I grew up outside of Philadelphia on the Main Line, and you would be hard-pressed to find a prettier collection of towns. I’m from Wayne, which has a charming downtown surrounded by historic homes dating to 1881. As you wind your way through the neighborhoods, you’ll see a variety of architectures represented, including Shingle Style, Queen Anne, Stick Style, Colonial Revival, Tudor and Craftsman. It looks like a coffee-table book about late 19th- and early 20th-century architecture.
What you won’t find along the Main Line are specific neighborhoods with distinct names, personalities and dedicated fans like we have here. Ask someone from Lyon Park to name the best neighborhood in Arlington and they will likely reply, “Lyon Park, of course.” But if you head west on 50, drive south on Carlin Springs and then hang a left, you will enter the historic neighborhood of Glencarlyn. Ask a Glencarlynite the same question, and it’s easy to guess what their answer will be.
People here are passionate about their neighbors and neighborhood traditions—the Halloween parades, progressive dinners, block parties, pickleball tournaments, Thanksgiving Day football games, morning walks to school, proximity to shops and nature, and more. We’re all loyal to our larger communities of Arlington, Falls Church and McLean, but our specific neighborhoods contribute to our shared sense of civic pride.
In our feature story “10 Great Neighborhoods,” we explore the history and characteristics that make these specific neighborhoods interesting and unique. You may notice we didn’t use the word “best” to describe them—the exercise of selecting neighborhoods is highly subjective. It’s also important to note that all the neighborhoods in the communities we write about are great in their own way. If your neighborhood didn’t make the list this time around, feel free to write to us at editorial@arlingtonmagazine.com and let us know what makes your neighborhood special. If you would like to read about other neighborhoods we’ve highlighted in the past, please visit arlingtonmagazine.com/10-great-neighborhoods/ and arlingtonmagazine.com/10-neighborhoods-we-love/.
Thinking about remodeling? Three home design stories in this issue focus on renovations with a modern twist. If you are a regular reader of the magazine, you may have noticed that we write about homes of all different shapes and sizes, from single-family homes and townhouses to condos and ADUs. We cover projects large and small, new builds and renovations. We highlight specific spaces too, like tricked-out basements, super cool kitchens, awesome outdoor living spaces, even a mudroom with a bar (yes, please). The common theme across all these projects is our interest in sharing inspiring local architecture and design with you. Thanks to the homeowners featured in this issue for welcoming us inside their beautifully designed and furnished homes.
I hope you enjoy our March/April Home issue. As always, please send story ideas to jenny.sullivan@arlingtonmagazine.com. If you have ideas or feedback you’d like to share, send it to me at greg.hamilton@arlingtonmagazine.com. Thanks!
Greg Hamilton, Publisher