The Plains, Va., has preserved a modest way of life

August 03, 2024

Near the tiny downtown of Virginia’s Fauquier County town The Plains is an unusual gathering spot for residents: the town U.S. Postal Service office, matching the look of its historic surroundings with its light stucco walls and facade. It remains a popular spot to chat with neighbors, Mayor Lori Sisson said, because door-to-door mail delivery has only been available in The Plains for about a decade. Old habits are hard to break, and The Plains is the sort of place where locals would rather preserve beloved traditions than modernize for the sake of convenience.

“For some people, I think it takes a bit of getting used to,” Sisson, who works as a probation and parole officer for the Virginia Department of Corrections in addition to her mayoral role, said of those who move to The Plains from larger cities. “They realize they’re missing some of the amenities that … we just don’t have. But, you know, I think then they realize that it’s not so bad.”

The city-small town contrast is all the more pronounced because The Plains, population 243, is less than an hour’s drive from the heart of D.C. Surrounded by horse paddocks and lush, rolling farmland, The Plains feels like anything but a commuter town, although Sisson and other locals said more people who work in and around the District are moving to The Plains as aging residents pass away or sell their homes.

“We have people moving into the community, and we try to welcome them just like we do anyone,” she said.

Incorporated in 1910 and boasting a footprint of 0.3 square miles, The Plains, with its rug galleries and antique shops, resembles many of the small towns off Interstate 66 at which city-dwellers might stop for lunch en route to apple-picking or hiking in the Shenandoah Valley. Look closer, though, to see its unique charm. The town’s largest and longest-operating restaurant, The Rail Stop, was revived in the late 1990s with investment from Academy Award-winner Robert Duvall, who has long quietly maintained a 360-acre farm just outside of town and has been known to drop in for meals. While freight trains still pass through town daily, the long-defunct train depot buildings now house art galleries and a picturesque Airbnb.

Coffee and pastry shop Doppio Bunny, a favorite haunt for cyclists who seek out Fauquier County’s hundreds of miles of gravel trails, offers patrons a chance to “pay it forward,” with a wall offering free drinks for “a tired mom,” “a cyclist recovering from a knee injury” or “a multiple myeloma patient.”

The cycling and the laid-back feel of the country were major draws for Chris Malone, a real estate broker who moved to nearby Middleburg from D.C. 37 years ago and has lived in The Plains for 25 years. By local standards, he chuckled, he’s still a newcomer. While Middleburg, with its equestrian events and wineries, has a tonier feel, Malone likes that The Plains has preserved its modest way of life.

“The Plains has always been very unassuming, very working-class, very low-key,” he said. “Not loaded with great architecture, just a simple country town. And we’ve sought to protect that, sought to preserve that.”

Due in part to easements limiting new development, there’s not much annual housing turnover. In the last year, four homes sold in town, ranging from an elegant three-bedroom, 2,000-square foot cabin on 1.1 acres for $727,000 to a 1,700-square foot property requiring conversion from office space for $440,000. One property is currently on the market: a two-parcel offering on one acre including a three-bedroom fixer-upper home and an Italian restaurant, all for $1.95 million.

For Joyce Heflin, a fourth-generation resident of the two-story home her great-grandfather built in 1913, it can still feel that the town is changing too quickly. Her house, she said, didn’t even have plumbing, central heat or a telephone line until she bought out her other local family members and moved into it in 1995. She mourns the recent closure due to attrition of her longtime church, St. Mark’s United Methodist, and worries that, even with local efforts to limit development, the town is becoming less affordable. But, she said, the people keep The Plains special for her.

“It was just such a nice place to grow up in,” she said, “And I’ve had the same neighbors next door on each side for the whole time I’ve lived in the house. They’re exceptional people; I have really good neighbors.”

As new residents, including families with young children, gradually join The Plains community, perhaps the most significant trend for change in town is an increase in youth activities and programming. The Plains Community League, operating out of a historic building in the heart of the downtown, has been revitalized in the last few years, said director Erica Young, and now offers summer camps and tutoring for students. Down the road, the Afro-American Historical Association of Fauquier County, founded by locals Karen Hughes White and Karen King Lavore, features a museum highlighting local Black history and offers youth-focused movie nights with titles including “The Princess and the Frog” and “Hidden Figures.”

From Young’s perspective, inviting local businesses and institutions to participate in programs benefiting the children has given a boost to the entire community.

“It’s brightened up the town and everybody just seems more cheerful,” she said. “We’re doing what small towns should be doing. And that is inviting people in and just enjoying this community that we have.”

Schools: W.G. Coleman Elementary School; Marshall Middle School; Kettle Run High School.

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