Wakefield blends suburban calm with city convenience near the Beltway
Established subdivisions with sidewalk-lined streets comprise Wakefield, a leafy suburb bordering the Capital Beltway in central Fairfax County. “It’s got that convenience factor. You’re just a mile down the road from the Beltway,” says Chris Owens, a Realtor with TTR Sotheby’s International Realty who specializes in the Northern Virginia area. Though less than 20 miles from Washington, Wakefield maintains a tranquil suburban atmosphere in its traditional homes, highly rated schools and neighborhood parks. The community delivers city access without city noise, allowing residents to enjoy peaceful living without sacrificing urban convenience. Wakefield also has an overall CAP Index Crime Score of 2 out of 10, lower than the national average of 4.
Classic homes tend to sell fast in this suburb's leafy subdivisions
Wakefield features several residential subdivisions with classic homes and tree-lined streets. “There are more colonials with larger lots, so the homes are a little bit pricier,” Owens says. Colonial Revivals dominate the area, with traditional split-level and ranch-style homes scattered throughout the community. Most properties were built in the 1960s and ’70s and sit on quarter- to half-acre lots with mature landscaping. Prices typically range from around $730,000 for smaller split-level and ranch-style homes to upwards of $1.2 million for larger Colonial Revival and New Traditional builds. In Wakefield’s southeastern corner is a townhouse development where units generally sell for $600,000 to $690,000. Properties tend to sell quickly, averaging just over two weeks on the market.
Living near two elementary schools in the highly rated FCPS system
The community is home to two top-rated elementary schools in the Fairfax County Public Schools system: Wakefield Forest Elementary School and Canterbury Woods Elementary School. Older kids can attend nearby Frost Middle School and Carter G. Woodson High School, with all four schools earning an A from Niche. High school course offerings include Advanced Placement and dual enrollment courses through which students can simultaneously earn high school and college credit.
Holy Spirit Catholic School is a private school in Wakefield that covers prekindergarten through eighth grade alongside Holy Spirit Catholic Church. In the community’s northeastern corner is the Annandale Campus of Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), which serves more than 18,000 students each year.
Commuters can access the Capital Beltway and buses to Pentagon Station
Residents typically rely on their cars to get around beyond Wakefield. The Capital Beltway and Interstate 395 offer a direct route to Washington, less than a 20-mile drive away, though they're known for rush hour traffic jams. For public transit, the Fairfax Connector provides a weekday rush hour bus service to Pentagon Station, offering an alternative for commuters. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport are within 25 miles of Wakefield. Inova Fairfax Hospital is less than 5 miles away and stands out as Northern Virginia’s only Level 1 Trauma Center.
Community parks, pools and trails encourage residents to get outside
According to the Trust for Public Land, 89% of Wakefield residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park. Active living is a big part of life here, as many subdivisions have swim and racquet clubs, walking paths and pocket parks with playgrounds. Members of these clubs may also attend community events such as movie nights, aerobic classes, and raft floats at the pool, while kids can join competitive swim and dive teams. “Wakefield Chapel is known for its neighborhood pool. Their swim and dive team is phenomenal,” Owens says. Green spaces such as Canterbury Woods Park provide access to the Long Branch Stream Valley Trail, a nearly 3-mile stone-dust path linking Wakefield to Rutherford Park.
The 292-acre Wakefield Park stretches along the community’s eastern edge and features playgrounds, various athletic facilities and a concrete skatepark. It’s also home to the Audrey Moore Rec Center, which has an indoor gym, Olympic-sized pool and a pottery lab with classes for all ages. Each week from May through October, locals gather at the rec center for the Wakefield Farmers Market. Multi-use trails in Wakefield Park are popular for mountain biking, jogging and birding.
Shopping centers with supermarkets, restaurants and name-brand stores
Wakefield is located between Virginia State Routes 620 and 236, allowing locals to hop on the highway and drive to several shopping plazas in the area. The Kings Park Shopping Center is about a mile away and has a Giant, CVS and a handful of small businesses. It also features casual eateries such as Hunan West and Giardino Italian Restaurant, known for its brick-oven pizzas. There are more retail options in the Springfield Town Center, an indoor mall less than 10 miles from Wakefield. It has department stores like Macy’s, Target and JCPenney, alongside a Regal Cinemas where residents can catch a movie. The biggest mall in the Baltimore-Washington area, Tyson’s Corner Center, is about a 10-mile drive away.
Written By
Sally Stimpson
