Montpelier has a small-town, country feel just outside Richmond
Montpelier offers country living with everything you need close to home. It’s the kind of place where you know the local pharmacist by name and run into neighbors at the grocery store. People are usually drawn here by the rolling farmland and homes with acreage. The convenience of having stores and restaurants along Mountain Road means you won’t have to travel far for your daily needs. And if you want to head into the city, Richmond is around 30 minutes away.
What home styles and prices you can find in Montpelier
Montpelier offers a variety of home styles, including ranch-style houses built in the 1970s and expansive new construction modern farmhouses and New Traditional homes. “You have larger lots, you have some 10-acre lots, you have farms still,” says Crystal Biggers, who grew up in the area and is an associate broker and Realtor with Homelife Access Realty. “You have everything from your basic rancher to your big, giant house.”
The median home sale price is in the lower $500,000s, higher than Richmond’s overall median and that of the nearby communities of Bumpass, Beaverdam and Doswell. Here you can find:
- Older homes and those with smaller footprints from the lower $200,000s to the upper $400,000s
- New Traditional homes and those on several acres from the upper $400,000s to around $1 million
- Large homes over 4,000 square feet and those on dozens of acres from the lower $900,000s to around $1.5 million
- Undeveloped land from under $100,000 to the mid-$200,000s
How long it takes to reach Richmond and nearby job centers
Commuters to Downtown Richmond can get there in around 35 minutes via U.S. Route 33, Interstate 295 and Interstate 95, but rush-hour traffic can make the drive take longer. You can get to Short Pump, a popular shopping area, in around 20 minutes, and to the Capital One Westcreek campus, a large employer in the region, in half an hour.
Hanover County schools get high ratings
Kids are served by Hanover County Public Schools, a highly rated district. They can start at South Anna Elementary School in the community, while older kids can go to Liberty Middle School and Patrick Henry High School in Ashland, around 15 minutes away. Buses provide transportation for the whole district, and students who choose to go to a specialty high school like The Hanover Center for Trades and Technology in Atlee can take a shuttle there from Patrick Henry High.
A rural setting with a few local spots to meet neighbors
Most of Montpelier is rural, but it has several businesses and community spaces along Route 33, also called Mountain Road, where'll frequently run into neighbors. “Montpelier has the staple conveniences you need, but it is rural enough that you can disconnect from the city life,” Biggers says. “It’s just the perfect location.” She says The Montpelier Center is one of the area’s gathering places, offering classes and community events like a summer concert series. Next door is Montpelier Park, an outdoor space with a playground, and the Montpelier Recreation Center and Library.
Locally owned amenities along Mountain Road
You can find most of the amenities you’ll need along Mountain Road, including pharmacies, a gym, doctors’ offices and stores like Plum Pickings antique store and Food Lion. Biggers says that many of the businesses are locally owned and offer “local, hometown, good old-fashioned customer service.” For a bite to eat, Biggers recommends Los Rancheros Mexican Grill and Portofino Ristorante Italiano.
What internet options are available for remote workers
If you want to work from home in Montpelier, you have several options for internet coverage. Here’s what you need to know:
- Fiber internet is fastest, but coverage from Firefly Fiber Broadband and Brightspeed is limited in the area.
- 5G home internet through providers like T-Mobile is a wireless connection with varying speeds, but it’s not available everywhere.
- Satellite internet, like Starlink, is widely available but has lower speeds than fiber.
- DSL is also widely available but is much slower compared to other internet connections.
Most residents shouldn’t have problems with cell service, but some areas in Montpelier may not have 5G.
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Written By
Annie Franklin
