Reston Real Estate: Get to Know The Wharf

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

Reston is full of hidden gems — it’s like a real life treasure hunt here! And The Wharf is one of them.

What makes The Wharf so unique? This community of townhomes surrounds a pair of ponds at the top of a hill AND the community overlooks Lake Audubon. Yes, this is a water lover’s paradise.

Reston architect Michael Oxman conceived of The Wharf in 1977.

“When I decided to become a townhouse developer for my own design, I looked first at some lakefront property,” he told a architectural magazine at the time. “Trouble is, only 20 percent of the townhouses on those sites are actually on the water. Those sell quickly, then there is often a long period trying to sell the off-water homes.”

This is not a problem in The Wharf.

The Cluster was finally built between 1981 and 1986, and is located on Timberhead Court off Glade Drive on Lake Audubon. The 55 cedar-sided, multi-level three- to-five-bedroom townhouses were designed and built to look like a New England fishing village. Most of the homes have garages.

What really makes The Wharf special, though, is the ponds. These delicately balanced living ecosystems are not runoff ponds like other Reston lakes. They are more similar to mountaintop lakes since they are not contaminated from fertilizer and waste running off with rainwater.

Two freshwater wells provide water to the ponds. You will find blue-gill sunfish and large mouth bass in a ratio of ten sunfish to one bass. The sunfish eat mosquito larvae, and the bass keep the sunfish population under control.

In a place renowned for access to nature, The Wharf stands out. This is a neighborhood for people who love water and want to be close to it.