When Suburbia Was Weird

Geography, not design, is the main determinant of housing prices in the Washington, DC, suburbs. A garish McMansion in the leafy inner ring will fetch far more than a charming bungalow out by Harper’s Ferry. If suburban Northern Virginia has an architectural signifier, it’s a faux-colonial style that vaguely evokes the region’s fading Southern character. Old Town Alexandria still has its historic brick townhouses and cobblestone streets, although a monument to Confederate war dead was quietly removed in 2020.