On winding paved roads, behind towering trees, residents of Shadow Walk enjoy their spacious 5-acre lots in peace and quiet.
Built by John Ringle in the 1970s, Shadow Walk is one of a handful of neighborhoods designed to protect the Occoquan River watershed through spacious lots.
A resident since 1979, Art Bunte said he and his wife were first drawn to the neighborhood because of the natural environment.
"Back then, this was off the main road. We thought we were living out in the country," said Bunte, president of the Shadow Walk Homeowner's Association.
The proximity to six miles of bridle trails and Fountainhead Regional Park was a nice bonus, Bunte said.
With only 74 home sites in the entire community, neighbors tend not see each other very often outside the yearly community meeting, Bunte said.
"There's not a lot of social activities. We know our neighbors but it's not like a normal neighborhood," he said. "I think people like that."
Some of the younger couples moving into the area with children will get together with other families for play dates, Bunte said, and there's a general agreement to "keep the community up and nice."
Bill Cole and his wife have lived in Shadow Walk since 1977, a few years after he first noticed the area while flying overhead in an Army helicopter.
"I was flying over the area one day and saw English Hills, which is right across the river from us," Cole said. He asked his real estate agent if there were any homes available in that area.
"She told us we didn't want to live there because it would take an hour and a half to get back and forth from the Pentagon," Cole said. "They were also asking for $2,500 an acre, which was an inordinate amount of money back then."
AFTER A FEW years of living in Mount Vernon and Alexandria, Cole and his wife had their house built in 1977 and have had no regrets.
"It’s a very private area," he said. "Once we’re home, with the exception of in the wintertime, we can’t see our neighbors. We can see lights through the forest now that the leaves are gone. We really like the ruralness and the beauty of the area."
To bridge the gap between neighbors, a group of women started the Hampton Road Runners in the 1980s, inviting all women who lived on or adjacent to Hampton Road to meet monthly for social activities, Cole said. Eventually, the group expanded to include the men, who are now planning a small Chinese New Year celebration on Feb. 17.
Most residents use only a small portion of their property and leave the rest as a buffer, Cole said.
As the seasons change, the leaves on the abundant trees provide a series of picturesque scenes, from bright colors in the fall to holiday card images in the winter and bursts of vivid green in the spring, Cole said.
"This is great place for kids, they have lots of room to run around," he said. "Plus, we're near Fountainhead park and there are lots of bike and horse trails."
Cole and his wife have found a way to avoid the traffic problems as well.
"I try not to get out during commuting hours," he said. "I haven’t been out in commuting traffic for a month to two months. I can do my errands in the afternoon. "