Reston Real Estate: The Bonner Homes of Reston

RestonNow.com Sponsor December 16, 2021 at 12:30pm

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

Reston architectural aficionados know that Reston architect Ken Bonner built the first house in South Reston — a detached single-family house on Stirrup Road.

Ken once recalled having to transport a portable generator to the building site because there were no power lines yet. This was back in 1964. Integrating a human living space into nature in an environmentally sensitive way was his passion. In the 1960s, Reston founder Robert E. Simon Jr. was eager to give Ken a chance to build throughout Reston with that philosophy in mind.

Ken built about 65 homes in Reston, including the one where I raised my children. Mine was on the other side of Reston on Buttermilk Lane in the Uplands neighborhood of North Reston. I loved that house and the neighborhood. It backed up to a 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. Much of that has to do with Bonner’s design philosophy.

What is lesser known in Reston is that Ken also designed townhome communities. Among them, Colts Neck Cluster. This community is comprised of 60 townhouses in South Reston, near the intersection of Colts Neck Road and South Lakes Drive. Escalante Court is off South Lakes Drive and next to the South Lakes Drive Park. Greywing Court is off Colts Neck Road.

Built in 1972-1973, these contemporary townhomes are three levels with cedar siding exteriors. The 1,600 to 2,000 square feet homes feel much larger because of Ken’s attention to every detail.

The Colts Neck community is close to the Reston National Golf Course and the Hunters Woods Village Center Shopping Center. It is also within two miles of the Reston East Metro station.

These lovely homes are not only perfect for anyone looking for well-designed, contemporary architecture in a close-knit, townhome community, they represent a piece of what makes Reston such a great place to live.