Reston Real Estate: The Bonner Homes of Reston

 This is a sponsored post by Eve Thompson of Reston Real Estate.

Reston is known for its beautiful contemporary homes. About 65 of those homes (and some residential apartment buildings) are courtesy of architect Ken Bonner, who has lived in Reston since 1968.

In fact, Bonner built the first house in Reston. That home was Reston’s first detached single-family house. It still stands today on Stirrup Road. In a Fairfax Times article, Bonner recalls having to transport a portable generator to the building site because there were no power lines yet. This was back in 1964.

The house has been featured in national magazines, and today is still considered a technological marvel for its use of space, natural lighting and energy-conserving design.

A trademark of any Bonner home is using natural sunlight and preserving trees. In the Stirrup Road house, the sun lights the kitchen in the morning, lights the living room as it crosses the sky midday, and then lights the den as it begins to set. The home also is outfitted with several ceiling skylights, making electric lighting unnecessary on most sunny days.

Integrating a human living space into nature in an environmentally sensitive way was Bonner’s  passion. In the 1960s, Reston founder Robert E. Simon Jr. was eager to give Bonner a chance to build throughout Reston with that philosophy in mind.

My first home in Reston was a Bonner home on Buttermilk Lane. It backed up to beautiful, treed lot with a creek at the bottom of the backyard. We kept the walls painted bright white and let the color of the woods in through the wall of windows that ran across the rear of the house. It was a fantastic place to raise our family.

Ken Bonner is just one of the visionary architects who made Reston the unique community it is today. His designs continue to inspire those who believe in Reston’s vision as a place to live, work, and play.

Photo: Bonner home on Peppermint Court in Reston/Credit: Zillow