Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 03/16/2017
NRHP Listing Date 06/05/2017
NRHP Reference Number SG100001041
Lake Anne Village Center, constructed between 1963 and 1967, was the first village of the planned community of Reston, and as such is part of the nation’s first zoned planned unit community. The Village Center articulates the seven goals of Reston founder Robert E. Simon Jr., and illustrates his insistence on an open, pedestrian-friendly, and integrated community prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Lake Anne Village Center’s influences derive from the English Garden City movement, as well as European plazas, and townhouses of the urban areas of the northeastern U.S. The complex, consisting of retail spaces, restaurants, an open court, and residential units, features Brutalist-influenced architecture tempered by its human scale and medieval elements. For its era, the complex presented a shockingly modern design in an area where single-family Colonial Revival homes dominated. Lake Anne Village Center showcased the new town movement, with social, architectural, and land-use development innovations—elements internationally recognized today for influencing subsequent planned developments in the U.S. and around the world.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: April 9, 2021
