Striking examples of modern architecture are found throughout the Commonwealth, but the community of Reston in Fairfax County stands apart as a sprawling and cohesive collection of mid-20th century design. Developer Robert E. Simons planned Reston in the early 1960s as a mixed-use "work, play, live" town highlighting modernist buildings designed by well-known architects, green space, and walking paths.

In 2019, Fairfax County received a DHR Cost Share Survey and Planning grant to conduct an architectural survey in Reston to better document the community’s key buildings and spaces. The scope of the project included reconnaissance-level survey on 51 individual properties and eight potential historic districts and to produce a report, now in hand, that offers historical context, survey findings, and recommendations for further study.

The Reston cost share project highlights DHR’s ongoing effort to document historic resources associated with Virginia’s recent past, a period spanning from 1946 to 1991. For more information on this effort, please contact Architectural Survey Manager Blake McDonald.