Arlington Heights Homes in Arlington, VA

Arlington Heights homes sit in the middle of Arlington, on tree-lined streets between Route 50 and Columbia Pike. The Arlington Heights Civic Association draws the neighborhood between Arlington Boulevard, South Glebe Road, South Walter Reed Drive and Columbia Pike. Route 50 and I-395 connect it to Washington, DC, the Pentagon, Crystal City and Reagan National Airport, and Ballston is straight up Glebe Road.

Arlington Heights is an older neighborhood with a long memory. Its first subdivisions were laid out in 1909, and most of its houses went up in the first half of the 1900s, when a streetcar ran along Columbia Pike into the city. Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival houses from those years still set the look of its streets. The Arlington Heights Historic District, about 177 acres, was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register in 2007 and the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Houses in Arlington Heights have character. Lots and layouts change from one street to the next, and no two listings are quite alike. Pricing one well takes someone who has walked through a lot of them.

Buyers often look at Arlington Heights alongside the neighborhoods around it. In our experience, the choice comes down to preference more than a trade-off. What sets Arlington Heights apart is its historic district, Thomas Jefferson Park and Community Center inside the neighborhood, and a straight run up Glebe Road to Ballston. Each neighbor has its own draw.

Penrose has the same mix of Cape Cods, colonials and craftsman homes, plus some duplexes and a few small apartment buildings. Penrose has three parks, Penrose Park, Butler Holmes Park and Towers Park, and Penrose is close to Fort Myer. Penrose Square on Columbia Pike, which opened in 2011, is anchored by a Giant grocery store, with restaurants and salons around it.

Douglas Park has seen a lot of additions and new construction, and some of its lots are big and flat. Douglas Park has three parks of its own and sits between the W&OD and Four Mile Run trails, within walking distance of the shops and restaurants of Shirlington and Columbia Pike.

Alcova Heights is known for flat, larger lots and a mix of colonials, ramblers and bungalows. Alcova Heights Park, at 13 acres, has a playground, a picnic shelter and courts for basketball and sand volleyball.

Barcroft has colonials on big lots, craftsman homes and farmhouses. The Barcroft Community House, a one-room schoolhouse on the National Register of Historic Places, sits at the center of Barcroft. Barcroft also has Arlington Hall West Park, and the Four Mile Run Trail runs along Barcroft.

Arlington Heights is well placed for getting around. I-395, Route 50 and Columbia Pike are all close. Downtown DC, the Pentagon and Reagan National Airport are a short drive, and Glebe Road takes you north to Ballston and its Metro station.

Columbia Pike has been the neighborhood's main street since the streetcar days. Today it is lined with locally owned restaurants, coffee shops and neighborhood services. Arlington Heights has two parks. Thomas Jefferson Park, at 3501 2nd Street South beside the Thomas Jefferson Middle School and Community Center, has a playground, basketball and tennis courts, a ball field, two lighted synthetic fields and a fitness trail, and its upper field hosts the Arlington County Fair every year. Arlington Heights Park is a quarter-acre shaded park at 9th Street South and South Irving Street with benches, a picnic table and a drinking fountain.

The public schools that serve Arlington Heights are Alice West Fleet Elementary School and Thomas Jefferson Middle School. School boundaries change, so check the current Arlington Public Schools boundary map for any specific address before you buy.