to the boonies, said Claudia Dornin, Middleburg's economic development coordinator. But the town itself has a modest average income, and most residents are retirees or working-class employees of local schools and nearby farms.

"The amount of knowledge and experience is far more than a typical small town would have," she said. "But we're still somewhat of an agrarian working class. We have a different rhythm."